The Time Machine

My review is broken down by topic:

Writing style: * - Not bad. It's early 1900's style writing. I have read two other books by H.G. Wells and enjoyed them. Started off slow, but still readable. Characters: ** - Under developed, but unsurprising for the time. I wanted to punch the main character. He could speak their language in less than 3 days? and found a love interest? and do all these other fantastical things? Yes, I get it, it's sci-fi, but what an infuriating man and completely illogical character. It reminded me too much of the father in Swiss Family Robinson (another horrible “classic” book) Plot Movement: - Started at **, grew up to *** near the end. Overall a ** plot speed. Plot: ** - Could have elaborated a lot more. Personally, I prefer to have the action happen in the present. Knowing from early on that the time traveler makes it back alive took away some of the excitement from the plot. Based on the time this was written, it was probably fascinating.

Overall: the second half of the book was very fast paced. I loved the pacing. H.G. Wells can build up a plot pretty well. The main character was infuriating, and the whole concept of time travel is preposterous. Still, it greatly impacted future books, films and tv shows. I have to give it credit for it's impact on society. Overall, it was a decent read, but not a book I would re-read or give space to on my shelf. (No, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It was a middle of the road classic for me)