The Wheels of Chance

Overview

A classic novel of bicycles, gallantry, and irrepressible romance.One of H. G. Wells's earliest novels, written before his great successes with The Time Machine and The War of the World, "The Wheels of Chance" is a whimsical romance between a Walter Mitty-like draper's assistant -- one Mr. Hoopdriver -- and the Lady in Grey. The entire story takes place as the characters travel by bicycle through the English countryside, in the brief halcyon era between the invention of the bicycle and the advent of the automobile.The shy Mr. Hoopdriver perceives that the Lady in Grey is being seduced by her supposed protector, and over the course of several days and many miles of cycling, he gallantly comes to her aid. With hilarious descriptions of the early days of cycling, a romping plot of high adventure, and H. G. Wells's long-neglected writing of the finest order, "The Wheels of Chance" will find many happy readers in this automotive age.

Editorial Reviews

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Author Information

Bio of H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, England, the son of an unsuccessful merchant. After a limited education, he was apprenticed to a dry-goods merchant, but soon found he wanted something more out of life. He read widely and got a position as a student assistant in a secondary school, eventually winning a scholarship to the College of Science in South Kensington, where he studied biology under the British biologist and educator, Thomas Henry Huxley. After graduating, Wells took several different teaching positions and began writing for magazines. When his stories began to sell, he left teaching to write full time. Wells's first major novel, The Time Machine (1895), launched his career as a writer, and he began to produce a steady stream of science-fiction tales, short stories, realistic novels, and books of sociology, history, science, and biography, producing one or more books a year. Much of Wells's work is forward-looking, peering into the future of prophesy social and scientific developments, sometimes with amazing accuracy. Along with French writer Jules Verne, Wells is credited with popularizing science fiction, and such novels as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds (1898) are still widely read. Many of Wells's stories are based on his own experiences. The History of Mr. Polly (1910) draws on the life of Wells's father. Kipps (1905) uses Wells's experience as an apprentice, and Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900) draws on Wells's experiences as a school teacher. Wells also wrote stories showing how the world could be a better place. One such story is A Modern Utopia (1905). As a writer, Wells's range was exceptionally wide and his imagination extremely fertile. While time may have caught up with him (many of the things he predicted have already come to pass), he remains an interesting writer because of his ability to tell a lively tale.

Customer Reviews

• entertaining but....

  Posted January 02, 2009 by Ryan Conner, Phoenix, Az.

  this book was fine but it is in serious need of proof reading. all of the errors in this copy made it a chore to read,

Additional Info

Imprint

CONNECT eBooks Classics

Filesize

316.10 KB

Number of Pages

N/A

eBook ISBN

9781434001818