Passionate, headstrong, and fiercely independent, twenty-one-year-old Ann Veronica Stanley is determined to live her life to the fullest. When her autocratic father attempts to curb her academic ambitions and social experiences, she escapes her stodgy, conventional world and sets out alone to make a fresh start in London. There, enrolled as a student of biology, she discovers a flourishing unknown world of intellectuals, suffragettes, socialists and free love. But the true cost of her new freedom becomes clear only when she falls for the brilliant, charismatic—and married—academic, Capes.

A sensation when it was first published in 1909 due to its groundbreaking treatment of female sexuality, Ann Veronica is a fascinating and optimistic look at one woman’s quest for personal liberation in a male-dominated society.

H.G. Wells was known as the father of science fiction–but his creative geniusencompassed far more than a single literary genre. He was also a visionary, asatirist, a sociologist, and an historian.

This audio anthology contains some of Wells’ lesser-known stories and is thethird in a series produced by Raconteurs Audio in collaboration with SpokenRealms.

This collection includes:

The Argonauts of the Air read by Tim BruceThe Treasure in the Forest read by Nigel PattersonA Slip Under the Microscope read by Liam GerrardThe Temptation of Harringay read by Malk WilliamsThe Reconciliation read by Greg WaglandThe Catastrophe read by Tim BruceThe Truth About Pyecraft read by James GilliesMr Skelmersdale in Fairyland read by Liam GerrardMr Brisher’s Treasure read by Malk WilliamsThe New Accelerator read by Nigel PattersonIn the Modern Vein–An Unsympathetic Love Story’ read by Greg WaglandUnder the Knife read by James Gillies

The world of young Mr. Lewisham is one day turned upside down when he meets and falls in love with Ethel Henderson, a young woman from London who is visiting relatives in Sussex. Their brief and innocent rendezvous has significant implications when Lewisham’s job is threatened. Some time later, Lewisham moves to London, where he decides to go search of Ethel, but finding her proves to be more complicated than expected …

This book is said to closely resemble events in H. G. Wells’s own life.

In the summer of 1921, a disenchanted journalist escapes the rat race for a drive in the country. But Mr. Barnstaple’s trip exceeds his expectations when he and other motorists are swept 3,000 years into the future. The inadvertent time travelers arrive in a world that corresponds exactly to Barnstaple’s ideals: a utopian state, free of crime, poverty, war, disease, and bigotry. Unfettered by the constraints of government and organized religion, the citizens lead rich, meaningful lives, passed in pursuit of their creative fancies. Barnstaple’s traveling companions, however, quickly contrive a scheme to remake the utopia in the image of their twentieth-century world.

A century after its initial publication, H. G. Wells’s novel offers an enduringly relevant look at an ideal society. Conceived in the aftermath of World War I, it reflects the failings of human nature but offers hope for the future, when men and women may live like gods.

Herbert George Wells was one of the most prolific and visionary British writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. H. G. Wells, as he is universally known, is now best remembered for his science fiction novels, although he wrote across many genres, including nonfiction. His fiction embraces history, science fiction, horror, satire, fantasy, and social commentary. Wells was also a futurist, foreseeing air travel, tanks (as in “The Land Ironclads”–part of this anthology) space travel, nuclear weapons, and even satellite television. Amongst his writings are dozens of short stories; some are very well known, others less so.

When planning this collection, Raconteurs sought stories that we enjoyed ourselves and which embody the range of H. G. Wells’s imagination and talent. This collection of thirteen short stories includes gothic horror, fantasy, ghost stories, science fiction, satire, and stories of domestic and social commentary. It is a collection that we hope will intrigue and entertain you–and leave you wanting to hear more.

