9 h 10 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 10 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if greed, jealousy and fear could vanish—and leave humanity ready to begin again?
In England's pottery towns, kilns and chimneys blacken the sky above William Leadford, a poor, proud young man. He loves Nettie Stuart, a gardener's daughter who wants a life of her own. When wealthy Verrall enters her world, Leadford's love turns bitter with envy.
Above these private troubles, a comet grows in the night sky while nations edge toward war. Leadford's friend Parload watches with awe. In the Days of the Comet, H. G. Wells brings wounded pride and social unrest together, asking whether a different society could change the way people think and live.
What you’ll discover
- A sky above the smoke Enter the Potteries, where blackened skies frame a young man's narrowing hopes.
- Love tangled with class Meet Nettie, whose wish for her own life collides with Leadford's jealous love.
- A comet drawing closer Follow Parload's watch as a strange sight grows above a troubled world.
- Anger seen from afar An older Leadford looks back, giving his younger self's passions a second perspective.
- The possibility of change Consider Wells's argument that greed and fear grow from the way society is arranged.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy science fiction rooted in real streets and real feelings, who like a narrator looking back on his own mistakes, and who are curious how Wells imagined society could start over.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger in a tower reads a manuscript
- A shabby world seen through a young man's eyes
- Love letters and a lockout drive Willie to quarrel
- A walk to Checkshill ends in moonlight
- A revolver, a strike and a crowd at the mine
- Nettie is gone and a postmark gives a clue
- A theft, a war scare and the power of the press
- The search at the sea ends in a dark chase
- What the story is really about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Willie LeadfordA shorthand clerk in the Midlands, proud and hurt, who wants to win back his honor and Nettie.
- Nettie StuartThe gardener's daughter Willie loves, who has outgrown him and wants a finer life.
- ParloadWillie's quiet friend, a clerk with a passion for science and stargazing.
- Edward VerrallThe handsome son of the great estate, easy and well educated, who has caught Nettie's eye.
- Lord RedcarA young, proud coal owner who scorns the miners and refuses to bend to their demands.
- Mrs. LeadfordWillie's tired, loving mother, who begs him not to offend the world that has bruised her.
- Mr. GabbitasThe fussy curate and lodger who lends Willie books and keeps coins in a drawer.
- MelmountA great statesman Willie meets later, a large man who has helped lead his country toward war.
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 10 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear In den Tagen des Kometen in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
In den Tagen des Kometen
by H. G. Wells · 1906
A bitter young clerk buys a revolver and chases his sweetheart across England while a comet grows overhead.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A comet grows brighter each night over the smoky Midlands, and a hurt young clerk cares only about one thing: revenge. In the Days of the Comet is a novel by H. G. Wells, told by an old man looking back fifty years at his younger self.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger in a tower reads a manuscript
The book opens with a visitor who finds himself in a high, bright room in an unnamed, beautiful place. A gray-haired man sits writing there, and he explains that his pages are about the Change. He invites the visitor to read, and the visitor sits down with the first bundle.
The pages tell the story of Willie Leadford, who is the writer himself as a young man. The writer is seventy-two as he works, and he looks back across fifty years at a life he can hardly believe was his. He describes the young Willie as boastful, vain and hurt, and says he feels pity and some dislike for him.
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What is In the Days of the Comet about?
A poor clerk named Willie Leadford chases the girl he loves, and the rival who took her, across England as a comet approaches. Wells uses the chase to show an angry, divided society and what might follow when it changes.
Who is Willie Leadford and who tells the story?
Willie is a young Midlands clerk in the main story, and the old man writing in the tower is the same person at seventy-two. He tells his own story in the first person, looking back with pity and humor.
Where does In the Days of the Comet begin?
The story begins in the industrial Midlands, among smoky towns, potteries and mines. Willie works at Rawdon's pot bank in Clayton, while his friend Parload studies science in Overcastle.
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
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