英國小說家H. G.威爾斯（Herbert George Wells, 1866–1946）身兼新聞記者、政治家、社會學家、歷史學家等各種角色，學生時代學習過各種科學學科，擅長將科學知識通俗化，並用小說的方式呈現出來，堪稱近代科幻小說的始祖。

在現代，時光旅行、異形生物入侵地球等故事大行其道，早在1895年時，H. G.威爾斯所出版的第一部小說《時光機器》（The Time Machine），便以未來之旅為主題，這在當時是非常新穎的題材。

在第二部小說《隱形人》（The Invisible Man）當中，H. G.威爾斯更是創造了經典人物「隱形人」，時至今日仍激發著人們的奇幻想像。故事是以神祕陌生人於暴風雪中抵達英格蘭南部小村來開場，並探討科技發明面臨的一些難題。

H. G.威爾斯的小說很暢銷，有些甚至被改編成電影，深入描寫先進的科學技術所會帶來的衝擊和社會問題，對科幻小說的領域有著深刻的影響。他創新的主題，成為科幻小說的經典。他預言的科技躍進如今成真，例如太空旅行等，而月球背面的一個隕石坑還用他的名字來命名。除了科幻題材，H. G.威爾斯的作品也涉及社會正義、人權、道德、宗教等議題。

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Today many people enjoy stories about time travel, invasions by strange beings from other planets, etc. But in 1895, when H. G. Wells published his first novel, The Time Machine, about a journey to the future, readers knew only two genres in fiction. One was realism, i.e. fiction about the real world (past or present), and the second was fantasy, i.e. fiction about impossible worlds, creatures and events. H. G. Wells (and Jules Verne), like the scientists in their stories, invented a new genre: science fiction. Science fiction is based on future developments in science and technology. The Time Machine was an instant success.

The late nineteenth century was a time of technological discoveries. These discoveries were suddenly changing society and the way people lived, and the changes were happening very quickly. New questions needed answers: what will be the effect of technology on society? Are scientists going too far? And above all: if something is technologically possible, should we automatically create it? Is there a danger that evil people will gain control of the new technology and use it to their advantage? In science fiction, writers and readers are able to explore their feelings about whether scientific advances are always good for people and the planet.

The Invisible Man, published in 1897, was H. G. Well's second science fiction novel. It starts with the arrival of a mysterious stranger in a small village in southern England during a snow storm, and explores some difficult questions about scientific inventions.