"The Country of the Blind" and Other Science-fiction Stories

Book excerpt: "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Or is he? In H. G. Wells' acclaimed tale, a stranded mountaineer encounters an isolated society in which his apparent advantage proves less than valuable. This thought-provoking fable is accompanied by other short stories, including "The Star," a gripping tale about a massive celestial object hurtling toward the Earth, as well as "The New Accelerator," "The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes," "Under the Knife," and "The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper." With the 1895 publication of his first novel, The Time Machine, Wells established himself as the foremost science-fiction writer of his era. This entertaining collection was selected and edited by Martin Gardner, who also provides an Afterword that offers insight into the liveliness and originality of Wells’ imagination.