The "Time Machine" (1895) was one of H. G. Wells early works and among the first to depict the popular science fiction genre
of time travel. The book's main characters are the unnamed Time
Traveler and his friend, the unnamed narrator. The main protagonist is a scientist who discusses the possibility of time travel with his friends. He explains that time is nothing more than a fourth dimension and if you can travel through the other dimensions, why not through time?
The Time Traveler proceeds to construct a device capable of traveling forward in time. He boards this device and travels more than 800,000 years into the future. There he finds an idyllic land inhabited by an apparently peaceful people called the Eloi. The Eloi are clearly human, although they are smaller and weaker than the traveler's contemporaries. There also appears to be a physical weakening of the male sex. Males are somewhat similar in appearance to females. The Eloi are gatherers and feed only on what they are able to find growing in the wild. There does not appear to be any societal structure; no leaders, managers or employers. They live in large, but crumbling buildings. The Traveler is unable to communicate with the Eloi and his hosts pay little attention to him.
The Time Traveler discovers that his time machine has disappeared and, he assumes that the Eloi have stolen it. He finds that the machine was taken by not by the Eloi, but by a cannibalistic race of underground dwellers called the Morlocks. The idyllic society is not what it seems. In reality, the Morlocks feed on the Eloi and both species have become comfortable with their situations. The traveler eventually battles for Morlocks for his time machine and escapes. Using his invention, he travels into the distant future and
witnesses the continued evolution (or devolution) of life. About 30 million years into the future, he witnesses the end of almost all life on Earth.
Eventually, the traveler returns to his original time. He describes the events to his friends, who believe that he has become mad. The traveler once again boards his machine, this time with a camera. He departs into the future with the promise that he will return in about half an hour. He is never seen again.
"The Time Machine", along with "The War of the Worlds" are widely considered to be HG Wells finest works. Both stories have passed the test of time and are still widely read today. The story has been made into several films, the most popular of which was the 1960 movie starring Rod Taylor as the time traveler. This novel has aged very well and is still a very good story. "The Time Machine" is recommended not only for fans of HG Wells, but for anyone interested in classic stories.