The First Men in the Moon

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Penguin Publishing Group, Mar 15, 1980 - Fiction
Two men left for the moon -- but only one will come back. . . . Cavor, a brilliant scientist, accidentally produces a gravity-defying substance. And what to do with a substance like that? Well, if it's the turn of the twentieth century, when Wells was writing, the only thing to do was build a spaceship and travel to the moon. Cavor just wants to understand the moon, but along on the trip with him is Bedford, a cold and calculating business man who's in it for nothing but money. Instead of insight and gold they encounter the Selenites, a horrifying race of biologically engineered creatures vaguely reminiscent of jumped-up ants, who viciously -- and successfully -- defend their home. . . . Why do people read science fiction? In hopes of receiving such writing as this -- a ravishingly accurate vision of things unseen; an utterly unexpected yet necessary beauty. -- Ursula K. Le Guin

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About the author (1980)

H. G. Wells was born in Bromley, England on September 21, 1866. After a limited education, he was apprenticed to a draper, but soon found he wanted something more out of life. He read widely and got a position as a student assistant in a secondary school, eventually winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Science in South Kensington, where he studied biology. He graduated from London University in 1888 and became a science teacher. He also wrote for magazines. When his stories began to sell, he left teaching to write full time. He became an author best known for science fiction novels and comic novels. His science fiction novels include The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Wonderful Visit, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon, and The Food of the Gods. His comic novels include Love and Mr. Lewisham, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, The History of Mr. Polly, and Tono-Bungay. He also wrote several short story collections including The Stolen Bacillus, The Plattner Story, and Tales of Space and Time. He died on August 13, 1946 at the age of 79.

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