The Island of Dr. Moreau

H.G. Wells at his best!

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a chilling tale of secrets and shadows woven by the masterful pen of H.G. Wells, who is considered one of the fathers of science fiction.

First published in 1896, this is the story of Edward Prendick, an Englishman who finds himself stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific after being shipwrecked. The island is home to Dr Moreau, an eminent physiologist from London who has fled England after his ghoulish experiments in vivisection had been publicly exposed. Prendick soon learns that Moreau has continued his experiments on the island of transforming animals into men with monstrous results. Worrying that he may be next on the list of subjects, Prendick flees into the jungle trying to escape whatever gruesome plan Moreau may have in store for him.

The novel which has intrigued and horrified readers for generations deals with a number of philosophical themes, including interference with nature. the scientific quest to control and manipulate the natural world, pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and, ultimately, human nature itself.

Wells brought enormous inventiveness, an underlying social vision and moral concern to his strange tales and bizarre imaginings. A student of Darwinian biology, he formed his romantic conceptions of the scientific world at an early age. This is one of his earliest and most sinister novels in the science fiction genre and one of his best known works.