The first large-scale science fiction work whose main character travels through time.

The Time Machine is H.G. Wells’s first science fiction novel, published in 1895. It is still regarded as one of the most important works of the genre. The novel tells the story of an extraordinary scientist who, using the time machine he invented, journeys into the future—to the year 802,701—only to discover a world entirely different from what he had imagined.

The book was published as part of the Fantastic Series. The previous volume in this series was The War of the Worlds by the same author. The Time Machine is the first major work whose protagonist travels through time, while the previous book, The War of the Worlds, is the first to depict an alien invasion of Earth. Herbert Wells is considered the founder of science fiction. Another of his novels, The Invisible Man, will also be published later in this same series.