Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Time Machine | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 2 | The Wonderful Visit | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 3 | The Wheels of Chance | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 4 | The Island of Dr. Moreau | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 5 | The Invisible Man | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 6 | The War of the Worlds | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 7 | When the Sleeper Wakes / The Sleeper Awakes | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 8 | Love and Mr. Lewisham | - | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 9 | The First Men in the Moon | 1901 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 10 | The Sea Lady | 1902 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 11 | The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth | 1904 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 12 | Kipps | 1905 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 13 | A Modern Utopia | 1905 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 14 | In the Days of the Comet | 1906 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 15 | The War in the Air | 1908 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 16 | Tono-Bungay | 1909 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 17 | Ann Veronica | 1909 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 18 | The History of Mr Polly | 1910 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 19 | The Sleeper Awakes | 1911 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 20 | The New Machiavelli | 1911 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 21 | Marriage | 1912 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 22 | The Passionate Friends | 1913 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 23 | The World Set Free | 1914 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 24 | The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman | 1914 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 25 | Bealby: A Holiday | 1915 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 26 | The Research Magnificent | 1915 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 27 | Boon, the Mind of the Race | 1915 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 28 | Boon | 1915 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 29 | Mr. Britling Sees It Through | 1916 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 30 | The Soul of a Bishop | 1917 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 31 | Joan and Peter: A Story of an Education | 1918 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 32 | The Undying Fire | 1919 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 33 | The Secret Places of the Heart | 1922 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 34 | Men Like Gods | 1923 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 35 | The Dream | 1924 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 36 | Christina Alberta’s Father | 1925 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 37 | The World of William Clissold | 1926 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 38 | Meanwhile the Picture of a Lady | 1927 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 39 | Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island | 1928 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 40 | The King Who Was a King | 1929 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 41 | Autocracy of Mr. Parham | 1930 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 42 | Bulpington of Blup | 1930 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 43 | The Shape of Things to Come | 1933 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 44 | The Croquet Player | 1936 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 45 | Star Begotten | 1937 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 46 | The Camford Visitation | 1937 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 47 | Brynhild | 1937 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 48 | The Brothers | 1938 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 49 | Apropos of Dolores | 1938 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 50 | The Holy Terror | 1939 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 51 | All Aboard for Ararat | 1940 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 52 | Babes in the Darkling Wood | 1940 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 53 | You Can’t Be Too Careful | 1941 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
| 54 | The Wealth of Mr. Waddy | 1969 | H.G. Wells | Buy |
H.G. Wells published his first novel, The Time Machine, in 1895, and continued writing fiction for nearly fifty years. His standalone novels fall into two broad categories: the scientific romances that made him famous, and the social novels that made up the bulk of his later career.
The early scientific romances are the books most readers know. The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, and The Food of the Gods all appeared between 1895 and 1904. These novels took speculative ideas and followed them to their logical, often disturbing conclusions. They were popular with readers and respected by critics, and they remain in print more than a century later.
After 1905 or so, Wells shifted toward realistic fiction. Kipps, Tono-Bungay, Ann Veronica, and The History of Mr Polly are novels about ordinary English people dealing with class, money, and ambition. He returned to speculative fiction occasionally (The Shape of Things to Come in 1933, for instance), but his later work increasingly focused on politics, philosophy, and the state of the world. His final novels, written during World War II, are darker and more pessimistic than his earlier books.