Order of the Golden Sprout The New Robert Rankin Fan Club

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells – 2 out of 5.

The bulk of this 90 page story is in the form of a lengthy monologue, where our time traveller related his adventure to his colleagues. This is bookended by some scene setting & an epilogue.

This may well be the original tale of time travel but, for me, it's certainly not the best. Our main character is not particularly likeable for a start, either in the way he tells his story, which often comes over as a rambling stream of thought, or in his actions within the story itself.

For anyone who doesn't know; the bulk of the tale is set in the (randomly selected) year of 802701. Which at first glimpse appearers to be a Utopia, but we soon realise that this is far from the case. Although the Morlock's are set up as the big baddies, our time traveller seems pretty heedless of their threat for most of his stay in the future & despite some minor stumbling blocks he gets away with surprising ease. This is followed but a very short (almost as an after though to the main story) little jaunt into a further future

Great idea, not a very well executed story.

If I was one of the Time Travellers colleagues I'd have been initially disbelieving, then fascinated, frustrated, perplexed & lastly just wanting to get back home.