The Island of Doctor Moreau and Other Unsettling Tales

Description

H.G, Wells’ timeless story of arrogance and monstrosity caused consternation when it was first released. Edward Prendick is stranded on a remote Pacific island with only a drunk and a disgraced scientist for company – and a whole, subhuman community of monsters spliced together from the bodies of exotic animals by Doctor Moreau, intent on creating human-like intelligent life from dumb beasts. But his methods are cruel, and his failures litter the island, slowly regressing to their baser natures. Prendick must find a way through this madness and find his way back to civilisation – or die trying,

This gripping novel from science fiction pioneer H.G. Wells challenges readers with some profound and unsettling questions: are there limits to our ambition? Do we dare meddle with life itself? And what (if anything) is it that sets us apart from the animals?

A new foreword sets the context for this ground-breaking novel from the father of Science Fiction and traces its roots from the monster-creators Dr Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll to its modern offspring in Jurassic Park and elsewhere, exploring time-honed themes of arrogance, pride and humility.

This edition contains two bonus unsettling stories from the man who science fiction legend Brian Aldiss called ‘the realist of the fantastic. Considered by many as Wells’ finest short tales, The Door in the Wall crashes reality headlong into the imagination, and A Dream of Armageddon sets out a future vision of dark portents and impossible choices.

A Wyldblood Classics edition.