Title: The Time Machine
Author: H. G. Wells
Publisher: Bendon Classics
Number of Pages: 178
Type of Book: Science Fiction; Classic
Age: 8+
Available here: The Hub, The Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki, Lagos
Price: N880
MY SUMMARY
The time traveller’s theory: “If our minds can move back and forth in time, we can too. All we need is the right math and the right invention.”
Armed with the right math and the right invention, the Time Traveller (TT) travelled hundreds of thousand of years into the future to find a new earth, as beautiful during the day as it was scary at night. The care-free, little, pretty and doll-like lazy people, the Upper-worlders, called the Eloi, laughed a lot, danced with him and gave him fruits to eat but it was the terrors of the night, the Morlocks, the ape-like Under-worlders who stole his time machine and tried to kill and eat him time and time again, who nearly made him lose his mind. Find out if the future was indeed all the TT hoped it would be and whether or not he made his way home after his time machine disappeared!
THUMBS UP AND DOWNUP: Wells paints a picture of a picturesque yet gruesome world with his words. His description of the form and lives of the Eloi and the Morlocks make the book come alive for readers. Thanks to the Morlocks, there were some pretty creepy/scary scenes in this book; in fact, The Morlocks made this book for me! For a science fiction book that was written in the 17th century, this book is fantastic. It’s small wonder that Wells is considered one of the Fathers of Sci-Fi.
DOWN: None
RATING: 4 Stars – if one takes into consideration the time it was written – 1895; 3 Stars: if written today.
TRIVIA
1. What extraordinary thing could the Time Traveller’s Time Machine do? It could travel back and forth through time!
2. Did any of the Time Traveller’s dinner guests believe his stories? Not one
3. Who/What were the Morlocks? They were carnivorous, white, ape-like creatures with large greyish red-eyes that lived in the Under-world in 802,701 A.D.
4. Why were the Eloi scared of the Morlocks? Because the Morlocks ate the Eloi for dinner!
5. The Time Traveller found these when he went further into the far future? Monstrous table-sized crab-like creatures with many legs, big slime-covered claws, gleaming evil eyes, long slimy feelers and huge hungry mouths.
6. What did the Time Traveller have as proof of his journey to the future? Two strange white flowers given to him by his little Eloi friend Weena.
Read the book here.CHALLENGE: The Time Machine
Compare and contrast Time Machines and Time Capsules.
Send your answers to ugochinyelu.anidi@gmail.comEntry requirements: Entrants must be within the 8-12 age range. The first correct entry will be announced on this page and will win a copy of this book.