H. G. Wells’s Short Stories – Volume One is produced by Raconteurs in partnership with Spoken Realms and includes:

“The Magic Shop” – read by James Gillies”The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes” – read by Nigel Patterson”The Door in the Wall” – read by Greg Wagland”The Man Who Could Work Miracles” – read by Malk Williams”The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham” – read by Tim Bruce”The Diamond Maker” – read by Liam Gerrard”Miss Winchelsea’s Heart” – read by Helen Lloyd”A Moonlight Fable” – read by James Gillies”The Red Room” – read by Nigel Patterson”The Star” – read by Greg Wagland”The Land Ironclads” – read by Malk Williams”The Jilting of Jane” – read by Tim Bruce”The Cone” – read by Liam Gerrard

Raconteurs Audio and Spoken Realms team up once again to bring this second collection of short stories by H. G. Wells to audio. Written between 1894 and 1902, this anthology of thirteen stories delves into botany, flying machines, travel, distant lands and customs, virology, magic, taxidermy, journalism–and there’s even a ghost story.

The collection contains:

“The Dream of Armageddon” – read by Greg Wagland”The Sea Raiders” – read by Nigel Patterson”In the Avu Observatory” – read by Malk Williams”The Plattner Story” – read by Liam Gerrard”The Stolen Bacillus” – read by Tim Bruce”Aepyornis Island” – read by James Gillies”The Purple Pileus” – read by Helen Lloyd”The Flowering of a Strange Orchid” – read by Greg Wagland”The Moth” – read by Nigel Patterson”The Crystal Egg” – read by Malk Williams”The Triumphs of a Taxidermist” – read by Liam Gerrard”The Obliterated Man” – read by Tim Bruce”The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost” – read by James Gillies

Warning: “Aepyornis Island” includes words which, though in common usage at the time it was written, may now cause offence.

This 1911 collection of thirty-three stories, selected and revised by the author from amongst his huge output of short fiction, includes tales of comedy, horror, monsters, and strange worlds. In his introduction, Wells writes that the book brings together, “All the short stories by me that I care for any one to read again,” and that, “No short story of mine of the slightest merit is excluded from this volume.”

These two short stories by H. G. Wells display his gift for creating thought provoking themes. “The Diamond Maker” is a story about a chance encounter between two men who must then decide whether they can trust each other. “The Door in the Wall” is a fascinating tale about a successful politician who struggles to merge the beauty of his imagined world with the rationality of real life.

Written in 1924, The Dream tells the story of a man from a Utopian future who dreams the entire life of an Englishman from birth to his untimely death. Weaving the lives of Sarnac, a biologist from the year 4,000 A.D., and Harry, a man whose life was ended too soon, Wells creates a mystical connection between two very different time periods. This classic science-fiction novel with a splash of romance has captivated audiences for generations.

Based on H. G. Wells’s own life experience in the drapery trade, this comic novel presents our anti-hero, Alfred Polly, miserable, timid, and without direction, but with a gift for creating incomprehensible conversational “epithets” to express himself. No one quite understands what he has just said to them … Was it a compliment? An insult? Was it profound or absurd?

The novel opens by telling us, “He hated Foxbourne, he hated Foxbourne High Street, he hated his shop and his wife and his neighbours—every blessed neighbour—and with indescribable bitterness he hated himself.” The story unfolds from Mr. Polly’s early education, his courtship and marriage, to his eventual discovery of purpose in life.

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in Pearson’s Weekly in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body’s refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light and thus becomes invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse it.

The gripping and entertaining tale of terror and suspense as well as a potent Faustian allegory of hubris and science run amok, The Invisible Man endures as one of the signature stories in the literature of science fiction. A brilliant scientist uncovers the secret to invisibility, but his grandiose dreams and the power he unleashes cause him to spiral into intrigue, madness, and murder. The inspiration for countless imitations and film adaptations, The Invisible Man is as remarkable and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago.

Produced by Devin Lawrence in Vrndavana
Mixed and assembled by Macc Kay in Bangkok
Musical consultant Alex Franchi in Milan
Production executive Avalon Giuliano in London
iCON Intern Eden Giuliano in Delhi

Music By AudioNautix With Their Kind Permission

©2020 Icon Audio Arts (P) 2020 Icon Audio Arts LLC

Classic Science Horror novel, by an early master. When a med student switches to physics, he becomes obsessed with the properties of light. His research leads him to the discovery of the secret of invisibility. Now how can he use this unique attribute to his advantage? What power may he wield? What terror can he inflict?

