Rating: 
Summary: Classic work of science fiction from the 1890's
Review: Anybody that wishes to get a balanced understanding of the science fiction genre ought to read its classics. This would include H.G Wells and Jules Verne at the very least. I have read (and alas not reviewed) Verne's "20'000 Leagues under the Sea" and, "Journey to the Center of the Earth." I have not read Wells' other famous science fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds."It is unfortunate that the novel is so short (about 100 pages) because it has a very interesting premise. The plausibility of the time machine suffers somewhat due to the vague description of the machine itself and no hint at how it might work. Properly speaking, the novel is not hard science fiction (heavily technology or science oriented). Rather, Wells uses the plot device of time travel to make a social/political point. The Time Traveler (one of my biggest problems with the novel is that the protagonist's name is never given) wishes to travel to the future to see what it might be like. He travels roughly to the year 800,000 AD... What he finds is a strange fulfillment of the Victorian ideal of Progress. The Traveler tries to figure out different theories about what happened; the people seem primitive and London is gone (it has changed into a forest). Wells, through the Traveler, theorizes that the people he sees (the Eloi) were the rich of the world that had made their world so comfortable that there were no challenges to keep them active and they soon fell into a sort of pseudo-paradise. Meanwhile, the Morlocks (those who live under the ground) were thought to the workers who made the paradise of the Eloi possible in the past. However, with the passage of time, the Morlocks became more powerful and started to view the Eloi as prey. The end of the novel is poor, in my view. The Traveler steps into one of the ancient buildings nearby looking for his Time Machine, which went missing shortly after his arrival in the future. After a brief struggle with the Morlocks, he travels millions of years in the future and sees that man has ceased to exist and witnesses what he thinks to be the end of time. Finally, he returns to the 19th century and tells his friends about his adeventures The novel, by modern standards, is much too short and there is not enough dialogue (this is partially due to the format of the story: The time traveler is telling what happened to him to a group of acquaintances). It is nonetheless one of the early attempts at what is now called science fiction and its brevity makes its antiquated style easily bearable.
Rating:
Summary: AHEAD OF ITS TIME!
Review: I've never read any books by H.G. Wells. However after seeing previews for the upcoming Guy Pearce movie The Time Machine (which doesn't seem to have much in common with the novel) my interest was gained. The Time Machine is actually more of a novella than a novel. It clocks in at 85 pages in the volume I have. But it's a fun and fast paced read. The most shocking part of the story is that it was written in the late 1800's and yet it reads like it could have been written in the present. The prose is crisp and direct and doesn't lose the reader. The ideas are even more impressive considering they are over 100 years old and still hold up better than many time-travel books I have read lately. So by saying that The Time Machine is probably the father of the time-travel genre, I have to say that it is also a fun adventure with a surprisingly sharp ending twist. The story surrounds the first-person narrative of a man who builds a time-machine and travels into the distant (800,000 AD) future where man has evolved into two races: the gentle Eloi and the hostile Morlocks. Beyond exciting adventure (trips into deep caverns, the loss of the time machine, battles in burning forests) the story does make general comments on the society we live in and how it may change around us...subtlely and dangerously. All in all I enjoyed this story and I plan on reading other offerings by H.G. Wells who is truly a great science fiction writer.
Rating:
Summary: The Time Machine
Review: I am reviewing The Time Machine. The Time Machine is written by H.G. Wells, it is a very good book. The author uses a wide variety of vocabulary. He uses metaphors and generally gets the point across fairly well, despite the confusing topic. The Time Machine is basically a window into the future. Wells is showing us what he thinks the world will be like in the future if we don¡¦t change our ways. That society will divide itself into two, the ¡§corrupt capitalist¡¨, and the ¡§moral people¡¨. The corrupt portion of society is represented by the Morlocks. The Morlocks are ugly creatures that live deep underground that only come out to prey on the innocent surface dwellers. You know that he is trying to convey that these were the business people by the use of machines. The Morlocks have many types of machines that supply the surface dwellers with clothes and all the supplies they need. The Morlocks only go up to the surface at night to ¡§harvest¡¨ the surface dwellers.
