Author

H. G. Wells

H. G. Wells
  • Herbert George Wells was one of the most prolific and visionary British writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. H. G. Wells, as he is universally known, is now best remembered for his science fiction novels, although he wrote across many genres, including nonfiction. His fiction embraces history, science fiction, horror, satire, fantasy, and social commentary. Wells was also a futurist, foreseeing air travel, tanks (as in “The Land Ironclads”—part of this anthology) space travel, nuclear weapons, and even satellite television. Amongst his writings are dozens of short stories; some are very well known, others less so.

    When planning this collection, Raconteurs sought stories that we enjoyed ourselves and which embody the range of H. G. Wells’s imagination and talent. This collection of thirteen short stories includes gothic horror, fantasy, ghost stories, science fiction, satire, and stories of domestic and social commentary. It is a collection that we hope will intrigue and entertain you—and leave you wanting to hear more.

    H. G. Wells’s Short Stories - Volume One is produced by Raconteurs in partnership with Spoken Realms and includes:

    “The Magic Shop” – read by James Gillies
    “The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes” – read by Nigel Patterson
    “The Door in the Wall” – read by Greg Wagland
    “The Man Who Could Work Miracles” – read by Malk Williams
    “The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham” – read by Tim Bruce
    “The Diamond Maker” – read by Liam Gerrard
    “Miss Winchelsea’s Heart” – read by Helen Lloyd
    “A Moonlight Fable” – read by James Gillies
    “The Red Room” – read by Nigel Patterson
    “The Star” – read by Greg Wagland
    “The Land Ironclads” – read by Malk Williams
    “The Jilting of Jane” – read by Tim Bruce
    “The Cone” – read by Liam Gerrard

  • Eleven essential classics in one volume

    This volume is the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964, containing eleven great classics. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field.

    Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country.

    This volume contains the following:

    Introduction by Ben Bova

    Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson

    Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. (as Don A. Stuart)

    Nerves by Lester del Rey

    Universe by Robert A. Heinlein

    The Marching Morons by C. M. Kornbluth

    Vintage Season by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (as Lawrence O’Donnell)

    … And Then There Were None by Eric Frank Russell

    The Ballad of Lost C’Mell by Cordwainer Smith

    Baby Is Three by Theodore Sturgeon

    The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

    With Folded Hands by Jack Williamson

  • "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own…" So begins The War of the Worlds, the science fiction classic that first proposed the possibility that intelligent life exists on other planets.

    This spellbinding tale describes the Martian invasion of Earth. Following the landing in England of ten huge and indefatigable creatures, complete chaos erupts. Using their fiery heat rays and monstrous strength, the heartless aliens threaten the future existence of all life on Earth.

    This classic chiller, when adapted for radio in 1938 by Orson Welles, was realistic enough to cause widespread panic throughout the United States.

  • Graham, an 1890s radical pamphleteer, was a young man when he finally resorted to medication for his insomnia and fell into a deep sleep. He wakes two hundred years later, still youthful, to an age of great marvels and scientific achievement—and a world whose strange underlying economy is that it is all his private property. By inheritance and the compounding of interest, Graham the Sleeper has become the sole, final owner of everything and is revered as a leader, with a council that dictates to the world in his name. 

    This science fiction classic was called by Wells himself “one of the most ambitious of my books.” A stirringly prophetic novel, it envisioned flying, advertising, television, banking, labor organization, and totalitarianism, all within the framework of an exciting personal adventure story.

  • This superlative collection of futuristic tales explores ground-breaking supernatural themes from the founding heroes of the science-fiction genre. The short story form is perfect for capturing the atmospheric tension of these legendary stories.

    This collection includes the following stories:

    • "The Door in the Wall" by H. G. Wells—A man must choose between the rationality of science and the magic of imagination.
    • "All Cats Are Gray" by Andre Norton—A down-on-his-luck spaceman and a mysterious woman and her cat take off to explore and bring back a derelict ship said to hold great treasure.
    • "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum—A four-man crew lands on Mars and makes a startling discovery.
    • "Victory" by Lester del Rey—A victorious captain returns to his home planet after an alien war and finds that victory has a very steep price.
    • "The Moon Is Green" by Fritz Leiber—On post-apocalyptic Earth, a woman comes face-to-face with humanity exposed to catastrophe.
    • "The Winds of Time" by James H. Schmitz—When the spaceship is battered by an unknown force, the pilot has to investigate—and what he finds could alter his life forever.
    • "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick—Years after nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union has contaminated the Earth's surface, soldier robots continue the fight on humanity's behalf.
    • "Missing Link" by Frank Herbert—Lewis Orne is sent to investigate a missing ship and runs into "native" trouble on the planet Gienah III.
  • On a freezing February day, a stranger emerges from out of the gray to request a room at a local provincial inn. Who is this out-of-season traveler? More confounding is the thick mask of bandages obscuring his face. Why does he disguise himself in this manner and keep himself hidden away in his room?

    Aroused by trepidation and curiosity, the local villagers bring it upon themselves to find the answers. What they discover is a man trapped in a terror of his own creation and a chilling reflection of the unsolvable mysteries of their own souls.

    In the tradition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein comes another undisputed classic of science fiction and horror to stir the imagination and conscience. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction horror stories ever written.

  • The Time Traveler first steps out of his magnificent time-transport machine in the year 802,700—more than 800,000 years beyond his own era. The brave explorer finds himself on a slowly dying Earth populated by a race of slender pacifists called the Eloi 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—the Morlocks. As the conflict between the classes surfaces, the Time Traveler finds that his only means of escape, his time machine, has been stolen.

    Wells’ amazing view of the future, propelled forward from his own Victorian era to the present, serves both as classic science fiction and as a parable of the chasm between the working-class suffering and the upper-class privilege of his day. Wells’ remarkable storytelling and provocative insight make this terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow an enthralling tale sure to capture readers everywhere.

  • Written in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau was an instant sensation that went on to inspire a series of movies. It was meant as a commentary on Darwin’s recently published theory of evolution, which had riveted the world of science and therefore, of science fiction. While gene-splicing and bioengineering are common practices today, readers are still amazed by Wells’s haunting vision and the ethical questions he raised a century before our time.

    Shipwrecked on a Pacific island, gentleman naturalist Edward Prendick finds Dr. Moreau, a scientist expelled from his homeland for performing cruel vivisection experiments. Here Moreau has found the freedom to continue his work, and Prendick soon becomes involved. Dr. Moreau’s project is to “humanize” animals by torturous surgical transplant, creating hideous creatures with manlike intelligence. But as the cruelly-enforced order on Moreau’s island dissolves, the true consequences of his meddling emerge.

  • Having coined the phrase "the war that will end war," H. G. Wells was disillusioned by the World War I peace settlement. Convinced that humanity needed to awaken to the instability of the world order and remember lessons from the past, the author of numerous science fiction classics set out to write about history. Wells hoped to remind mankind of its common past, provide it with a basis for international patriotism, and guide it to renounce war. The work became immensely popular, earning him world renown and solidifying his reputation as one of the most influential voices of his time.

    Topics range from the world before man and the first living things to civilizations, religions, wars, and everything in between. Wells truly covers the whole of human history.