The First Men in the Moon
by H. G. Wells
'The First Men in the Moon' Summary
The narrator is a London businessman named Bedford who withdraws to the countryside to write a play, by which he hopes to alleviate his financial problems. Bedford rents a small countryside house in Lympne, in Kent, where he wants to work in peace. He is bothered every afternoon, however, at precisely the same time, by a passer-by making odd noises. After two weeks Bedford accosts the man, who proves to be a reclusive physicist named Mr. Cavor. Bedford befriends Cavor when he learns he is developing a new material, cavorite, which can negate the force of gravity.
When a sheet of cavorite is prematurely processed, it makes the air above it weightless and shoots off into space. Bedford sees in the commercial production of cavorite a possible source of "wealth enough to work any sort of social revolution we fancied; we might own and order the whole world". Cavor hits upon the idea of a spherical spaceship made of "steel, lined with glass", and with sliding "windows or blinds" made of cavorite by which it can be steered, and persuades a reluctant Bedford to undertake a voyage to the Moon; Cavor is certain there is no life there. On the way to the Moon, they experience weightlessness, which Bedford finds "exceedingly restful". On the surface of the Moon the two men discover a desolate landscape, but as the Sun rises, the thin, frozen atmosphere vaporises and strange plants begin to grow with extraordinary rapidity. Bedford and Cavor leave the capsule, but in romping about get lost in the rapidly growing jungle. They hear for the first time a mysterious booming coming from beneath their feet. They encounter "great beasts", "monsters of mere fatness", that they dub "mooncalves", and five-foot-high "Selenites" tending them. At first they hide and crawl about, but growing hungry partake of some "monstrous coralline growths" of fungus that inebriate them. They wander drunkenly until they encounter a party of six extraterrestrials, who capture them. The insectoid lunar natives (referred to as "Selenites", after Selene, the moon goddess) are part of a complex and technologically sophisticated society that lives underground, but this is revealed only in radio communications received from Cavor after Bedford's return to Earth.
Bedford and Cavor break out of captivity beneath the surface of the Moon and flee, killing several Selenites. In their flight they discover that gold is common on the Moon. In their attempt to find their way back to the surface and to their sphere, they come upon some Selenites carving up mooncalves but fight their way past. Back on the surface, they split up to search for their spaceship. Bedford finds it but returns to Earth without Cavor, who injured himself in a fall and was recaptured by the Selenites, as Bedford learns from a hastily scribbled note he left behind.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1901Author
H. G. Wells
England
He was most prominent as a forward-looking, even prophetic social critic who devoted his literary talents to the development of a progressive vision on a global scale. A futurist, he wrote a number of...
More on H. G. WellsDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
The Aliens by Murray Leinster
This story starts with space ships scouring the universe in an interplanetary game of tag. The humans know there are “Aliens” out there. But so do the...
The World with a Thousand Moons by Edmond Hamilton
It tells the story of a man who finds himself stranded on a strange and dangerous planet with a thousand moons. First published in 1942, "The World w...
Queen Of The Martian Catacombs by Leigh Brackett
This is the very first story with the Conan-like barbarian hero, Eric John Stark. There were more written by Brackett and all just as exciting so look...
The Man Who Hated Mars by Randall Garrett
On the desolate, crimson expanse of Mars, where the sun casts eerie shadows and the wind whispers secrets, a man haunted by his past finds himself emb...
Operation Interstellar by George O. Smith
In the vast expanse of the cosmos, humanity's reach extends beyond the familiar confines of Earth, embarking on an audacious mission to cross the inte...
The Sensitive Man by Poul William Anderson
In the year 2100, humanity has colonized the galaxy, and telepathy is a common ability. However, some people, known as sensitives, have heightened tel...
Round the Moon: A Sequel to From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
Around the Moon also translated as Circling the Moon and All Around the Moon, is the sequel to Jules Verne's 1865 novel, From the Earth to the Moon. I...
Life in a Thousand Worlds by William Shuler Harris
A jolly romp, which could be perhaps be described as Gulliver’s Travels Through Our Solar System and Beyond, as written by a great admirer of C. S. Le...
Submerged Forests by Clement Reid
It is a fascinating book that takes readers on a journey through time. The book explores the secrets hidden beneath the waves of our oceans and rivers...
The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper
Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, “The Junkyard Planet”, with news of the possible location of Merlin,...
Reviews for The First Men in the Moon
No reviews posted or approved, yet...