The Time Machine

By H. G. Wells

A beautifully designed edition of one of the most beloved science fiction novels of all time…

First published in 1895, The Time Machine won author H.G. Wells immediate recognition and has been regarded ever since as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction. It popularized the concept of time travel and introduced the concept of a "time machine" device that could travel forwards and backwards through the years.

It is the story of one man’s astonishing journey beyond the conventional limits of the imagination. One of the most renowned works of science fiction, The Time Machine reflects on the adventures of The Time Traveller - a man who constructs a machine which allows him to explore what the future has to offer. When he courageously steps out of his machine for the first time, he finds himself in the year 802,701—and everything has changed. In this unfamiliar utopian age, creatures seem to dwell together in perfect harmony. Thinking he can study these marvelous beings and unearth their secret then return to his own time, he discovers that his only avenue of escape, his invention, has been stolen.

Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", which was coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. The book has been adapted for a number of films and elevision shows, as well as inspiring other science fiction writers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G&D Media
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781722524913

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was an English author who wrote about ethical issues through a variety of genres, including history, politics, social commentary, and-what he is most famous for-science fiction. Known as one of the fathers of that genre, his notable works include the science-fiction classics The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds.

Book preview

Chapter I

The Time Traveler (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His gray eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it:) and his fecundity.

You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.

Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon? said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.

"I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions."

That is all right, said the Psychologist.

Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.

There I object, said Filby. Of course a solid body may exist. All real things—

"So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?"

Don’t follow you, said Filby.

Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?

Filby became pensive. Clearly, the Time Traveler proceeded, "any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and—Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives."

That, said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; that … very clear indeed.

Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked, continued the Time Traveler, with a slight accession of cheerfulness. "Really this is what is meant by the Fourth Dimension, though some people who talk about the Fourth Dimension do not know they mean it. It is only another way of looking at Time. There is no difference between time and any of the three dimensions of space except that our consciousness moves along it. But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong side of that idea. You have all heard what they have to say about this Fourth Dimension?"

I have not, said the Provincial Mayor.

"It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others. But some philosophical people have been asking why three dimensions particularly—not another direction at right angles to the other three?—and have even tried to construct a Four-Dimension geometry. Professor Simon Newcomb was expounding this to the New York Mathematical Society only a month or so ago. You know how on a flat surface, which has only two dimensions, we can represent a figure of a three-dimensional solid, and similarly they think that by models of three dimensions they could represent one of four—if they could master the perspective of the thing. See?"

I think so, murmured the Provincial Mayor; and, knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic words. Yes, I think I see it now, he said after some time, brightening in a quite transitory manner.

"Well, I do not mind telling you I have been at work upon this geometry of Four Dimensions for some time. Some of my results are curious. For instance, here is a portrait of a man at eight years old, another at fifteen, another at seventeen, another at twenty-three, and so on. All these are evidently sections, as it were, Three-Dimensional representations of his Four-Dimensioned being, which is a fixed and unalterable thing.

Scientific people, proceeded the Time Traveler, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this, know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. Here is a popular scientific diagram, a weather record. This line I trace with my finger shows the movement of the barometer. Yesterday it was so high, yesterday night it fell, then this morning it rose again, and so gently upward to here. Surely the mercury did not trace this line in any of the dimensions of Space generally recognized? But certainly it traced such a line, and that line, therefore, we must conclude was along the Time-Dimension.

But, said the Medical Man, staring hard at a coal in the fire, if Time is really only a fourth dimension of Space, why is it, and why has it always been, regarded as something different? And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?

The Time Traveler smiled. Are you sure we can move freely in Space? Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so. I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there.

Not exactly, said the Medical Man. There are balloons.

But before the balloons, save for spasmodic jumping and the inequalities of the surface, man had no freedom of vertical movement.

Still they could move a little up and down, said the Medical Man.

Easier, far easier down than up.

And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment.

"My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away from the present movement. Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave. Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth’s surface."

But the great difficulty is this, interrupted the Psychologist. "You can move about in all directions of Space, but you cannot move about in Time."

