The Island of Doctor Moreau (Pocket Penguin Classics) Book

Perhaps less well-known than H.G. Wells' other, more obviously science fiction, novels like "The Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds", "The Island of Doctor Moreau" is nevertheless a true masterpiece. Verging toward horror and far more macabre than Wells' usual work, "The Island of Doctor Moreau" follows Englishman Edward Prendick as he is rescued from a shipwreck by a passing freighter. Once the freighter docks at an uncharted island, its cargo is unloaded by a group of slightly bizarre, uncanny-looking men and Prendick is offered food and lodging by the unsettling Doctor Moreau. Although effectively almost a prisoner, Prendick gradually comes to discover the true nature of the inhabitants of the island. Moreau has been splicing and stitching together man and beast to create a terrifying new super-race. Once Moreau has finished his work on these creatures, they are left to wander the island and are constantly battling the conflict between their human and animal natures - a battle strictly controlled by Moreau and his Laws. As Prendick observes and tries to understand Moreau and his work, one of the unfinished creatures escapes from the Doctor's lab and begins to cause chaos on the island, leaving Prendick fighting to stay alive amongst the rampaging beasts. The Island of Doctor Moreau is a terrific book, its unsettling indictment of science gone mad and of the true nature of man and beast lingers in the mind for a long time after the book has been read.

H. G. Wells, Margaret Atwood, Steve Maclean