I'm always looking for ways to add a little variety to my reading. That desire had led me to, among other things, rediscover science fiction classics and embark on fun reading projects. Recently I found a way to combine those two specific activities into one by undertaking a classic science fiction reading project.
The impetus for this idea came from the acquisition of a new, lavish edition of two science fiction classics by one of the grandfathers of science fiction. The Time Machine & The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells is a single, slip-cased hardback that includes two of the influential author's classics. This new edition comes from The Folio Society, publisher of high-quality, upscale editions of literary classics—the editions book lovers turn to when they want to treat themselves to something special. This elegant volume features wonderful illustrations by Grahame Baker-Smith, who also did the illustrations for another Folio edition by Wells, The War of the Worlds. (Both editions bear similar covers and look fantastic side-by-side.) The new Wells edition includes an introduction by Michael Moorcock who puts the two classic stories in historical perspective.
So, it was with greedy hands and much anticipation that I conjured up the following readerly pairings with these science fiction classics.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells + The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
The Time Machine depicts the adventure of an unnamed man, referred to as the Time Traveler, who in the opening scene describes to his friends the notion that time is the fourth dimension, alongside length, breadth, and thickness. He further informs them that he has created a way to travel along that fourth dimension with the assistance of a machine of his own making, the results of years of experimentation and work. When they see him a week later, he is disheveled, hungry, and exhausted. The Traveler begins to tell them of his adventures into the future, specifically the faraway year of 802,701. What he expected to find was mankind in an advanced age of enlightenment and information. What he actually finds is that mankind has been divided into two societies: the decadent, lazy, easily-fatigued and childlike Eloi (including a woman named Weena, whom the traveler befriends), who roam the land; and the Morlocks, ape-like brutes who endlessly toil underground and only emerge under the cover of darkness. When the Traveler's time machine is taken, he finds himself stranded and forced to confront the dangerous Morlocks.
As Moorcock reminds readers in the introduction, The Time Machine, despite its reputation, was not the first time-travel story when it originally appeared in 1895. That doesn't lessen its enduring appeal in any way, however, as my re-read of this marvelous story proved. Much can be said about this time travel classic. It can easily stand alone as one of the wildest adventures of its time. It's no less interesting today to see the Traveler move about the strange landscape, discovering what mankind has become. It also stands as an examination of the separation of working classes; the elite enjoying the literal fruits of the land while the workers toil in the darkness underground. Wells even uses the terms "Haves" and "Have-Nots" in the text to describe the social separation. These are perennial and relatable themes in modern society, so much so that a new television adaptation of The Time Machine is in the works.
Speaking of not-firsts…Stephen Baxter's recent novel The Massacre of Mankind was an authorized sequel to Wells' The War of the Worlds, but it's not the first Wells sequel he's written. Back in 1995, a notable 100 years after Wells wrote The Time Machine, Baxter wrote The Time Ships, a sequel to Wells' time travel classic. After re-reading Well's time travel classic, it seemed like a great time to read Baxter's follow-up.
The Time Ships depicts the further adventures of the time traveler and picks up right where The Time Machine leaves off, even affording a little overlap. Here we meet the traveler back at home in 1891, but determined to launch himself back to the future of 802,701 in order to save Weena from her supposed fate that occurred on his first journey. When he travels forward through the timestream a second time, however, he notices that the progression of Earth's future has taken a decidedly different path. Instead of Earth having a single timeline, it actually has a multitude of timelines. It is along these multiple timelines that the traveler experiences his new wild adventures, which include a Morlock sidekick, a trip to his own past, and trips to the very far past and future.