That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time. For instance, if I am recalling an incident very vividly I go back to the instant of its occurrence: I become absentminded, as you say. I jump back for a moment. Of course we have no means of staying back for any length of Time, any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground. But a civilized man is better off than the savage in this respect. He can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turnabout and travel the other way?

Oh, this, began Filby, is all—

Why not? said the Time Traveler.

It’s against reason, said Filby.

What reason? said the Time Traveler.

You can show black is white by argument, said Filby, but you will never convince me.

Possibly not, said the Time Traveler. But now you begin to see the object of my investigations into the geometry of Four Dimensions. Long ago I had a vague inkling of a machine—

To travel through Time! exclaimed the Very Young Man.

That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time, as the driver determines.

Filby contented himself with laughter.

But I have experimental verification, said the Time Traveler.

It would be remarkably convenient for the historian, the Psychologist suggested. One might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!

Don’t you think you would attract attention? said the Medical Man. Our ancestors had no great tolerance for anachronisms.

One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato, the Very Young Man thought.

In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.

Then there is the future, said the Very Young Man. Just think! One might invest all one’s money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!

To discover a society, said I, erected on a strictly communistic basis.

Of all the wild extravagant theories! began the Psychologist.

Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until—

Experimental verification! cried I. "You are going to verify that?"

The experiment! cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.

Let’s see your experiment anyhow, said the Psychologist, though it’s all humbug, you know.

The Time Traveler smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage

Reviews for The Time Machine

[numbert_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I literally finished this book 20 minits ago (what i had to watch part of the colts game) and I was blown away by it. It had some of the most thought provocing topics i have even seen in a book. It brings up issues like time travle, the fate of man, government, perfect society all in an incredably exciteing science fiction format. It does have some high level reading words so have a dictioary by your side for this one. I highly reccomend it

[tony_landis_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am sure in its day it was a mind bender, but that is lost on the modern reader. Not as interesting as I had hope, but well written.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought I knew what to expect from this book since there are so many references to it in popular culture. I was expecting an adventure story along the lines of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, using a time machine instead of steam ships. I was wrong. This is a dystopian novel with a pessimistic view of humanity's future. The format didn't work well for me. It's essentially a story within a story. The first person narrator recounts the story told by the Time Traveler after his return, with the Time Traveler's story also presented in first person. I like Sir Derek Jacobi, but his voice wasn't right for this book. It needed a reader with a younger voice. I love time travel stories that visit the past. After this experience with time travel into the future, I may stick with the past from now on.

[nebula21-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and thought provoking classic. I must admit, I didn't find it very enjoyable. The story presented the author's vision of what the human race may become in the very distant future. I found it hard to empathise with the main character and I expected the Morlocks to be more sinister.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wells' prototypical tale of time travel catches the imagination more than might be expected from a book of its era. It begins slowly, with our narrator gathering a group of friends to whom to tell his story, but soon gains momentum once he arrives in the far future and encounters the childlike Eloi and the more sinister Morlocks. The narrator philosophizes about how these races may have come about, which is also a commentary on current society and the dangers of lifestyles and societal choices that foster comfort and complacency among the wealthy and push the lower income classes literally underground. Further adventures of the time traveller will not be forthcoming, and that's unfortunate, because I would like to have heard more from him.

[tkadlec_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another one of those classic books that I had somehow inexplicably made it this long without reading, The Time Machine was well worth the wait.What I enjoyed about the book, as is the case with many good science-fiction books, is how Wells manages to explore much deeper, philosophical issues over the course of an entertaining story. For example, Wells critiques the hierarchy of society by seeing two distinct classes eventually evolve into two distinct species.What's beautiful about his critique is that he manages to leave the reader to form their own opinion. He is equally harsh on the Eloi as he is on the Morlocks in pointedly remarking about each species lack of humanity, so you don't get the impression of favoritism towards one race versus the other (or one class versus the other).A quick, enjoyable read that has aged very well.

[phaga_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved Wells' vision of the future of humanity. Looking at society today it's easy to see how Wells came to his conclusions. This book seems even more relevant today, and I think Wells knew that. He knew we would continue our quest for contentedness and thus wrote a book that will remain timeless so long as we remain clueless.

