Five Great Science Fiction Novels [Paperback]

H. G. Wells (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Here, in an attractive gift box, are unabridged editions of the five most popular science-fiction novels of H. G. Wells: The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The War of the Worlds, a grippingly realistic tale of hostile invaders from Mars.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (September 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048643978X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486439785
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five of H.G. Wells' greatest works of science fiction, July 9, 2007

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Five Great Science Fiction Novels (Paperback)

This fascinating book is a collection of five of H.G. Wells' (1866-1946) greatest works of science fiction. Mr. Wells was a pioneer in the genre of science fiction. Indeed, he did not simply write stories to entertain; instead, each one uses the scientific angle to teach a lesson. All of these stories are thought-provoking and quite interesting to read.

So, if you are a fan of great literature, or great science fiction, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it. By the way, the five stories in this book are:

The First Men in the Moon - 1901 - When an adventurous young man and an eccentric inventor use a fantastic invention to travel to the Moon, they find more than they bargained for.

The Invisible Man - 1897 - When a strange, bandaged man moves into town, tongues begin to wag. But, when strange things begin to happen, the town soon finds itself facing a nightmare in the form of an invisible man.

The Time Machine - 1895 - A dinner party is disrupted when the host arrives all disheveled, and telling what he found when he ventured into the far future.

The Island of Dr. Moreau - 1896 - A castaway finds himself on an island inhabited by unnatural seeming people and ruled by a mad scientist.

The War of the Worlds - 1898 - The Martians have exhausted the resources of their planet, and decide to take the Earth as their new home. Can man, with his most advanced technology hope to stop the Martians with their much more advanced technology?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The origins of sci-fi, August 9, 2010

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Five Great Science Fiction Novels (Paperback)

One of the very first science fiction authors -- and the one with the biggest impact on sci-fi -- was undoubtedly H.G. Wells. And "Five Great Science Fiction Novels" brings together a collection of his timeless novels, filled with weird occurrences, weird people, and even weirder creatures.

"The Time Machine" concerns the Time Traveller, an English scientist who has built a machine capable of taking a person through time. So he goes to the year 802,701 A.D. and finds that civilization has fallen -- the human race has become the grotesque, apish Morlocks and the innocent, vague Eloi. And as he continues traveling into the future, it becomes bleaker.

"The Invisible Man" involves... well, an invisible man. A stranger covered entirely in clothes, goggles and bandages arrives in the village of Iping, and frightens the locals with his strange behavior. When the "invisible man" stumbles across the house of Dr. Kemp, he reveals his true identity and just how he became invisible...

"The War of the Worlds" takes place when the narrator finds a bizarre metal spaceship, filled with enormous tentacled Martians -- and soon they're decimating the army with their heat rays and tripodal fighting machines. Now, the human race is threatened with annihilation or enslavement, unless something can turn the war of the worlds in their favor.

In "The Island of Dr. Moreau," Edward Prendick is brought to a strange island, where he meets the titular Dr. Moreau... who turns out to be a mad scientist who was driven out of England for his vivisection experiments. And free of society, the doctor has turned his skills to far more horrible talents, creating a race of beast/human hybrids.

And finally, "The First Men on the Moon" arrive when an eccentric scientist uncovers an odd substance that defies gravity -- so of course, rather than selling it for a fortune, he builds a spaceship with it. But not only does the moon have life, it has insectile creatures called Selenites who soon capture them...

A future "dying earth," time machines, space ships, genetic engineering, strange elixirs and even the idea of aliens invading the Earth -- H.G. Wells came up with a lot of the ideas that are now pretty common in science fiction. Some have been disproven (I'm pretty sure there are no hyper-evolved, tentacled monsters on Mars), but that doesn't make his books any less groundbreaking.

Wells wrote in a staid 19th-century style, full of vivid descriptions ("The red eastern sky, the northward blackness, the salt Dead Sea, the stony beach crawling with these foul, slow-stirring monsters") and powerful emotions (the wild chase scenes in "The Invisible Man"). He also had a knack for inserting some really alien stuff into the stories, as well as some truly bleak depictions of what might come to pass.

And he wove in plenty of science -- bacteria, albinism, genetic engineering, evolution and the life cycle of a planet, although the "cavorite" idea is rather far-fetched! I can only imagine how these books must have expanded the imaginations of the Victorians who read them.

HG Wells' most famous works are brought together in "Five Great Science Fiction Novels" -- bleak, brilliant sci-fi that needs to be read to be believed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PRICE!, October 30, 2008

By 

M. Restrepo "Selenite" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Five Great Science Fiction Novels (Paperback)

You cannot ask for a better price for these 5 novels. If you buy these books, more than likely, you are a Well's fan, therefore, for this price, you cannot ask for a better deal.