This thread hasn't been touched in some time, and looking through it seems there are a number of people not too impressed with the works of Wells, specifically
The War of The Worlds. Personally, I'm a big H.G. Wells fan, but I also concede that his work is a mixed bag and that he can be equal parts brilliant and tiresome. His prose can be wondrous, but it can also be clunky (and have you ever noticed how often he uses the word "tumult"??? It's kind of nuts). He is sometimes quite dry, and he sometimes pushes his ideas so hard that all sense of narrative is lost... BUT at his best he is brilliant IMO, and his short fiction is where he shines most.
I'd like to weigh in on this 7 year old conversation and say that I don't think
War of The Worlds is at all Wells' best. On the whole it's quite readable, it has some wonderful, vivid descriptions and its significance shouldn't be overlooked. But it is clunky at points and the digression with the protagonist's brother is a bizarre and nonsensical choice to make plot-wise.
Personally, my favourite of his novels are:
The Time Machine
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Star Begotten
The Sleeper wakes
The top two are among his most famous and are must reads, the latter two are more obscure and although I love them are probably not likely to captivate readers less fond of his style.
Star Begotten is criminally overlooked though, and is another interesting spin on alien invasion, looking at the idea of a "spiritual" invasion, in which aliens allow themselves to be born into human society via cosmic rays. The book is also ambiguous as to whether this is even happening or not, but presents the idea and runs with the character's imaginations.
I have read all of Wells' short fiction, with the exception of one story of his that has only surfaced in recent years. Of those stories, I consider the following to be the best with my very favourites in
bold and personal ratings provided:
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - 4
The Story of The Late Mr Elvesham - 4
The Moth - 3.5
The Apple - 3.5
Under The Knife - 3
Pollock and the Porroh man - 3.5
The Red Room - 4.5
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic - 4
The Star - 3.5
A Story Of Days To Come - 3.5
The Man Who Could Work Miracles - 4
The Truth About Pyecraft - 3
Mr Skemersdale In Fairy Land - 4
The Door In The Wall - 3.5
Empire Of The Ants - 3.5
The Pearl Of Love - 5
The Country Of The Blind - 4.5
The Story Of The Last Trump - 4
The Devotee Of Art - 4
Wayde's Essence - 3.5
The Wild Asses Of The Devil - 3.5
The Presence By The Fire - 4
An Answer To Prayer - 4
The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - 3
Not all of those are science fiction, but many of them come under the umbrella of science fiction, fantasy or horror. Many of them are also very short.
The Presence by The Fire and
The Red Room are excellent "ghost" stories.
Mr Skemersdale In Fairy Land is fantasy as the name suggests, and rather good. I would give more detail on some of the others, but I can't remember them all as well as some.
I noticed someone was disappointed with the ending of
Country of The Blind, so I will also point out that there are TWO versions,. Wells later revised the story, but I think the original version is best.
Other points of interest:
- A Story of The Days To Come is set in the same future society as The Sleeper Awakes
- The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid reads to me like a possible influence on Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers.
- The Land Ironclads is a story I'm not particularly fond of, but it does predict tanks and much like The Sleeper Awakes, has some interesting descriptions of airplanes before their time.
I'm still making my way through completing his novels, though I've read a fair few.
Men Like Gods is relatively high on my list. I would recommend staying far away from
In The Days of The Comet - one of the worst books I've read.