[auntieclio · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a seminal work of science fiction, and as such blazed the trail for the genre as a whole. Reading it over 100 years after initial publication, gives me a sense of understanding science fiction. While taking this into consideration, as well as being a product of the Victorian era, I still found The Time Traveler to be more than a little overwrought in this tale. One surprising thing I learned was that Kodak did indeed have a camera available in 1895 and HG Wells must have been very well informed.

[martinbodek · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What took me so long to read this classic? Well worth the wait. I found it ambitious and interesting, eloquent and fascinating, but overwroughtly pessimistic. Was this truly Wells' view of the future? He predicted many other now-commonplace things with accuracy, so this was certainly his view. In other hands, it may have been more optimistic, but perhaps the quality would be lacking in the story itself. My appetite is now whetted for more Wells and more classics.

[aklauseiuns · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written. Recommended to any one who loves adventure and time traveling.

[mdtwilighter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Time Traveler goes forward, 800,000 years into the future and recounts an odd world to a group of friends on his return. He tells them of two different branches of the human species, very opposed. The book really hilights the wrongs of society today and promotes the Communist theory. It was very interesting and not boring. I love HG Wells War of the Worlds and this was just as action filled. Classic sci-fi.

[scottcholstad · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wells was a true visionary, a man clearly ahead of his time, and this is merely one of his masterpieces and remains fresh and relevant even today. It's not necessarily the best sci fi novel ever written, but it was the first "best" ever written and remains very high on the list today. Strongly recommended!

[csweder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think, of all of the Wells stories I've read, this is the one that was the hardest for me to get through. I wasn't very impressed with it.

I have to give it props, however, because he is one of the founders of the science-fiction genre, and so I must recognize that what is in his book was really revolutionary at the time. Even if now, it doesn't seem as big of a deal.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Rather blah, really. I can imagine how, in its time, this was a remarkable book; however, it's not a very good story. I liked 'Island of Dr. Moreau' better.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like the other H.G. Wells novels I have reread recently, this one surprised me by being darker and less romantic than I remembered. Much filmed, "The Time Machine" has no love story, in fact. Nor much action. What it has is an expansive, if dark, vision of the future.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic. An unnamed time traveler tells his tale. His listeners don't believe him of course. He skips from his time to the distant future. No stops in-between like the movie.

[stormrose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

2/20 (a shorter book) Surprisingly, given that I am an avid science fiction fan, I've never read Wells; and all I can say for having read him for the first time: I want to read more. Wells' technique is quite brilliant; his imagination is vivid; and you can see his ideas on humanity leaking out from the pages. I love the unnamed narrator, and the unnamed patrons of the Time Travelers dinner party; it's quite an interesting touch. The descriptions of the future - particularly as The Time Traveler heads away from the Eloi and the Morlocks to the very end of time - are evokative and haunting. It's a book that is to be experienced. Highly recommended.

[radaghast_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great, almost haunting novel. Wells does not get nearly enough credit for The Time Machine. There is much more here than meets the eye.

[paakre-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I read all the way through on a Kindle, and watched my progress in "locations" instead of pages. Do all time travel books become about the history of technology and man's relationship to it? The narrator is a Victorian gentleman who reports on his trip to the future non stop, with no pauses, and no dialogue. It is hard to believe that a group of men, the other characters from his time period, no matter how stalwart, would listen to such a long story without interrupting once and questioning some of the details. But still, since I am reading time travel books (When You Reach Me, A Wrinkle in Time) I wanted to try the granddaddy of them all.

[agis_19 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first use of a Time Machine in literature, H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" is also the first of his scientific romances. After a careful setup, the never-named "Time Traveler" narrates his journey 800,000 years into the future. The bulk of the novel follows this one journey - his time in a far-future where the human race has split in two, which he calls the "Eloi" and "Morlocks".Wells' setup and narration are effective, and the adventure tale keeps the story moving, but it's heavily flawed. The problem is the "Eloi" and "Morlocks" themselves; the former are the descendants of the aristocratic upper class, and the latter are the descendants of the lower class. And they're unconvincing. The Eloi are weak, unintelligent waifs; the Morlocks are nothing more than monsters that prey on them. This simply doesn't work; both are far too exaggerated to give Wells' point about class and culture a good impact.