Wells represents the moral part of society as the surface dwellers. The surface dwellers live in an ideal utopia with nothing to fear during the day, but as night approaches are scared to venture outside. This is a very good metaphor for how society is now. The ¡§moral¡¨ people of today are scared to go in the night to the more crime- inflicted parts of society. The Morlock society is the gangs and the streets they live on, and the surface dwellers are the law-abiding people that go to work everyday. The Time Machine is a very good book if you are into opinions, because this book is really just one mans opinion of how the world will be in the future. Even though Wells takes a long time to get to the main plot of his story I think that it all adds to the suspense of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone that is into science fiction. ....
Rating:
Summary: "Imaginative"
Review: H.G. Wells "Time Machine" is an enduring classic, which still has much to offer readers a hundred years after its first publication. The sheer depth of speculation and scientific theory throughout this work is impressive to say the least, and will invariably open new corridors of thought to eager readers. The vivid imagery and gripping narrative will excite and entertain all that read this impressive, concise, and compelling work. It is obvious, however, that H.G. Wells was deeply rooted in the Darwinist and Marxist milieu of the times; he seems to justify communism and totally acquiesce in the theory of evolution. While the apparent theme of this work may be a bit unappealing to fundamentalist Christians, it remains nevertheless, even to those who disagree with it, a remarkable achievement in English literature. This is certainly a work worth reading; it is a classic that will always be at the fore of science-fiction novels.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS NOT THE MOVIE-TIE IN
Review: I am a big H.G. Wells, THE TIME MACHINE; fan... If you are looking for this novel to be the official Motion Picture Tie in just because it has Guy Pierce as the Time Traveller. All of you will be disappointed. I have to rate this a 2... For several reasons... 1. The cover of the novel is misleading.
2. This novel again has nothing to do with the March 8, 2002 movie release.
3. Very misleading Foward by Simon Wells. The reason to give this a 2 is clear. It's misleading but it's still Wells... The orginal novel. Guys save yourselves money if you really want the Time Machine novel buy the Bantam edition. ISBN 0-553-21351-2 US people pay 2.95 for the same novel... Minus the Simon Wells, introduction which is nothing more than bragging rights to the new movie. Buy the cheaper book... save your money... by not buying this unfortunate money making edition of a classic. Simon wells, is not worth 2 dollars more.
Rating: 
Summary: The Time Machine
Review: Would you ever want to travel in to the future? In this book a person who calls himself the timetraveler travels into the future. Where ape-like creatures called morlocks steal his time machine. The morlocks herd people like cattle and eat them. The morlocks hide his machine in the base of a bronze statue. He visits two other places. I will not tell you about those places. There are no animals in this story. But lots of bones (when you visualize)(they're probably from the helpless victims of the morlocks) I think this is a very good book because the author was trying to warn people that things might not be as we expected in the future.
Near the end he travels in time to bring back proof of what he saw. I will not tell what happens in the very end. That would be cheating.
Rating:
Summary: Good Philosophy, Excellent Story, also read SB 1 or God
Review: This is a masterpiece of creative writing and venture in time hundreds of thousands of years forward. What the protaganist finds is amazingly entertaining, Peace and Harmony. If you are interested in material as such this is the Icon. The Name H G Wells speaks for himself. I also recommend a book that goes back in time to the beginning and only 29,000 years into the future, where people have evolved into...They wish to return for us, Title is SB 1 or God by Karl Mark Maddox a super read.
Rating:
Summary: Time traveling
Review: The time machine is a good book. It is about a scientist who thinks he has discovered a way to travel in time. No one believes him though. He finaly makes the time machine and starts to travel in time. He is trying to find out how the world will come to an end. His travel a couple thousand years at a time. He sees amazing things. He finaly gets to about year 801,701. Something amazing happens. I think everyone should read this book to find out what he saw 800,000 years from know.
Rating:
Summary: Way too short...
Review: ...but your imagination will fill in the rest. A compelling story about a 19th century gentleman who travels forward in time to the year 802,701, and encounters a world transformed. Vivid descriptive text and a suspenseful story line, interspersed with the narrator's political and social interpretations of what has become of mankind, make this novel a journey for the reader as well. Don't wait for the upcoming movie...read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Sci-Fi
Review: A wonderful read. A classic for the ages. God help us, though, I hear Hollywood's going to make a movie based loosely on it.
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