Sci fi plot summary of ten classics of science fiction and fantasy fiction. (For your convenience we have included paragraph markers in case you wish to return to a particular point. TM3, for example refers to TIME MACHINE, third paragraph.)
Sci fi plot summary#1.The Time Machine (1895)
BY H.G.Wells.
Films buffs will be interested to find that the first film version of this book starring Rod Taylor, differs significantly in its ending from the original book, which we shall now briefly outline in this sci fi plot summary.
The main character of the book is a scientist and inventor living in London who, strangely, is never named. In the book he is identified simply as the time traveller. One day he sets up an intriguing experiment for his sceptical friends.
By using a miniature model he demonstrates that time is a fourth dimension, and suggests that by means of a suitable apparatus, it may be possible to move backwards and forwards in time. His colleagues are understandably highly dubious, although fascinated by the performance of the traveller's small prototype. To prove his point he actually builds a full-scale model capable of carrying a passenger. Determined to show that it can be done, in typical sci fi fashion, he
sets off on a journey into the future.(Sci fi plot summary marker TM3.)
For the purposes of this sci fi plot summary we won't go into great detail about the journey, suffice to say that he finally arrives at the year 802,701, where he finds an apparently peaceful society. There he meets a small human people who call themselves the
Eloi. They live in small communities within large unmaintained buildings. The Traveller makes mental notes of this and tries to relate what he sees to the present state of the society that he has encountered. Curiously, the Eloi do not work and eat a simple fruitarian diet.
The land around london has been transformed into an agricultural/garden area filled with exotic fruits and
flowering plants. The landscape is punctuated by large disused and broken down
structures, the remnants of a bygone era. The Eloi use these buildings as sleeping and eating areas. Apart from performing these basic activities, not much else is evidence. The inventor can find no evidence of any active farming or industry. The Eloi seem incapable of it anyway.
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The Eloi greet the Time Traveller with curiosity, but without fear. Actually they soon lose interest in him. He secures the time machine, and follows them to
their commune where he mixes with the community and tries to communicate with some members of it. Unfortunately, this proves to be unproductive. The Eloi, though initially interested in the tarveller, return to their state of preoccupation with themselves. Frustrated by this, the Time Traveller decides to explore
the local area.(Sci fi plot summary marker TM6.)
As he looks around, the Time Traveller makes mental notes on the
possible reasons for the Eloi's physical condition and
society. He assumes that the lack of motivation of the
Eloi is the logical result of humankind's past struggles culminating in an ideal society where it wasnt necessary to struggle to exist anymore.
With the acheivement of this goal, the Eloi had devolved. To the energetic and productive scientist, this was regarded as a deplorable state to be in.
With no further need for innovations to
improve life, they became incurious about the world.
With no work to do, they became weak and small in physique. The Time Traveller supposes that preventative medicine
has been achieved, as there was no sign of disease. With
no work to do and no hardships to overcome, society no longer required leaders or social
classes.
Our plot summary will be brief where the Time Traveller's philosophical musings are concerned. But he made several observations and noted that war and crime had ceased to exist for the reasons mentioned above. Art and culture had also apparently waned. Without problems there was no need for solutions. He also assumed some form of birth control had accounted for the Eloi's small numbers.
The dilapidated structures suggested that prior to these
achievements, the population had been larger and more productive. However a decline in all areas is plainly visible although the Eloi do not seem to be concerned about it. And now that the new utopia was reality, the drive to push on had come to a standstill .(Sci fi plot summary marker TM9.)
Night falls and the Time Traveller wonders where he will sleep. But when he goes back to where he had left the time machine, he is shocked to find it gone. He had last left the vehicle by a strange looking building. Panicking he searches for the vehicle and suspects that
the Eloi have moved it to their shelter. He rushes back to the
shelter and demands to know where his machine is. The Eloi are a little frightened by the Time Traveller's attitude. As the Eloi obviously don't understand
him, he continues his search
in desperation during the night before falling into a disturbed sleep.It is quite evident that he is very much alone now, as the Eloi do not seem interested in helping him.
The Time Traveller soon finds out that the class structure of his own time has in fact
persisted. The human race has diverged into two classes. The
wealthy, leisured classes of his day, appear to have devolved into the ineffectual Eloi that he has already seen. The Working classes on the other hand have evolved into cannibals, called the Morlocks, which resemble human spiders. They live underground, venturing to come up to the surface only at night. They maintain underground machinery which keeps the Eloi compliant and plentiful.
