Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean, is rescued by another vessel. On board, he cannot help but notice the strange demeanour of M’ling, one of the passengers. He can’t be human, Prendick thinks. The ship finally unloads at an anonymous island. There, he fathoms M’ling’s true identity when he meets a runaway British physiologist Doctor Moreau, the proud creator of the Beast Folk — the human-animal hybrids who can speak and walk on hindlegs. They kowtow to him and it appears that they’d do anything for him. Prendick knows that he’d be one of Moreau’s marvels if he couldn’t escape him in time.
Published in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau is one of the masterpieces of early science fiction. A superb macabre tale, it raises questions about the unbridled ambitions of human race on one hand and offers insight into the potential of science on the other. It has been adapted for visual media time and again.

About the Author

H. G. Wells (Herbert George Wells) was born in Kent, England on 21 September 1866. Often called the Father of Science Fiction, a distinction which he shares with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, Wells was the inventor of ‘the Plausible Impossible’ in science fiction, a technique of portraying incredible as credible. He was a prolific writer who not only wrote sci-fi but also explored other themes in writing. His other works include social realistic fiction and books on history and politics. He authored over hundred books of which many remain extremely popular today. He died in London on 13 August 1946.