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  • Published: 14 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9780241277492
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 704
  • RRP: $37.00

The Great Science Fiction

The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, Short Stories




An omnibus of all four of the greatest science-fiction novels of H. G. Wells

In the space of less than four years, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) published four of the most influential, original and hair-raising of all works of science-fiction. In a life of tireless experiment, travelling and intellectual engagement, Wells was both a leading public figure and one of the great imaginers of the modern world, but his reputation was always dominated by these amazing novels: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. Each is great in its own right, but they also became the 'books of Genesis' for entire genres of speculative fiction.

This omnibus allows them to be read together, perhaps for the first time allowing the full range of Wells's achievement to be understood.

  • Published: 14 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9780241277492
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 704
  • RRP: $37.00

About the author

H. G. Wells

English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, whose science fiction stories have been filmed many times. WELLS’ best known works are THE TIME MACHINE, one of the first modern science fiction stories, THE INVISIBLE MAN, and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Wells wrote over a hundred of books, about fifty of them novels.

H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, in 1866. After an education repeatedly interrupted by his family’s financial problems, he eventually found work as a teacher at a succession of schools, where he began to write his first stories.
Wells became a prolific writer with a diverse output, of which the famous works are his science fiction novels. These are some of the earliest and most influential examples of the genre, and include classics such as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. Most of his books very well-received, and had a huge influence on many younger writers, including George Orwell and Isaac Asimov. Wells also wrote many popular non-fiction books, and used his writing to support the wide range of political and social causes in which he had an interest, although these became increasingly eccentric towards the end of his life.
Twice-married, Wells had many affairs, including a ten-year liaison with Rebecca West that produced a son. He died in London in 1946.

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