H. G. Wells Sci-Fi Omnibus: Four Great Novels cover art

H. G. Wells Sci-Fi Omnibus: Four Great Novels

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

H. G. Wells Sci-Fi Omnibus: Four Great Novels

By: H. G. Wells
Narrated by: Greg Wagland
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £21.80

Buy Now for £21.80

H. G. Wells is rightly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the science fiction genre. This compilation of nearly 20 hours' duration comprises four of his finest sci-fi works, and they really need little introduction.

They are, in order: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. They are complete and unabridged and narrated by Greg Wagland.

Public Domain (P)2015 Magpie Audio Science Fiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

From a review of The First Men in the Moon, one of the four novels of this omnibus edition: "This novel may be one of the lesser works by the socially conscious Wells, but that doesn't take away from the impact of this audio production. Much of the credit for that goes to the full-bodied British voice of narrator Greg Wagland... This audiobook illustrates how even an old novel can be given new life on audio." (AudioFile, 2015)
All stars
Most relevant
Fantastic narration, well worth a listen. Thoroughly enjoyable, especially for those who like material from the same period, like Derek Jacobs's Sherlock Holmes for example.

Recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
H G Wells not only invented every single one of the classic sci fi tropes. He also firmly established sci fi's traditional function as social commentary. Each of these short novels has that function, but I was made most aware of it with the first one. I don't think I've read War of the Worlds since I was at school, and it struck me at once - the Martians were in fact all but unnecessary! The story was truly about Victorian English suburban complacency; possibly the most complete assurance of security that any people have ever enjoyed. At the time, no power on Earth could threaten that security, so Wells imagined an unearthly power.

All the other stories have that same applicability to that particular time and place, which may be why it's always been so difficult to successfully adapt them for the screen. And they are all utterly gripping, which is why filmmakers keep trying

The critique of pure unreason

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
HG Wells remains pleasantly readable. However, it is slightly spoiled byGreg Wagland's insistence on a rising tone at the end of every phrase. If you can ignore this, you will enjoy these stories.

Four great stories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Struggled to finish over half of the stories. May be me as I prefer films

Sue L

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although the language is old fashioned and very descriptive it doesn't take away from the essence of good story telling.

great stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews