Showing results by author "H. G. Wells" in All Categories

A mysterious stranger covered in bandages arrives in the quiet village of Iping hiding a terrifying secret: he is Griffin, a brilliant scientist who discovered the formula for invisibility. What seemed like humanity's greatest triumph quickly turns into a nightmare when he cannot reverse the process. Trapped by his own genius and driven mad by frustration, Griffin unleashes a violent reign of terror over the region. The invisible hunter soon becomes the prey in a desperate manhunt. Can the world stop a monster it cannot even see?

A metallic cylinder falls to earth, landing in the sands of Horsell Common, Surrey, generating curiosity and awe. But what's inside soon induces only terror. The story that unfolds is a breathless first-person account of an inconceivable reality: an extraterrestrial war has been waged on the planet.

One would think that after the momentous events of 1969 H.G Wells’ science fiction adventure The First Men in the Moon would have lost any fascination for the modern listener. Yet, of course, Wells is never concerned merely with the mechanics of science fiction. It is surely the human reaction to these events that grips us and causes us to return again and again to this story.

The thesis of this story is that “because of the development of scientific knowledge, separate sovereign states and separate sovereign empires are no longer possible in the world. To attempt to keep on with the old system is to heap disaster upon disaster for [hu]mankind and perhaps to destroy our race altogether. The remaining interest of this book now is the sustained validity of this thesis and the discussion of the possible ending of war on the earth.”

One morning, Graham rises from a medical-induced slumber and finds that he has slept for 200 years. The small money he had saved has grown exponentially, and he is now the richest man on earth. But what kind of a world is this? It is the year 2100 and London is unrecognisable. A twisted and oppressive slave state reveals itself, and this regime is being funded by Graham's own wealth, appropriated by the mysterious White Council. He must use his power to free the social underclass, but in doing so he risks his life.

Terrifically popular science fiction novel by renowned writer HG Wells, about a scientist discovering how to achieve invisibility. But, in his case, being out of sight evidently does NOT mean out of mind. (Summary by Cathy Barratt)

This 1911 collection of thirty-three stories, selected and revised by the author from amongst his huge output of short fiction, includes tales of comedy, horror, monsters, and strange worlds. In his Introduction, Wells writes that the book brings together, “All the short stories by me that I care for any one to read again,” and that, “No short story of mine of the slightest merit is excluded from this volume.”

For Graham it was a blessed sleep in a stranger's armchair after countless nights of excruciating insomnia. For Isbister it was a duty owed to a broken man encountered accidentally on a cliff path. For Ostrog it was the fulfilment of his life’s ambition. For humanity it was a stark choice. Slavery or freedom? After two centuries the Sleeper awakes. But does he bring with him the seeds of redemption or destruction?

The Forgotten Worlds of H. G. Wells is a curated collection of 14 masterfully written short stories — strange, stirring, and visionary tales that have quietly stood in the shadow of his more famous works. Here, Wells explores the edges of science, consciousness, and the unknown with unsettling brilliance and lyrical force.

Journey into the realm of speculative adventure and scientific curiosity with themes of time travel and societal reflection. This collection delves into the intricate dance between technology and human nature, exploring what it means to traverse the boundaries of time. Each week, our podcast presents a new complete audiobook, offering a diverse array of perspectives, eras, and narrative styles. From futuristic visions to philosophical inquiries, these stories invite listeners to expand their understanding of the world and their place within it. Tune in for a fresh exploration every week, ...

Having devoted his studies to optics and refraction, an impulsive scientist named Griffin has rendered himself invisible. Unable to reverse the effects, his struggle to survive grows desperate until he realizes that there are benefits to living out of the public eye. Increasingly isolated, he soon spirals into a life of crime and degenerates into madness. He can't see that he has become his own worst enemy.

What if the world you knew was only a thin veil over the impossible? Long before science fiction became a cinematic powerhouse, one man dared to dream of invisible men, biological anomalies, and the terrifying beauty of the unknown. That man was H. G. Wells. This powerhouse collection features...

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells is a chilling blend of science fiction and gothic horror that explores the perilous consequences of unchecked ambition. When a disfigured, bandaged stranger arrives in the quiet English village of Iping, his presence sparks rumors, suspicion, and eventually chaos. This stranger is Griffin—a brilliant scientist who has unlocked the secret to invisibility, but at the cost of his humanity. As the townsfolk grow increasingly uneasy, Griffin’s unstable behavior and ruthless desperation begin to surface.

Hailed for over a century as one of the finest science fiction stories of all time, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is a classic story of adventure, exploration, and scientific curiosity. The Time Machine relates the story of the Time Traveller, a Victorian inventor who creates a machine that allows him to travel to any time period. He chooses to rocket forward into the unknown world of the future, landing in the year 802,701 where he encounters the humanoids descendants of Earth, the seemigly friendly and benign Eloi, and the subterranean and primitive Morlocks.

The time traveler first steps out of his magnificent time-transport machine in the year 802,700. He finds Earth populated by a race of slender pacifists and decides to study this lush land of flower people before returning to his own age. These pacifists, he discovers, have built their wealth on the backs of a slave class forced to live below ground. As the conflict between them surfaces, the time traveler finds that his only means of escape, his time machine, has been stolen.

In one of H. G. Wells' most celebrated works, the shipwrecked Edward Prendick finds himself alone on an island with the mad scientist Doctor Moreau. When he hears strange cries echoing through the forest, he discovers that the island is inhabited by bizarre human-hybrid creatures. Prendick must escape the island before he becomes the scientist's next victim Raising questions about morality, the hubris of science, and what it means to be human, The Island of Doctor Moreau has fascinated readers for generations.

London businessman Mr. Bedford is broke. He retreats to a beautifully mundane area of the British countryside to focus on writing a play, which he hopes will bring him financial success. By a stroke of luck, Mr. Bedford quickly reaches new heights…just not in the way he anticipated. Mr. Bedford’s countryside retreat is interrupted by a peculiar physicist named Mr. Cavor, who is developing an anti-gravity material called cavorite. The unlikely pair sets sight on the moon and begins planning the first ever lunar expedition.

"The Red Room" is a short gothic story written by H. G. Wells in 1894. It was first published in the March 1896 edition of The Idler magazine. An unnamed protagonist chooses to spend the night in an allegedly haunted room, colored bright red in Lorraine Castle. He intends to disprove the legends surrounding it. Despite vague warnings from the three infirm custodians who reside in the castle, the narrator ascends to "the Red Room" to begin his night's vigil.

At a dinner party in Richmond, the host tells an astonishing story of his travels into the future, where, at first, it seems that man has moved on to a higher plane of existence - suffering and war seem to have been eliminated. But in fact there are two races living on the Earth: the Eloi, a leisured, decadent, androgynous group; and the Morlocks, an underground tribe of bestial workers.

Love and Mr Lewisham is a hugely uplifting tale from the pen of one of our greatest writers. Wells drew on his own experience as a young teacher to provide the background and, one suspects, the emotional drama. The plot enables him to satirise the educational establishment and deliver many wry observations on Victorian morality and the obsession with the supernatural. One day Mr Lewisham sits at his makeshift desk at his lodgings. He is an assistant master at Whortley proprietary school.