The Town Traveller

H.G.Wells is more interested here in preaching about Socialism and its supposed benefits than providing the reader with a plot that tells a story. The year is 2102 a man Graham wakes after sleeping since 1899 caused by sickness but he lacks rest all through the rather inconherent scifi narrative a f......more

Wells' Dystopian Vision 13 July 2016 When I started reading Jules Verne a number of years back I became increasingly interested in some of these pioneers of the science-fiction genre, and while many of us have heard of Wells' more well known books, after digging around the internet I discovered that......more

H.G. wrote this novel at warp speed nine, as evidenced by the bluntest ending ever written and presented in a Penguin Classic. His dystopian vision here, however, is one of the most influential in SF and beyond. Needless, we’d have no 1984 if it wasn’t for this patchy, overtly racist, but workmanlik......more

This was Wells's revised version of When the Sleeper Wakes, which was serialized and published in book form in 1899; the version I read was the 2005 Penguin Classics edition, with a Foreword by Patrick Parrinder and useful notes by my old friend Andy Sawyer of the Foundation. On a walking holiday i......more

I read this book because of Orwell's discussion of it in The Road to Wigan Pier. That Orwell called it The Sleeper Awakes and not When the Sleeper Wakes may be why I sought out the rarer version (on manybooks)- There is a preface in which Wells virtually disclaims the book. He saw its flaws, but was......more