Both species, through Darwinian adaptation devolved into a
sub-human genus of mankind. After further adventures, the Time Traveller finally locates his
machine, and reactivates it. Although he has a brief skirmish with the Morlocks, he escapes into the far future, roughly 30 million years
from his own time. he observes the rapidly changing landscape as he travels.(Sci fi plot summary marker TM12.)
In this future time, the earth is dying with a
red sun stuck at the setting position. During his trip he noticed that the sun had flared up brightly twice, as if Mercury and then Venus had
fallen into it.
The phrases in this plot summary which are put in commars are direct quotes from the book. The traveller encounters red 'crab-like' creatures slowly wandering the 'blood red' beaches and the world is covered in "green
vegetation." He continues to make short stops through time, seeing the sun grow redder and dimmer. He becomes quite pessimistic about what he sees, but curiosity pushes him on.
Finally, the world begins to go dark
as snowflakes begin to fall, and a deep silence falls upon Earth. It is the end of time, and all life has ceased, other than the lichens that still grow on rocks. He observes a kraken-like creature slowly moving on the shore. Civilisation seems to have culminated at this point.(Sci fi plot summary marker TM15.)
Feeling unsure about the return journey before him, he boards his machine and comes back to his own time. He arrives
in his laboratory a few hours after he originally left. Entering
the dining room, he tells his
disbelieving friends what had happened, bringing the story full
circle to his first appearance in chapter 2.
The next, the story's
narrator returns to the Time Traveller's house where he finds him ready to leave again, this time taking a small camera. Although he promises will return in half
an hour, three years pass and the Time Traveller still remains missing.
What happened to him is a
mystery.(Sci fi plot summary marker TM17.)
Plot Summary#2. The Invisible man.
By H.G.Wells.
Here is another classic by the master of early science fiction. Once again, it won't surprise readers to learn that film and tv adaptions of this story are different from the original book, which almost implies that Well's story was thought to be undeveloped or lacking in some way. This plot summary is briefer than the last one, which may explain why some adaptations of this book were inclined to explore the story concept in greater depth.
It first came out 1897 as a novella and was serialised in a popular magazine of the day, Pearson's Magazine. Griffin is the protagonist of this tale, a scientist who postulates that if a man's body could have its refractive index changed to precisely that of air, it would not reflect light, and thereby be rendered invisible.
He succeeds in carrying out this procedure, using himself as the subject. Unfortunately he is unable to reverse the process and return to his normal visible self. Unsurprisingly, as a result, he becomes quite mentally agitated and unstable. This thereafter accounts for the way he subsequently behaves in the story.(Sci fi plot summary marker IM3.)
As it happens, Griffin has an old scientist friend, Kemp, living in the town of Port Burdock, where he goes to hide on becoming invisible. Kemp is astounded at Griffin's fantastic state of being, and overcoming his amazement, sits down and discusses the problem with him. Our plot summary won't go into detail on these points, but suffice to say that Kemp is a traditional scientist in every sense of the word and finds it hard to believe the tale his old friend tells him.
Griffin explains how he conducted his experiments, and describes everything that had since happened to him upon becoming invisible. Kemp, immediately understands that Griffin has become insane with power, and so he quickly calls upon Colonel Adye of the Port Burdock police to investigate the matter.
Unfortunately Adye fails to arrest Griffin, who escapes and vows revenge on Kemp for betraying him, by threatening to kill him. This development in the story is unfortunate, as Kemp might have helped Griffin overcome his problem had he been in a more reasonable state of mind.(Plot summary marker IM6.)
Kemp is no coward, and disregarding the death threat, assists Colonel Adye in his attempt to track down and arrest the Invisible Man. The police, meanwhile, act as his bodyguard. Griffin manages to overpower the Colonel, and then comes after Kemp. In a panic, Kemp runs through the streets of Port Burdock, calling upon the townspeople to confront the Invisible Man. Acting as a mob, the people of Burdock, finally bring the Invisible Man's reign of terror to an end.
The story differs from the 1933 film version quite significantly, painting the figure of Griffin in a more sympathetic light and portraying his scientist's friend Kemp, as cowardly and opportunistic.(Sci fi plot summary marker IM9.)
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