''The Space Machine'', subtitled ''A Scientific Romance'', is a science fiction novel written by English writer Christopher Priest. First published in 1976, it follows the travels of protagonists Edward Turnbull and Amelia Fitzgibbon. The pair are dropped on the surface of Mars (due to interference by Turnbull) prior to the Martian invasion of Earth that forms the storyline of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' 1898 novel ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

''. Edward and Amelia, who works for the inventor Sir William Reynolds, have used Reynolds's space and time machine to jump into the future at the onset of the Mars invasion. They find that, on Mars, humans have been turned into Martian slaves.

Setting

This novel effectively binds the storylines of the

novels ''

'' (1898) and ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...

'' (1895) into the same reality. Action takes place both in

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

and on Mars, as the time machine displaces the duo through space (in addition to time). Technology is shown to be roughly Victorian of nature, so as not to destroy the setting for ''War of the Worlds'', but also shows some unpublished advancements of Sir William Reynolds (such as a form of bicycle that requires no input from the rider). The names of the characters also suggest historical Britain. Both Edward's name and Fitzgibbon's refer to

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

, the famous British historian and author of ''

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...

'', while Turnbull is suggestive of, among others, the famous early British actor John Turnbull and, more generally, the

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

, which is popularly used to represent England and its defiance in war.

Publication history

The book was first published in 1976 by Faber and Faber Limited (). It was republished in paperback by

Pan Books Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. History Pan Books began as an indepe ...

in 1981 () and by Gollancz's VGSF imprint in 1988 ().

Reception

Richard A. Lupoff described ''The Space Machine'' as "a completely new, gripping, and ingenious book," although he faulted the relatively slow pacing of its opening segment The aggregate review journal ''Books & Authors'' quoted a reviewer, who observed that Priest

Awards

It won a Ditmar Award in 1977, winning the "International SF" category.The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1977 Ditmar Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Space Machine, The 1976 British novels Novels by Christopher Priest English novels 1976 science fiction novels British science fiction novels The Time Machine War of the Worlds written fiction Adaptations of works by H. G. Wells British steampunk novels Novels set on Mars Faber & Faber books