"The General Intelligence Machine." Art by H. Lanos for "When the Sleeper Wakes" by H. G. Wells (1899)
Graham, the central character of the novel, awakens into a troubled world after a two-hundred year slumber, much like Rip Van Winkle. The compound interest on his bank accounts has made him the richest man in the world and a very powerful one indeed. A trust known as the White Council used Graham’s wealth to establish a vast political and economic world order, which is now much hated by the people. Word spreads that the fabled sleeper has awakened and the people demand to see him. The Council, which rules the world in his name, prefers that he remain out of the way and places him under house arrest. He is liberated by revolutionaries and he soon learns the ugly truth about this new world, which persuades him to take part in the revolution.
The novel has plenty of action which more than makes up for the author’s socialist inclinations. It has engine-driven “aeroplanes” with 600-foot wing spans and smaller, nimbler “aeropiles,” it has a revolution and a counter-revolution, and there are battles fought in the air for supremacy.
"The General Intelligence Machine." Art by H. Lanos for "When the Sleeper Wakes" by H. G. Wells (1899)
Graham, the central character of the novel, awakens into a troubled world after a two-hundred year slumber, much like Rip Van Winkle. The compound interest on his bank accounts has made him the richest man in the world and a very powerful one indeed. A trust known as the White Council used Graham’s wealth to establish a vast political and economic world order, which is now much hated by the people. Word spreads that the fabled sleeper has awakened and the people demand to see him. The Council, which rules the world in his name, prefers that he remain out of the way and places him under house arrest. He is liberated by revolutionaries and he soon learns the ugly truth about this new world, which persuades him to take part in the revolution.
The novel has plenty of action which more than makes up for the author’s socialist inclinations. It has engine-driven “aeroplanes” with 600-foot wing spans and smaller, nimbler “aeropiles,” it has a revolution and a counter-revolution, and there are battles fought in the air for supremacy.