The Food of the Gods

The Food of the Gods is a forgotten H.G. Wells classic; it is science-fiction and dystopia at their best written by the creator and master of the genre, author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. What’s your worst fear? Giant wasps? Immense, man-eating rats? After extensive research in the field of ‘growth’, Mr Bensington and Professor Redwood light upon a mysterious new element, a food that causes greatly accelerated development. They unthinkingly test the substance on farmyard chickens and the unfortunate animals grow to ten times their normal size; they soon escape, and leave carnage in their wake. Too late, the men realise the ramifications of their invention. But nothing can stop the spread of The Food of the Gods into the food chain and soon chaos reigns as reports come in of the local population’s encounter with monstrous wasps, earwigs and rats. And when it comes into contact with human children, society is changed forever. Comic, grotesque and at times surprisingly touching and tragic, Wells’ story is a cautionary tale warning against the rampant advances of science but also of the dangers of greed and political infighting and shameless vote-seeking.