On a freezing February day, a stranger emerges from out of the gray to request a room at a local provincial inn. Who is this out-of-season traveler? More confounding is the thick mask of bandages obscuring his face. Why does he disguise himself in this manner and keep himself hidden away in his room?

Aroused by trepidation and curiosity, the local villagers bring it upon themselves to find the answers. What they discover is a man trapped in a terror of his own creation and a chilling reflection of the unsolvable mysteries of their own souls.

In the tradition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein comes another undisputed classic of science fiction and horror to stir the imagination and conscience. It isconsidered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction horror stories ever written.

Englishman Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked on the open ocean. When a passing ship takes him aboard and revives him, things are starting to look less gloomy for the young scientist. Yet little does he know things about to get much worse. He is taken to an abandoned island occupied only by Dr. Moreau, a disgraced English scientist for his unethical treatment of live creatures. Prendick finds that the Doctor has been up to old habits, using the island’s animals to create animal-human hybrids. Prendick must learn to survive among these creatures, while uncovering even more deadly mysteries about Doctor and the strange inhabitants of the island in this classic sci-fi tale.

Written in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau was an instant sensation that went on to inspire a series of movies. It was meant as a commentary on Darwin’s recently published theory of evolution, which had riveted the world of science and therefore, of science fiction. While gene-splicing and bioengineering are common practices today, readers are still amazed by Wells’s haunting vision and the ethical questions he raised a century before our time.

Shipwrecked on a Pacific island, gentleman naturalist Edward Prendick finds Dr. Moreau, a scientist expelled from his homeland for performing cruel vivisection experiments. Here Moreau has found the freedom to continue his work, and Prendick soon becomes involved. Dr. Moreau’s project is to “humanize” animals by torturous surgical transplant, creating hideous creatures with manlike intelligence. But as the cruelly-enforced order on Moreau’s island dissolves, the true consequences of his meddling emerge.

Having coined the phrase “the war that will end war,” H. G. Wells was disillusioned by the World War I peace settlement. Convinced that humanity needed to awaken to the instability of the world order and remember lessons from the past, the author of numerous science fiction classics set out to write about history. Wells hoped to remind mankind of its common past, provide it with a basis for international patriotism, and guide it to renounce war. The work became immensely popular, earning him world renown and solidifying his reputation as one of the most influential voices of his time.

Topics range from the world before man and the first living things to civilizations, religions, wars, and everything in between. Wells truly covers the whole of human history.

When the Time Traveller courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700–and everything has changed.  In another, more utopian age, creatures seemed to dwell together in perfect harmony.  The Time Traveller thought he could study these marvelous beings–unearth their secret and then retum to his own time–until he discovered that his invention, his only avenue of escape, had been stolen.  

H.G. Well’s famous novel of one man’s astonishing journey beyond the conventional limits of the imagination first appeared in 1895.  It won him immediate recognition, and has been regarded ever since as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction.

An English scientist, known only as the Time Traveler, constructs a machine that allows him to move back and forth through different periods of time. Testing this machine, the man travels forward to AD 802,701. Here he discovers a lazy, non disciplined group of people who do not seem interested in anything. Thinking he has seen all he needs for his research, he decides to travel back home. Upon returning to where he left his time machine, he discovers an intelligent, violent group of people called the Morlocks, have stolen it. Seeing that this futuristic society has more secrets than he realized, the Time Traveler must find his machine and travel back to his time before an untimely end at the hands of the Morlocks.

