The First Men in the Moon | |||||||||
H.G. Wells | |||||||||
Orion Millennium, 196 pages | |||||||||
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A review by David Maddox
Originally published in 1901, the novel has been re-released 100 years later in Gollancz's SF Masterworks
series (number 38 of an impressive collection of tales which include The Time Machine
and The War of the Worlds). The publishers understand that presentation is just as important as the
overall story and the book greets the reader with a stunning cover illustration by Chris Moore, an artist
trained at the Royal College of Art, who proves more than capable of capturing the essence of this
adventure. Then the book features an engaging introduction from Arthur C. Clarke, giving a brief
history of Wells' writing career. After that it's on to the adventure.
Set in England at the beginning of the 20th century, average industrialist Bedford finds himself
entwined in the machinations of Cavor, an eccentric genius who has developed Cavorite, a substance that
negates the pull of gravity. The two men construct a vessel called the Sphere which hurls them to the
moon. But the adventurers have very different agendas. Cavor hopes to discover a utopian society he
imagines living on the planet, while Bedford is purely interested in the monetary gain the trip
represents (after all, everyone knows there's gold on the moon). Once they arrive, they stumble upon
the world of the Selenites, insect-like, biologically engineered aliens living beneath the surface
of the moon in dark, cavernous, technologically-astounding cities. Then things go drastically wrong...
Wells' envisioning of Earth's satellite is fascinating in its accuracy; a barren planet with a thin (yet
breathable) atmosphere, a freezing night and very little gravity. However, when the sun rose, Wells
imagined forests of trees and plants exploding to life, having a mere moon-day (which is like an Earth
week) to grow, germinate and seed before the cold of the night withers them. Wells saw the possibility
that the moon itself would be full of catacombs, tunnels and internal seas. The Selenite society (although
Cavor humorously refers to them as "Moonies") would exist beneath the surface like an ant colony. The
images he creates are briefly seen by Bedford and somewhat described later by Cavor, which Wells has
cleverly done to leave the reader's imagination to paint its own picture of this underworld.
As for our "heroes," Bedford himself is not a scientist or a visionary, merely a man, much like the
Time Traveller's unnamed friend of Wells' first novel, The Time Machine. He serves as the readers eyes
and ears on the expedition, bringing the scientific concepts to an understandable level. His character
may be a little rough around the edges (profit was the main reason he went to the moon), but he does show
some heroic traits when trying to find Cavor as the death-cold of lunar night approaches.
Cavor is definitely an enigma. He appears mysteriously at the start of the story (an introduction
which certainly inspired many Doctor Who adventures years later), and is revealed to be the stereotype
of the absent-minded scientist. He has no thought towards money or personal glory and is genuinely
surprised when Bedford explains how rich they could get from marketing Cavorite. However, there is a
callousness to him. He would not only sacrifice himself for his work, but others as well.
Wells' writing was criticized by contemporary Jules Verne for the creation of the "mythical" substance
Cavorite, since Verne claims the space gun he used to propel his travellers in
From the Earth to the Moon was based on sound scientific principles. Yet an anti-gravity
device, powered by an unknown substance is a concept that has not fallen out of fashion over the years,
though as Clarke states in his intro, none have yet reached the Patent Office.
Other critics of the time, as recounted in the final chapter of the book, were quick to discard Wells as
a writer of children's books with his notions of time, space, aliens and other flights of fancy. Fortunately,
his books remained popular and later writers, like George Orwell, began to see him as an inspiration
and "father figure" of the genre which helped him leave his mark on literature of today.
As far as current criticism, today's readers might find this story a little dated. And it is, having
been written 100 years ago. The writing style is very explanatory and there's really not too much
swashbuckling action aside from a few harrowing escapes. There's no "grand showdown" and the entire
adventure is pretty much a warning against imperialism and how mindless society can become if people
are restricted to one station in life. This is best seen in Cavor's recounting of a young Selenite
being raised in a bottle in preparation for it's life duty, "That wretched-looking hand-tentacle
sticking out of its jar seemed to have a sort of limp appeal for lost possibilities."
However, the true message of this book comes from its portrayal of humanity's desire not to grow complacent,
but rather to continually expand, explore and discover. At its heart, this book is about the strength of the
human spirit. The First Men on the Moon established itself as a piece of science fiction history
almost a century ago and doesn't require my humble words to become greater than it is. But this
new edition does great homage to the classic and is definitely worth the read.
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