Customer Reviews

Five Great Science Fiction Novels

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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?

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.

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.

So nice to be able to find a collection of HG Wells. This box set is just what I wish I could find for other authors as well!

This is a great deal you cant deny that. However the box the books come in looks nothing like the cool box pictured. It is kind of pink with carton science fiction art.

There's few to have ever walked this earth with the creativity to write science fiction of the caliber that H. G. Wells did so long ago. To have 5 of his greatest, all in one humble box set, for this price, is just phenomenal.

The books themselves are Dover Thrift Editions, meaning they are unabridged and very simple. It's essentially only the stuff the author wrote and nothing more with this publisher. So don't expect any editor's notes or anything like that. There is no fancy binding as these books are simply paperbacks. The novels themselves are relatively short (shortest at 80 pp, The Time Machine), but some of the best sci-fi stories ever told.

The box-set itself is just the regular Dover Thrift Edition books that you could buy separately put together. The 'box' itself is printed as it appears in the picture (with the picture of Mars and the the name HG Wells in big white letters). However, the box is a bit flimsy and thin. Even so, it does its job well: it keeps these five incredible novels together, and goes great on a book shelf (I don't like single paperback books on my bookshelf, constantly falling over and all different sizes).

The price, the fact that it's a boxed-set (even if a bit flimsy), and the unabridged novels themselves makes me give this purchase 5 stars. I keep buying the Dover Thrift Editions, and at Amazon prices, I always rest happy knowing I got the best deal.

I read the review about the cover being pink with cartoons rather than the cover pictured. I almost didn't order this because of that. Maybe they changed because of the review, but the box cover is as pictured which is cool. Bought these for my 8 year old grandson.

This was a gift for my husband and he was thrilled to receive this collection. He is almost through it and loves all the books.

I bought this set for our grand kids and they love it. This was their first exposure to science fiction books. Initially, I told them the stories in nutshell and then they zoomed!!!!! The books fired their curiosity and imagination.

This collection of H. G. Wells is excellent for young readers who wish to experience the literary genius of one of the greatest science-fiction writers of all time. The stories themselves are classics, including The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, The First Men In The Moon, The Island of Doctor Moreau, & The Time Machine. These stories will no doubt be enjoyed by anyone, whether they have an interest in science-fiction or are simply looking for an excellent read that will intrigue, thoroughly entertain and incite thought within the reader. The prints of this series are exactly as they appear in the image and, as one would expect for the price paid, they are cheap paper-back prints. I believe that this series is perfect for young individuals or first-time H. G. Wells readers, simply because of the cheap print that one often sees for young adult series (though I certainly would not exclude adults from buying this series). What I most love about this collection is that the books are separated into individual novels, and so are extremely ligthweight. Having said the above, this is definitely not a series I would regard as a collector's item (though I can't speak for anyone). For collectors I would very much recommend the hardback titled "H. G. Wells - A Classic Collection" (Vol I - ISBN:9780575095205) - there a two volumns in this series, the first containing the above-listed stories with beautiful illustrations and a lovely classic red hard cover.
Hope this review is helpful =]
GorJess