H. G. Wells Books in Order

H. G. Wells wrote more than fifty books, and his shelf divides cleanly in two: the scientific romances of 1895-1901 - Time Machine, Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, the moon, the island - which invented most of modern science fiction's furniture in seven years, and the comic-social novels of the Edwardian decade - Kipps, Tono-Bungay, The History of Mr Polly - which his contemporaries often ranked higher. Nearly every reader comes for the first shelf. This page runs both, in the order they appeared, and marks where the genre line falls (1895–1916).

Where to start

The Time Machine (1895), the first and still the cleanest. The War of the Worlds (1898) if you want the invasion instead.

Does the reading order matter?

The scientific romances run as a streak and read well in publication order: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), The First Men in the Moon (1901) - and The Food of the Gods and The Days of the Comet keep the mode alive at the decade's edge. None require each other; each takes one idea to its end. Then the turn: Love and Mr Lewisham (1900) is the first full social novel, and Kipps (1905), Tono-Bungay (1909), Ann Veronica (1909) and The History of Mr Polly (1910) are the Edwardian shelf - Tono-Bungay is the one modern critics rescued. The New Machiavelli (1911) and Marriage (1912) continue it; Mr Britling Sees It Through (1916), the home-front novel of the First World War, closes the run read here. Reading the romances before the socials is the natural order, but each shelf stands alone

Which one is the best?

The Time Machine (1895) and The War of the Worlds (1898), the twin peaks; The History of Mr Polly (1910), the best of the other Wells.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for The Time Machine.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Ray Bradbury books in order, Bram Stoker books in order, Oscar Wilde books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.