Originally published in 1895, H. G. Wells’ unequivocally visionary tale popularized the concept of time travel. Set in Victorian England, it tells the story of a scientist and gentleman inventor who builds a machine capable of transporting a person through time, which he calls the fourth dimension. Propelling himself to the year 802,701, the man is delighted by what he finds: the Eloi, an elfin race who seem to have replaced the toil and suffering of the world with beauty and contentment. But not all is well in the world of the Eloi. What remains of this once-great culture now lives in fear of the terrifying Morlocks, an underground race who threaten the time traveler’s return home.

H. G. Wells was a pioneer of the science fiction genre. This hugely influential novel, which questions our place on Earth, weaves in his ideas of sociology and the social impact of industrialization.

The Time Traveler first steps out of his magnificent time-transport machine in the year 802,700–more than 800,000 years beyond his own era. The brave explorer finds himself on a slowly dying Earth populated by a race of slender pacifists called the Eloi and decides to study this lush land of flower people before returning to his own age. These pacifists, he discovers, have built their wealth on the backs of a slave class forced to live below ground–the Morlocks. As the conflict between the classes surfaces, the Time Traveler finds that his only means of escape, his time machine, has been stolen.

Wells’ amazing view of the future, propelled forward from his own Victorian era to the present, serves both as classic science fiction and as a parable of the chasm between the working-class suffering and the upper-class privilege of his day. Wells’ remarkable storytelling and provocative insight make this terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow an enthralling tale sure to capture readers everywhere.

There were signs that H. G. Wells wasn’t quite sure how to end his famous story The War of the Worlds, which featured an invasion from the planet Mars. He certainly knew how to do the story itself and pointed out Martians were highly advanced over humans in their technology. Wells used an unnamed narrator telling the tale in first person with input from his brother. The book was published in 1898, and even with the passing of years, there are no present day traces of life on Mars, a reality that would have undoubtedly disappointed the author. Some of his thoughts about the other planet were of a strictly imaginary nature. In any case, he, like many others of today, would undoubtedly ask the question, “Can prophecy someday become reality?” It brings up a personal reaction … are you optimistic? … pessimistic? Make your own choice. No matter what you are, either one can provide you with some very listenable material in the two premises involved: Book one, The Coming of the Martians, and book two, The Earth Under the Martians.

Sci-fi has been an extremely interesting and exhilarating form of literature created by a number of top-notch writers. They owe a debt of sorts to Wells for leading the way. Listen now to understand more fully.

“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own…” So begins The War of the Worlds, the science fiction classic that first proposed the possibility that intelligent life exists on other planets.

This spellbinding tale describes the Martian invasion of Earth. Following the landing in England of ten huge and indefatigable creatures, complete chaos erupts. Using their fiery heat rays and monstrous strength, the heartless aliens threaten the future existence of all life on Earth.

This classic chiller, when adapted for radio in 1938 by Orson Welles, was realistic enough to cause widespread panic throughout the United States.

A shooting star seen in the skies over Victorian England heralds an alien invasion. The Martians, in need of resources, have been shot from Mars via a huge space gun and have landed in Southern England, where they quickly overwhelm its inhabitants. As the battle for Earth begins, our unnamed narrator struggles to return to his wife amidst the fighting and devastation. One of the most widely-read and influential science-fiction novels, War of the Worlds touches on interplanetary travel, evolutionary theory, British imperialism, and the fears and prejudices of Victorian times. First serialized in 1897, it has been adapted many times, most famously by Orson Welles and company in the form of a prank radio news alert in 1938 that caused panic among listeners.

Graham, an 1890s radical pamphleteer, was a young man when he finally resorted to medication for his insomnia and fell into a deep sleep. He wakes two hundred years later, still youthful, to an age of great marvels and scientific achievement—and a world whose strange underlying economy is that it is all his private property. By inheritance and the compounding of interest, Graham the Sleeper has become the sole, final owner of everything and is revered as a leader, with a council that dictates to the world in his name.

This science fiction classic was called by Wells himself “one of the most ambitious of my books.” A stirringly prophetic novel, it envisioned flying, advertising, television, banking, labor organization, and totalitarianism, all within the framework of an exciting personal adventure story.