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In the Days of the Comet (Cronos Classics) Kindle Edition

by H.G.Wells (Author), Cronos Classics (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 out of 5 stars 127 ratings
"In the Days of the Comet" (1906) is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells in which humanity is "exalted" when a comet causes "the nitrogen of the air, the old azote," to "change out of itself" and become "a respirable gas, differing indeed from oxygen, but helping and sustaining its action, a bath of strength and healing for nerve and brain." The result: "The great Change has come for evermore, happiness and beauty are our atmosphere, there is peace on earth and good will to all men."
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-2378070137
  2. Publisher
    Cronos Classics
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    4 Jun. 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    2.7 MB
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071WKRDNV
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cronos Classics
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 4 Jun. 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.7 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-2378070137
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 127 ratings

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
127 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • spicesmum
    3.0 out of 5 stars good service
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2011
    Verified Purchase
    Book very simple typed format not quite as expected but complete and readable which was the point after all!quick service from order to receipt, no problems.
    One person found this helpful
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  • wölfing
    1.0 out of 5 stars A swindle
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 March 2019
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    This is a mutilated text. It reads like a machine retranslation of a Japanese version. It should not be sold claiming to be H.G. Wells' book.
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  • Jcloth
    3.0 out of 5 stars Utopia revisited
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2018
    This didactic and hectoring socialist treatise in the guise of a novel is not one of Wells's more enjoyable works. The writing is beautiful, and the ideas expressed are well thought out and commendable, if somewhat naive, but the little plot to be found is ill-conceived and not remotely credible - call me shallow if you like, but if I'm going to be preached at, I want the allaying balm of a decent storyline.
    The book does ramble to the point of tediousness; like many fellow authors, particularly in the era in which the book was written (and later, thinking of Frank Herbert), Wells fails to grasp that philosophies are far better conveyed succinctly and without unnecessary repetition and embellishment. I admire Wells's convictions and intellect, but Thomas More trod the same path a century or two before, and no one listened to him, either.
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  • John Hopper
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting novel about human relationships towards each other
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2011
    Despite its title and ostensible theme, this is only SF in the most superficial sense. It is a novel about alienation from contemporary life and about the desire for justice and vengeance against the perceived authors of that injustice. The narrator William Leadford's rejection of contemporary (turn of the 19th/20th century) capitalism is mixed with his rage and desire for vengeance after being rejected by his lover Nettie in favour of a local aristocrat. To add to the misery, towards the middle of the novel, war breaks out between Britain and Germany, mostly consisting of naval engagements in the North Sea, though there is a prescient reference to the "heaped slaughter of many thousands of men" (this novel was written in 1905).

    The comet's crash with Earth gives forth a green vapour that somehow changes the nitrogen in the atmosphere and increases human brainpower to the extent that everyone learns to love their fellow man and co-operate. In the pen of a less skilful writer, this idea could fail dismally but the change is brilliantly described in terms of being an almost religious redemption of the souls and minds of all humans, or perhaps in more modern words, a vast injection of a positive mental attitude that transforms everyone's outlook on the world and on each other. They then create a communist society (in the pure classical sense of being communitarian, not the Marxist sense). Clearly this reflects the author's desire for such a human transformation, but it is a sad commentary on human nature that it took such a cosmic catalyst for this change to take place. The mass burning at the end of pre-Change artifacts struck me as horrific, though.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Patrick Moore LMT BA
    5.0 out of 5 stars An allegory of enlightenment
    Reviewed in the United States on 2 May 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Yes some socialism but that is not the essence of the book. In fact the first half of the book satirizes socialism.

    I see the book as similar to buddhist enlightenment stories, only it happens not to one deserving adept, but to everyone on earth through the gift gas from a comet. Yes wells adds what he thinks the world will look like after people think more compassionately, and this detracts a little from the beauty and purpose of the story as a whole. He adds a few biblical references to suggest the end time is a time on earth after people have embraced a more natural way of being.. These aside, the book is still relevant today to suggest that our true nature has always been compassion, that our whole attitude of competitive advantage could be washed away overnight.
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  • Jackrorabbit
    3.0 out of 5 stars Socialism on steroids
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 January 2012
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    I usually love Wells' books, but this one was so dripping with socialist mantra and ideals that I came away from it a bit taken back. If you are expecting what I was expecting, the struggle for life, while dealing with a comet strike, then don't bother reading this, it will only make you mad.

    If you are looking for a book that takes you through the thought process of how people were in the pre-WWI industrial movement and how British workers felt, then this is a good historical "accounting".

    This is far from his normal fight for survival or exploration into the possible books. I wont be reading this one again, that is for certain.

    As far at the writing, itself. It is well written, but does tend to drag in places with some "over description", but again that is classic Wells' writing, and is also the norm for that era as well.
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  • Mr. Flint
    4.0 out of 5 stars Transformative novel
    Reviewed in the United States on 11 February 2024
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    "In the Days of the Comet" is a delightful science fiction novel set, though never directly stated by its author, in anticipation of the arrival of Halley's Comet and the Great War, at the dawn of the 1900s. Naive, utopian, and utterly fantastic it is. Why the chemistry of the comet's passing alters the thought and social patterns of humanity is never explained. But then it doesn't actually matter once you appreciate this New Age turnabout tale of a global, self-realization fellowship. Ah, if only such a comet would pay a visit to the real Earth and up end the current elitist, international order. H.G. Wells turns the Armageddon sci-fi novel on its head here. Who knew there could be a happy ending when worlds collide?
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  • Ken
    2.0 out of 5 stars Part political tract, part science fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on 11 April 2017
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    I found this book tedious going until the comet comes, and even then the tedium didn't come to a halt immediately. The early part is a credible and realistic look at English society at the time he wrote it, and for that it may be of some interest to historians and historical writers. Near the end, Wells shows his considerable writing talent with a few very beautiful passages, partly concerning the death of the main character's mother, and partly concerning the new love he had found.

    And just exactly who the main character might be is another issue. The character that the book is mainly concerned with is actually one who wrote a journal that is being read by another character. I'm not sure why Wells wanted to tell the story two characters removed, but it added nothing as far as I could see except to prolong an already too-long, too-detailed story.

    I don't know how readers of that time regarded the detailed, slow-moving style that Wells employed for this story (and many other stories of his that I have read), but for the modern reader it makes a poor fit. I rate this story at 2 out of 5 stars. I was prepared to award it only one star, but the beautiful passages near the end nearly redeemed it.
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  • Leslie W. Gambee
    5.0 out of 5 stars While a very interesting read, I would not give ...
    Reviewed in the United States on 15 June 2015
    Verified Purchase
    While a very interesting read, I would not give this book to anyone 16 years old or younger. Some of the subject matter is a bit mature for younger readers. Check "In the Days of the Comet" for more assistance on this topic. I have seen this plot line ripped off in at least 6 books and stories and 3 movies. All with some modifications.
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