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. Informationen zum Autor H.G. Wells, with an Introduction by Greg Bear and an Afterword by Simon James Klappentext The revolutionary novel that catapulted readers into the future, from the father of science fiction, H.G. Wells. "I've had a most amazing time...." So begins the Time Traveller's astonishing firsthand account of his journey eight hundred thousand years beyond his own era-and the story that launched H. G. Wells's successful career. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine's lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth. There he discovers two bizarre races-the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks-who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of tomorrow as well. Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells's expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come. With an Introduction by Greg Bear and an Afterword by Simon J. James Table of Contents About the Author Title Page Copyright Page Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Epilogue Appendix 14 Afterword Selected Bibliography Introduction BEFORE AIRPLANES, SPACE travel, and atomic energy, before freeways and traffic jams, poison gas and tanks, and just before the dawn of the twentieth century, a nameless inventor in London discovered a way to travel in time, using a mysterious machine assembled in a small private shop. And an unknown journalist named Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) leaped in a few short years to fame and fortune. If this is the first time you’ve read The Time Machine, then stop right here. Skip over this introduction, for now, and get right to the story. When you’re done, if you wish, come back and join the discussion. It’s bound to be heated. To this day, H. G. Wells is controversial, and I doubt he would have had it any other way! Welcome back. Now how do you feel about time travel? Perplexed, skeptical, excited, a little sad? By 1895, when The Time Machine was first published in book form, H. G. Wells had lived through years of ill health, married and parted, and tried on a career of teaching, then moved on to journalism and writing reviews. He did not seem very successful at anything, but he was enormously intelligent and ambitious. And he knew he had one story, one idea, one card up his sleeve that could possibly trump all of his disadvantages. A man, traveling in time, using a machine. A Time Traveller. Judging from many drafts and redrafts over at least seven years, Wells knew that he had something big—something that could launch his career very nicely indeed, if he only got it right. He finally got it right. After its serialization in William Ernest Henley’s The New Review in early 1895, The Time Machine became a sensation. In an age intrigued by all the possibilities of science and mathematics, Wells’s first work of fiction was like a brisk slap in the face. The future will be marvelous, the young Wells told his audience—and also tragic, even horrible. All things biological must end, or give way to new forms, he suggested, following the dour lead of his most influential teacher, Darwin’s “Bulldog,” T. H. Huxley. For Victorian England, the picture of humanity divided into the diminutive,...
