H.G. Wells: Celebrating the Father of Science Fiction

Remembering H.G. Wells as we mark his birthday—born September 21, 1866.

The prolific writer predicted so much that today we take for granted.

Often called “the father of science fiction,” H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was a productive writer of lots of topics. In his day, Wells’ author output actually hit several categories—but today, he’s best remembered for some of the most important science fiction in history.

His groundbreaking work includes inventive fiction like The War of the Worlds (struggling with visitors coming to Earth from outer space), The Island of Doctor Moreau (exploring ethics and humanity), The Time Machine (looking at temporal paradoxes), The Invisible Man (fearing the dangers of science without ethical boundaries), and The First Men in the Moon (wondering about Earth people going out into space).

Through his fiction, Wells invented ideas and technology that—today—we now take for granted. In fact, his novels at times inspired real-life scientific advancement.

But Wells also used science fiction to share his thoughts on society, culture, conflicts between social classes, and even the dangers of technology.

“H. G. Wells worried constantly about the future of humanity,” was how Peter J. Bowler put it on Public Domain Review. “While he hoped for progress in human affairs, he was only too well aware that it was not inevitable and might not be sustained.”

Below, read more about five of his most legendary books. Or follow one of these links directly…

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H.G. WELLS CLASSIC BOOKS

The Time Machine

The Time Machine (1895)

Actually, the first time that H.G. Wells wrote about time travel was in his 1888 short story “The Chronic Argonauts.” Originally published in his college newspaper, this laid the groundwork for what would become his novel. (You can read “The Chronic Argonauts” in issue #2 of Monstrous Magazine. The magazine also includes an article about the original story.)

Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine shows a Victorian scientist traveling to the distant future—where he witnesses how society is plagued by inequality and class divisions. Over his career as an author, Wells often wrote about his social and political ideals, and this novel found him thinking out loud through the narrative structure.

Later, Wells wrote that he considered The Time Machine “a very undergraduate performance to its now mature writer, as he looks over it once more.” That said, he added that he felt “no remorse for this youthful effort.”

Find multiple editions of The Time Machine at these booksellers

What The Time Machine inspired

The Time Machine has inspired many stories in the decades since the book was published. (Of course, it might be considered that this book popularized the very idea of using a vehicle to travel from one moment in time to another. Which would mean that every time travel story ever was inspired by Wells.)

Just some books include the examples Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (1979), Time and Again by Jack Finney (1970), The Space Machine by Christopher Priest (1976), 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011), Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991), The Door into Summer by Robert A Heinlein (1956), The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenger (2003), Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (2007), The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter (1995), Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2022), The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (1955), The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel by Joe R. Lansdale, first published in The Long Ones (1999), This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (2022), Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969), Making History by Stephen Fry (1996), and Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976).

Notable movies include The Time Machine (1960), starring Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux; The Time Machine (2002), starring Guy Pearce; and the modern-day Jack the Ripper romantic thriller (with H.G. Wells a a character!) in Time After Time (1979).

On television, time travel examples include Doctor Who (starting in 1963 and, well, you know, may or may not still be going), It’s About Time (1966-67), The Time Tunnel (1966-67), episodes of Star Trek (some episodes of the 1960s original series plus occasional episodes the various spinoffs), Quantum Leap (1989-93), Tru Calling (2003-2005), Life On Mars (2006-2007), Ashes to Ashes (2008-2010), Continuum (2012-15), Outlander (starting in 2014 and now headed for its eighth and final season), 12 Monkeys (2015-2018), 11.22.63 (2016), DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow (2016–2022), Timeless (2016-2018), Russian Doll (2019-2022), and The Lazarus Project (2022-2023).

The Island of Doctor Moreau

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)

Described by author H.G. Wells as an “exercise in youthful blasphemy,” The Island of Doctor Moreau is narrated by a man who is shipwrecked. He finds himself on an island led by a mad scientist who is using vivisection on animals to create hybrid people. As such, they struggle with the trauma of cruelty, moral responsibility, and human identity.

Find multiple editions of The Island of Doctor Moreau

What The Island of Doctor Moreau inspired

One of the author’s most popular books, The Island of Doctor Moreau has influenced lots of media in the decades since it was first published. We’re talking both straight adaptations as well as taking the ideas in new directions.

Some books that were influenced include Moreau’s Other Island (1980) by Brian Aldiss; The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (1980) by Gene Wolfe; Dr. Franklin's Island (2002) by Ann Halam; Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau (2012) by Guy Adams; The Madman’s Daughter (2013) by Megan Shepherd, the first book in a trilogy; “The Isles of Dr Moreau” by Heather O’Neill, from her short story collection Daydreams of Angels (2015); The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (2017) by Theodora Goss; and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Some of the movies have included Island of Lost Souls (1932), with Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, and Kathleen Burke; the unofficial adaptation The Twilight People (1972), with John Ashley and Pam Grier; The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) with Burt Lancaster, Michael York, and, Barbara Carrera; The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), with Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, and Fairuza Balk; Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002), with Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, and Steve Buscemi; and the animated movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013).

