| Vital Stats - List of Novels | |
| The Space Machine | |
The cover to The Space Machine shows the protagonist traveling aboard the titular vehicle. | |
| Full Title | The Space Machine |
| Author | Christopher Priest |
| Time Traveler | Edward Turnbull |
| Companion(s) | Amelia Fitzgibbon |
| |
The Space Machine is a novel by Christopher Priest which binds together the storylines of The Time Machine (Novel) and War of the Worlds. The Time Machine is used to travel through space as well as time, bringing the user to Mars before the Martian invasion as told in War of the Worlds.
- The martian invasion as related in War of the Worlds was also referenced in When The Sleeper Wakes, which also sheds light on the origin of the Eloi and Morlocks, implying that the two stories indeed take place in the same universe.
Story[]
The story follows Edward Turnbull, a young man in Victorian times. He is an enthusiast of science and technology, and so he aims to do his small part to work with its development. He works as a traveling salesman, trying to sell his invention of goggles, to be used while driving automobiles. He spends most of his time in boring conversation with others in his field, until a young woman, Amelia Fitzgibbon, intrudes on his profession. When he learns she's in the employ of Sir William Reynolds, a famous inventor, he tries to arrange a meeting with Reynolds to sell the goggles. However, he soon falls in love with Amelia, and a romance develops.
Later, when he visits her home, she shows him what Reynolds is working on- The Time Machine. The two experiment with it while Reynolds is away, taking it into the future of 1903, where they witness a War of the Worlds. Turnbull sees the future Amelia killed, and then the Time Machine speeds off. In his desperation to stop these events, Turnbull tampers with the machine, which then accidentally sends them not through time, but through space - to the planet Mars.
There, after much exploring, they find themselves in Desolation City, where they meet the Humanoid Martians, who live a miserable existence, as they're slaves of another sort of Martians - hideous alien creatures. The city is constantly at war, which causes Amelia and Edward to become separated.
While Edward learns more of the Martian's bloodsucking ways, Amelia gets involved with a slave rebellion on Mars. They later reunite and arrange to go to Earth to stop the Martians' invasion there, but they are too late and only witness devastation. They meet up with H.G. Wells, who flees with them to the Time Traveler's house and helps them construct The Space Machine, which is used to attack the Martians. However, their attacks prove unnecessary as the martians are defeated by Earth's bacteria.
References[]
Races[]
Characters[]
- Edward Turnbull
- Edwina
- Amelia Fitzgibbon
- Dykes
- Sir William Reynolds (AKA The Time Traveler)
- Mrs. Watchets
- H.G. Wells
Time Machines[]
Other Vehicles[]
Eras[]
- 1893/19th Century
- 1903/20th Century
Locations[]
- Earth
- Richmond Hill/The Time Traveler's House
- Mars