Description

This chilling tale combines elements of science fiction and gothic horror, focusing on one man’s slow discovery of disturbing science experiment gone awry. Edward Prendick, an upper-class Englishman, finds himself adrift at sea until, luckily, he is picked up by a passing ship. On the ship, he encounters Doctor Montgomery, a grotesque figure called M’ling, and a shipment of animals, which Montgomery claims he must deliver to an island where he works. When they reach the island, Montgomery introduces him to the cold, odd Doctor Moreau, who lives on the island conducting research. Prendick’s curiosity is aroused by the vague nature of Moreau’s research, and his curiosity only grows when he realizes that he has been locked into his rooms, which are attached to the animal cages. He suddenly remembers that he has heard of Doctor Moreau before—that he used to be a distinguished physician before his gruesome experiments in animal vivisection were uncovered. This realization is confirmed later when Prendick hears the cries of a puma that Moreau is working on. Terrified by the sounds, Prendick flees into the jungle—but what he encounters there might be even more horrifying than what he left behind. Venture into the jungle with Prendrick—if you dare.

About the Author

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) began life in a humble British home, as the son of working class people. Early in life, an accident left the young Wells bedridden for a long period of time, and as he recovered, the boy fell in love with reading. Leaving the drudgery of an apprenticeship as a tradesman, Wells decided to become a teacher in 1883. His talents earned him a college scholarship and he received a degree in 1890. Wells did not publish his writings until 1901, when his work Anticipations, full of visions of what the world might look like in 2000, made its debut. The aptly-named Anticipations was the first of the many beloved works that would establish Wells firmly in the science-fiction genre. A free-thinker whose views aligned with some of the most progressive philosophies of his day, Wells's ability to look beyond the here and now and offer vivid tableaux of worlds that might be has inspired fear and fantasy among readers for generations.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

INTRODUCTION.
ON February the First 1887, the Lady Vain was lost by collision with a derelict when about the latitude 1 degree S. and longitude 107 degrees W.
On January the Fifth, 1888--that is eleven months and four days after--my uncle, Edward Prendick, a private gentleman, who certainly went ...