In television, this has included arcs on StuGo, Orphan Black, One Piece, Spliced, BNA: Brand New Animal, and South Park. References on specific TV episodes have included Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (the episode “The Begotten”), Sliders (“This Slide of Paradise”), The Simpsons (“Treehouse of Horror XIII”), Batman: The Animated Series (“Tyger, Tyger”), Pinky and the Brain (“Brainwashed”), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (“What’s Michelangelo Good For?”), and The Venture Bros (“Venture Libre”).

There have also been a few examples in music—including the Diana Ross song “Eaten Alive,” where the music video shows her acting as the Panther Woman.

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man (1897)

The H.G. Wells 1897 novel The Invisible Man actually started out that same year as a serialized story (in Pearson’s Weekly). The main character in the book, a scientist, has managed to change his body so that it no longer reflects or absorbs light. However, while the process gives him the outstanding ability to be invisible—he then finds that he can no longer switch himself back. When the problem drives him mad, he starts terrorizing the locals.

As one of his inspirations for the story, Wells credited “The Perils of Invisibility,” one of the Bab Ballads by W.S. Gilbert. Another influence was said to be Plato’s Republic, which impacted Wells as a younger reader.

Find multiple editions of The Invisible Man

What The Invisible Man inspired

The ideas found in Wells’ book The Invisible Man have inspired lots of stories in different media in the decades since.

A couple of examples on page includes Donald E. Westlake’s crime novel Smoke, and Blue Balliett’s children’s mystery novel The Wright 3.

The comic book mini-series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, from the creative team of writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O’Neill, includes a version of The Invisible Man. (As well as several more characters pulled from other literary works). Other comic book adaptations of the original novel came from Classics Illustrated in the 1950s and Marvel Comics in the 1970s. As far as comics borrowing the idea, a pretty famous example comes from the Fantastic Four member Invisible Woman.

Of course, there have been lots more examples on the big screen, taking the concept in different directions. This includes the Universal Monsters movie directed by James Whale that came out in 1933 (leading to a series of sequels—none of which was about the same person). The list of movies also includes the Japanese film The Invisible Man Appears (1949), Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), The Amazing Transparent Man (1960), Mad Monster Party? (1967), The Invisible Kid (1988), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Hollow Man (2000), The Hotel Transylvania animated movies, and The Invisible Man (2020).

On the small screen, television examples include The Invisible Man (1958 TV series), The Invisible Man (1975) series which sort of led to the series Gemini Man (1976), and the Sci-Fi Channel’s The Invisible Man (2000-2002). And more invisible characters have shown up on episodes of Fantasy Island, Batman: The Animated Series, and Josie and the Pussycats.

The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds (1898)

Wells’ alien-invasion novel The War of the Worlds describes a terrifying incursion from Mars. Originally serialized in more than one publication, the final work is a milestone in science fiction. Considered an exploration of the fears of invasion—which, of course, can happen in real life (the threat isn’t just from outer space)—the novel shows details of how the danger spreads until normal resources and processes are disrupted.

Find multiple editions of The War of the Worlds online

What The War of the Worlds inspired

The original book has, of course, inspired many adaptations plus similar stories, sequels, and expansions on the original ideas. Over the years, The War of the Worlds has inspired books, movies, television projects, video games, sequels, and more.

Just some of the books exploring different angles of extraterrestrial invasion includes Childhood’s End (1953) by Arthur C. Clarke, The Body Snatchers (1955) by Jack Finney, The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham, Lagoon (2016) by Nnedi Okorafor, and The Three-Body Problem (2016) written by Liu Cixin and translated by Ken Liu.

Wesley Chu has written several related novels about extraterrestrial invasion. This includes his Tao novels:

The Lives of Tao (2013)
The Deaths of Tao (2014)
The Rebirths of Tao (2015)
The Days of Tao (2016)

And Chu continues that story in his Io series with:

The Rise of Io (2016)
The Fall of Io (2018)

Another series of novels about extraterrestrial invasion includes The Southern Reach novels by Jeff Vandermeer. This includes three books published in the same year, with the next book coming ten years later:

Annihilation (2014)
Authority (2014)
Acceptance (2014)
Absolution (2024)

Among the many movies, the first straight film adaptation, 1953’s The War of the Worlds, was produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin, and starred Gene Barry. A 2005 movie adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, starred Tom Cruise. A 2025 movie, directed by Rich Lee, stars rapper Ice Cube.

