H.G. Wells has been called the father of science fiction, and with genre-defining classics like The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, it’s obvious why. The War of the Worlds is as vivid and powerful today as the day it was written. In this collection, which also includes the full text of The War of the Worlds, fourteen of science fiction’s greatest talents come together to discuss, with insight and humor, one of science fiction’s most important works. Essays include: • “H. G. Wells’ Enduring Mythos of Mars,” in which Stephen Baxter provides the history of man’s investigators of Mars and explains why Wells was right after all • “Just Who Were Those Martians, Anyway?” in which Lawrence Watt-Evans explains how ridiculously incompetent the Martians were as interplanetary invaders, and why • “In Working’s Image,” in which Mercedes Lackey takes us to a different alien world: Wells’ hometown of Working during the late 19th century • “The Tiniest Assassins,” in which Mike Resnick suggests that Wells gets one tiny thing wrong • The Hugo-winning “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” (the only reprint in this anthology), in which Connie Willis describes the unfortunate encounter between Emily Dickinson and Wells’ Martians
Author
Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism. He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946. More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H.\_... http://www.online-literature.com/well... http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.\_G.\_Wells
