A story of the days to come (A Corgi book) - Softcover

Wells, H. G

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552101850 ISBN 13: 9780552101851

Publisher: Corgi, 1976

Synopsis

"A Story of the Days To Come" is a novella by H. G. Wells comprising five chapters first published in the June to October 1897 issues of The Pall Mall Magazine. It was later included in a 1899 collection of Wells's short stories, Tales of Space & Time. The chapter titles
"The Cure for Love"
"The Vacant Country"
"The Ways of the City"
"Underneath"
"Bindon Intervenes"
The novella depicts two lovers in a dystopian London of the 22nd century. They explore the implications of excessive urbanization, class warfare, & advances in the technology of medicine, communication, transportation & agriculture. Like "When the Sleeper Wakes", published in the same year, the stories extrapolate the trends Wells observed in nineteenth-century Victorian London two hundred years into the future.
London of the early 22nd century is over 30 million people in population, with the lower classes living in subterranean dwellings, the middle & upper classes living in skyscrapers & largely communal accommodations. Moving walkways interconnect the city, with fast air-travel & superhighways available between cities. The countryside is largely abandoned.
Many aspects of the world of these two stories will be instantly familiar to readers of the more popular Isaac Asimov's Robot series written 50 years later. Altho no apparent citation exists crediting Wells' world as the source for the Asimov stories' settings & culture, the parallels between the two are striking.

About this title

About the Author

Often called the father of science fiction, British author Herbert George (H. G.) Wells literary works are notable for being some of the first titles of the science fiction genre, and include such famed titles as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The Invisible Man. Despite being fixedly associated with science fiction, Wells wrote extensively in other genres and on many subjects, including history, society and politics, and was heavily influenced by Darwinism. His first book, Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought, offered predictions about what technology and society would look like in the year 2000, many of which have proven accurate. Wells went on to pen over fifty novels, numerous non-fiction books, and dozens of short stories. His legacy has had an overwhelming influence on science fiction, popular culture, and even on technological and scientific innovation. Wells died in 1946 at the age of 79.

Edition details

• Publisher: Corgi
• Publication date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0552101850
• ISBN 13: 9780552101851
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112