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a short book. I found that I was sort of drawn into the story, eventually. I certainly think that if I'd written it I'd have gone in different directions, quite literally, probably the past! But that wasn't his intention. Wells intended to go where others hadn't been in thought or deed. I suppose that is what stirred me to read it, knowing that it was one of the first of an entire genre wondering where the future might take us. I probably won't read any more Wells books unless I find 'The Invisible Man' which I had begun and then lost but was enjoying more than The Time Machine at the beginning of the two books. I have recently seen the statue of the alien that someone created in honor of a character in Well's book War of the Worlds. That also stirred my interest in finishing the book.

[ricardob-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've watched many movie and tv adaptations of HG Wells Time Machine, but reading it is a totally diferent experience.

Some will call it science fiction, others social criticism but I find it to be an adventure; and what a beautifully told adventure it is.
The time traveler telling its journey into the unknown future is filled with wonderful details and very interesting ideas of mankind evolutions and legacies.

A classic that is great to read.

[rsplenda477 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wells is truly the master of science fiction. He takes us to a strange and mystifying world that alludes to the baseness of human nature.

[aprilbrown_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? – Ten and up.

Length? – Most of a day’s read.

Characters? – Memorable, several characters.

Setting? – Real world, alternate time.

Written approximately? – The reprinted 1980 edition.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: A male builds a time machine and travels to the future.

Notes for the reader: At the time this was originally written, males had no respect for women, and it shows. Also, interestingly, none of the original characters have a name, only an occupation. The time traveler has no name at all, only an underline in place of a name.

[m2campanella · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

When reading a book, if you know how the book ends before you reach it, it is only the quality of the keeps you going. Unfortunately, if writing is, as Nabakov says, all in the quality of writing then this one seems rather thin. it is the idea, more than anything else, that caries it. And whilst the idea was brilliant when it came out, now it is worn and worn again. Getting to the end was something of an ordeal. Interesting note that no one mentions is Wells' socialistic view of how society divides into Morlocks and Elois.

[arkrayder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic for a reason. I believe this story has stood the test of time and will continue to do so. H.G. Wells was ahead of his time. I really need to read his other works.

[judithproctor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A surprisingly short novel by modern standards. Well's strength lies in description, also in the fact that although the Time Traveller has his views as to how the future arose, he does not state his speculations to be definitive.The novel is slow-paced, which works in some ways - in allowing us to see the patterns of the sun in the sky as he accelerates through time, but fails in others. This is a novel in which the protagonist is more of an observer than anything else, and that feels curiously uninvolving.

[okdavy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A true science fiction classic! Most people know the story of H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" from one of the movies or maybe because it has been ingrained in our society for over 100 years. Even though I knew the story, I found reading the book exciting. Being able to see what a person, HG Wells in this case, thought about the future and what he knew about science back in the 18 hundreds was the best part for me. It was well written and kept me interested. 5stars!

[melydia_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(unabridged audiobook read by Ralph Cosham): I was pleased to learn that this brief book is almost nothing like the 2002 movie, since that was horrible. Rather, this is the story of a man simply referred to as The Time Traveller, a native of Victorian England who spends the bulk of the story telling of his adventures in the year 802,701 and beyond. The reader hears things more or less secondhand and after the fact, as opposed to the more suspenseful (and much more common) everything-as-it-happens mode. Despite the extra step of disconnect from the action, this style actually adds to the realism, truly showing the future through the eyes and impressions of the Time Traveller, who can share many theories but few concrete facts. I was fascinated by the description of the world many hundreds of thousands of years hence, and even felt inspired to write my own time travel story, just for fun. Highly recommended.

[briandarvell_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not much to say other than this is one of the classic early science fiction stories. I read it before watching the modern Hollywood movie and was glad I did (since the movie sucked). It's quite an easy read and is fast-paced. When reading this while keeping the perspective of when this was written I found the story very clever and enjoyable.