The First Men In The Moon
The First Men In The Moon by H.G. Wells
I always enjoy reading H.G. Wells, and The First Men In The Moon was no exception. I just loved the speculative nature of Science Fiction in his writing. We knew so little in 1901 compared to now, and therefore could be as creative as our imaginations allowed, and H.G. Wells undoubtably had one of the best imaginations of his time.
The First Men In The Moon follows the story of a playwright Bedford, and his friendship with wacky scientist called Cavor. During their friendship Cavor creates an energy substance called Cavorite, that allows the pair to blast to the moon. There, they’re greeted by an unimaginable world, full of vegetation, weather, and an insect race known as Selenites.
As with all the H.G. Wells books I've read so far the story is told through narration, and the stand out thing for me in this book is that I'm not sure I like the narrator, which makes it even more interesting. Bedford tells the story honestly, but I found a lot of his behaviour and actions questionable, siding more with Cavor.
Cavor is a man of scientist desperate to unwrap life’s mysteries. Discovering a new civilisation on the moon is the biggest discovery of all time, and Cavor treats it as such. Whereas, Bedford treats everything in a hostile manner. He’s more practical minded for sure, and there’s a reason he can handle himself better than Cavor, but I’ve always leant more towards the diplomatic characters than the gung-ho ones.
The book is absolutely jammed with adventure and science from the off set. From the hilarious invention of the Cavorite, to the construction of the spaceship sphere and their journey to the moon. The snow and vegetation on the moon, and the discovery of the moon calf and then Selenites and their underground dwellings.
Imagining the moon as this ecosystem with life is just a lot of fun, and way more interesting than the truth. I love how Bedford and Cavor learn to bounce around the moon, and seeing them traverse the caves under the rock. Their discovery of the Selenites is a fascinating part of the book, and my heart sunk when Bedford attacked.
I really appreciated the format for the ending of this book as well. While it lost some momentum as the story had been concluded, the last few chapters offering more content was interesting, and a story in its own right. Plus, I like the acknowledgment of Bedford’s action after it had been previously skipped over. I found that to be great writing and character building, especially as it had been Bedford telling the story and now he was reading someone else’s words.
H.G. Wells continues to amaze me with each book I read of this. He had such an established voice within his work. Such a control of language. Obviously a lot of the science has dated, and the language too for that matter, but the storytelling is superb. He was a true master of science fiction, and I'm already looking forward to whatever book of his I read next.
