Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Time Machine

Too slow of a plot and bland characters for me to enjoy. Whilst I can appreciate it was the development of time travel and added to the sci fi genre, it just wasnt my style. Thank god it was so short

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gcoulsxn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was a reread and it was even better the second time. I annotated this time and found so much joy while doing so! This book is a really interesting take on utopian and dystopian societies and how they relate to each other.

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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m_hates_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Time Machine, HG Wells

4/5

The Time Machine wasn’t as difficult to follow as I thought it might be. The language was easy to follow and decently simple - the version I own also has endnotes explaining any contextual references that might not make sense to someone reading it today, which were helpful.

It’s fast paced and short, so you don’t have the chance to get bored - I’d say it’s pretty good for if your not really familiar with 19th century fiction (which, outside of it being part of my English GCSE, I am not).

I like the concept. Most novels/novellas set in/about travelling to the future focus on technological advancement and cultural shifts, where The Time Machine is about an age after the death of our society - it is about the descendants of humans. This makes it truly timeless as the future shown in it is one that will never be seen by man.

There’s nothing in particular I didn’t like, but there’s not much especially noteworthy I did like - I enjoyed the book and I think it has some interesting stuff to say about a potential future of the human race. I understand why it has the reputation it does, and it is (one of) the first ‘science fiction’ novel(s) ever written and so Wells does deserve some credit for aiding in the creation of the modern sci-fi genre.

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norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The Time Machine by H G Wells is not a great choice for anyone with existential dread and fears for the future. That being said, I enjoyed the way the Eloi and Morlock diverged so far from one another to become creatures far removed from modern humans. The Eloi society is an interesting twist on the hopes we have for what our future will become. They're happy, but they're also ignorant. The narrator is hard to like, and often refers to his love interest as childlike, which is unnerving at best. Overall an interesting book, but not one of my favorites.

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