The first thing that stands out about Baxter's story is how seamlessly it integrates with the original material—especially when read back-to-back. The writing style, too, fits right in with Wells' voice. Baxter, being a hard science fiction writer with a century's worth of additional science at his disposal, also modernizes the science parts of the story, relying a bit on quantum mechanics, all of which is easy explained for the uninitiated. At the same time, The Time Ships one-ups the scale of The Time Machine, dealing with millions of years instead of hundreds of thousands. Each of the book's seven parts delineates a set of mini-adventures, if you will, all in keeping with the adventurous feel of the traveler's overall journey. At the same time, especially in the later parts, it conveys a sense of epic proportion that surpasses the original. Additionally, Baxter throws in several nod to Wells and his stories throughout the text for the informed reader. (For the uninformed reader, Wikipedia will do.) In short, it's lots of mind-blowing fun and a can't-miss follow-up read to The Time Machine. (For Extra Credit: Watch the 1960 and 2002 adaptations of The Time Machine. Neither are perfect, but each one maintains the core adventure of the original.)
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells + The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
The other science fiction classic in the new H.G. Wells Folio edition is The Island of Dr. Moreau. First published in 1896 (one year after The Time Machine), it tells the unfortunate series of events that befalls Edward Prendick, who becomes shipwrecked, is presumed dead, but is rescued nearly one year later with a fascinating story to tell. Prendick, it seems, was rescued by a passing boat and left on a remote island in the Pacific with another passenger named Montgomery. Montgomery is a medical doctor who is transporting various animals to a remote island to assist in the research of Doctor Moreau. Moreau, a disgraced scientist who engaged in vivisections, has developed a method to "uplift" animals into makeshift animal/human hybrids. The so-called beasts are tamed, after a fashion, using a combination of fear and a set of Laws by which they strive to live. As Moreau warns, the procedures he uses are not for the squeamish and the results are somewhat temporary. Eventually, without repeated treatments, the Beasts are expected to revert back to their animal ways. Those animalistic ways, whether truly tamped down or in danger of resurfacing, forms the crux of the immediate danger to the few humans on the island.
It's the nature of Moreau's experiments, however, that give this sf classic its discussion-worthy themes. Like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, the story examines the implications of man playing the part of God. Moreau is not only their creator, he's also their judge and jury. His methods, too, deal with animal cruelty, punishment as behavioral modification treatment, and abiding by a set of morals in the absence of repercussions—more fodder for literary deliberations. While the prose of this novel is a bit clunkier than The Time Machine, it does involve themes that are still relevant today.
Now contrast the science fiction story The Island of Dr. Moreauwith the 2013 gothic suspense novel The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd, which takes Wells's classic as inspiration for a clever reimagining. Since it's not a sequel, Shepherd is free to morph Moreau's story in interesting ways. For starters, the protagonist is Juliet Moreau, daughter of the famous disgraced doctor, who works as a cleaning woman in the University medical sciences building, where students study cadavers. Her family, once a member of the elite, has since lost its stature since her father, Doctor Moreau, was ostracized for his stances on vivisection as a valid form of medical science and is now presumed dead. Through a series of unfortunate events, Juliet comes to learn that (1) her father is indeed alive and living on a remote island, and (2) his longtime assistant, Montgomery, is still helping him and currently making a supply run in London. Forced to flee London after an unexpected encounter, Juliet travels with Montgomery back to her father's island, along the way picking up a shipwrecked man named Edward Prince, who harbors secrets of his own.
The similarities to Wells's original story should be obvious. Where The Madman's Daughter differs is that Juliet, Montgomery, and Edward are teenagers, giving Shepherd a way to add teen romance for its intended young adult audience. That does not diminish the science fictional and even horror appeal of the story for other readers, however. The Madman's Daughter addresses the issues of mankind playing god just as well as the original. There's also an extra element, as the title suggests, that Juliet herself may have inherited a little bit of the old man's madness. "Dead flesh and sharpened scalpels didn't bother me. I was my father's daughter, after all," Juliet admits early in the novel. The story also contains more than a few surprises along the way, all of which add up to a swiftly moving story that complements the original.
The Madman's Daughter is the first of a classics-inspired trilogy by Shepherd. The second book, Her Dark Curiosity, is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The third is A Cold Legacy and it's inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I don't need a time machine to see that there will be more "classic + modern" reading projects in my future.
John DeNardo is the founding editor of SF Signal, a Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy blog featuring news, reviews and interviews. You can follow him on Twitter as @sfsignal.