Other movies about aliens visiting us include the classics The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Village of the Damned (1960), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Thing (1982), Coneheads (1993), and Men in Black (1997). There are also more recent titles like, The World’s End (2013), Arrival (2016), A Quiet Place (2018), Lilo & Stitch (2002), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Prey (2022).

A film that offered a different angle was Alien Nation (1988). This was a buddy cop movie where extraterrestrials have immigrated to Earth—and the two police investigators come from both sides of the dividing line. The movie inspired a TV show, a number of TV movies, as well as some novels and comic books.

Now that we’ve mentioned television, earlier TV examples include The Invaders (1967-1968) My Favorite Martian (1963-1966), Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), ALF (1986-1990), and the original V mini-series and series episodes (starting in 1983). More recent alien interactions on TV include Alien: Earth (2025), Resident Alien (2019—with its fourth season announced as the last), The X-Files (1993-2018), Roswell (1999-2002), Ben 10 (the original series was 2005-2008), Torchwood (2006-2011), Falling Skies (2010 - 2014), Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996), and lots more.

The War of the Worlds also has a musical adaptation: In 1978, musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne pulled together an assortment of creative talent for an album. This rock opera, narrated by legendary actor Richard Burton, included an assortment of musicians plus an orchestra. In addition to the album, there were also live tours. In 2019, the rock opera was revisited with an “immersive experience.” Opening in London, this live theater version included virtual reality and holograms.

The First Men in the Moon

The First Men in the Moon (1901)

Referred to as a “scientific romance,” The First Men in the Moon followed two men from Earth who travel to the Moon where they meet these insect-like creatures who live there.

For this book, Wells was only the latest storyteller talking about going from Earth into outer space. In fact, him calling his Moon inhabitants “Selenites” was the same word that Jules Verne had used in his books From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Around the Moon (1869). (There were even earlier examples of stories involving the moon.)

Where Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds was about outer space coming down to us here on Earth, The First Men in the Moon detailed the opposite—it was about us leaving Earth to go out into space. Once again, the author was using these otherworldly story elements as a method to discuss humanity and our interactions with nature and each other.

Find multiple editions of The First Men in the Moon online

What The First Men in the Moon inspired

There have been a few direct adaptations of the book…

First off was the black & white 1919 silent movie The First Men in the Moon. That was directed by Bruce Gordon and J.L.V. Leigh. (Reportedly. I’ve never seen it.)
Then there was the 1964 British movie. Featuring stop-motion animation from the legendary Ray Harryhausen, that movie was directed by Nathan Juran, and starred Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, and Lionel Jeffries.
The British 2010 television movie The First Men in the Moon was written by and starred Mark Gatiss. (You may remember him from Doctor Who or Sherlock, as well as a number of other roles.)
Reportedly, there was also a 1965 comic book adaptation of The First Men in the Moon from Gold Key. (Good luck finding that in one of those comic book collection long boxes!)

In the years since then, just some of the other stories about us leaving the Earth include the books Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary (2021), Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation Trilogy (starting in the 1950s), Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (1950), Octavia E. Butler’s Xenogenesis series (1980s), C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Nnedi Okorafor’s The Binti trilogy (starting in 2015), Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979), Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan (1959), and the first volume of Alan Moore’s and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (beginning in 1999).

Other movies about “Earth people going into outer space” include Forbidden Planet (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Black Hole (1979), the movie Alien and all its sequels (1979 and on...), Apollo 13 (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Galaxy Quest (1999), Moon (2009), The Martian (2015), Stowaway (2021), Slingshot (2024), plus many more.

The list of TV shows would include Space: 1999 (starting in 1975, series about the whole moon traveling through space), Star Trek (starting in the 1960s, with lots of follow-up shows over the years), Battlestar Galactica (starting in the 1970s, and also revisited years later), Lost in Space (1960s), Farscape (1999), Babylon 5 (1994), Firefly (2002), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 show about character who also hasd lots of adaptations over the years), Futurama (1999), and lots more.

Just some of the comic books involving space travel include LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford, Sentient by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta, Invisible Kingdom by G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward, 2001: A Space Odyssey by Jack Kirby (who built out on some of the movie’s ideas), Outland by Peter Hyams and Jim Steranko, and The Adventures of Tintin: Explorers on the Moon by Hergé. Also wanted to point out the surprising Green Lantern story Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell—because they took that spin-off to places you cannot possibly expect.

H.G. Wells: Celebrating the Father of Science Fiction

Remembering H.G. Wells as we mark his birthday—born September 21, 1866.

The prolific writer predicted so much that today we take for granted.