One of these speculations is the notion of time travel, which is the basis for the book's story. Although probably not the first to postulate the theory, Wells was likely the first to incorporate it into a sci-fi setting. He stated that of the four dimensions, we are capable of moving in three, easily through the first two (length and width) but with some difficulty through the third (height). With the appropriate technology, he reasoned that humans would eventually be able to move through the fourth dimension, time. The story opens with a series of cheerful time-travel experiments held at a party. This seems somewhat bizarre, but it is followed by an evening where a man returns to tell of an even more amazing story—his experience in time travel. The rest of the story is narrated in flashback.

What follows is a fairly exciting adventure eight hundred thousand or so years into the future. The Time Traveler encounters two existing races: the famous Eloi and Morlocks, both species descendants of the human race. The Eloi are playful and benign but woefully stupid, while the Morlocks, who dwell underground, eat the flesh of the Eloi and are cunningly malicious.

Wells raises interesting points about evolution and social perfection. His applications of the Darwinian theory to the current human condition are so daring that they will offend any Creationist and may have raised a few eyebrows from the scientific community as well. All the problems in our lives, he reasons, give us the strength and intelligence that make us human. If our lives had no problems, we would simply devolve into primitive creatures. However, I think the idea that humans may one day attain such perfection is far-fetched at best.

So what's my problem this time? Wells' spectacular story is just too short. The pages number somewhere below the fifties, and it can be finished as quickly as a children's book. Compared to the suspense that some contemporary authors can muster, this novel is pretty tame, and doesn't offer much when it comes down to the jaw-dropping action/wonderment scenes that I crave. And anyway, I see it more as an ‘idea' book more than a real adventure. Still, some of the scenes where the Time Traveler is in danger are tense, particularly the burning forest segment—and the novel does contain a chilling anticlimax. Overall, it's worth picking up this quickie, if only to appreciate old science fiction at its best.

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