Book Review — The Sleeper Awakes, by H.G. Wells
A review of one of the classic novels of one of the sci-fi pioneers. A curious dystopia full of intriguingly remarkable foresight at how the future might play out, with an uncomfortable climax built on notions on race that haven’t stood the test of time.
A Victorian chap randomly falls asleep one day, and wakes up two centuries later to find not only that he now exists in the future, but thanks to the financial tinkering of friends he left in the past, he has ended up literally owning the entire world, and has near-royal and messianic status as a result of his financial clout and remarkable (never explained) longevity.
I’ve read a few H.G. Wells books before and really enjoyed them (I count The War of the Worlds among my very favourite books), and the prospect of a bit of vintage futurism sounded like it would be fun, so that was enough of a hook for me to give this fairly brisk novel a try.
That vision of the future is definitely what makes this book interesting. As someone interested in urbanism, energy, transport, inequalities and the systems of exploitation that go with them, this book was packed full of both visions of what could be, and through them commentary on what is — What was in the Victorian era, but alas also what remain issues today.
