The essence of Wells's stories is, rather, thinly veiled social commentary (for instance on social stratification in The Time Machine). Then again, Wells was never quite so concerned with making his stories plausible as Verne generally was. To see what seemed possible at that time and turns out not to be is as interesting as the instances in which these visionaries got it right. The fact that the mechanism by which Cavor and Bedford travel to the Moon is, today, patently absurd is fascinating rather than detracting from the work. The truly wonderful thing about these older SF works (Verne, Wells, even Capek), however, is that as they age they attain this additional status as artifacts of an era and its expectations. The notion of a virtually hollow Moon and a substance that is opaque to gravity's 'rays' both ring, today, less like science fiction and more like fantasy. The Science Fiction elements of this story are somewhat dated. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. But they soon discover they are not alone on the lush lunar surface-and the natives are not exactly friendly.Ī thrilling adventure story that offers fascinating insights into the nature of mankind, The First Men in the Moon is a timeless classic from “the father of modern science fiction.” When Bedford and Cavor set out for the moon in a cavorite sphere, they find the Earth’s satellite to be more wonderful than either of them ever imagined. Bedford immediately sees the business potential of Cavor’s creation, reckoning a ship made of cavorite could take him the moon-the first step on a path to riches beyond his wildest dreams. His breakthrough is cavorite, an astonishing new substance manufactured from helium that is not bound by the laws of gravity. Though he may not look it, Cavor is a genius and one of the world’s greatest inventors. Bedford retreats to a remote English village, where he meets the eccentric Mr. A pair of unlikely explorers journey to the moon in this imaginative tale of science and adventure from the author of The War of the Worlds

The first men in the moon by hg wells