Complete and unabridged paperback edition. In the Days of the Comet (1906) is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells in which humanity is "exalted" when a comet causes "the nitrogen of the air, the old azote," to "change out of itself" and become "a respirable gas, differing indeed from oxygen, but helping and sustaining its action, a bath of strength and healing for nerve and brain." The result: "The great Change has come for evermore, happiness and beauty are our atmosphere, there is peace on earth and good will to ...
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Complete and unabridged paperback edition. In the Days of the Comet (1906) is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells in which humanity is "exalted" when a comet causes "the nitrogen of the air, the old azote," to "change out of itself" and become "a respirable gas, differing indeed from oxygen, but helping and sustaining its action, a bath of strength and healing for nerve and brain." The result: "The great Change has come for evermore, happiness and beauty are our atmosphere, there is peace on earth and good will to all men." Description from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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When I first picked up this book I thought it was going to be an apocalyptic novel. I assumed a comet hitting the earth would wreak devastation. It turned out to be a utopian novel. The comet is not a solid mass, as we know comets to be, but rather a ball of gas. This gas changes the nature of earth's atmosphere and thereby the nature of humanity. Most of the book concerns the lead character's search for revenge against the girl who jilted him. After the comet strike all such negative emotions as anger, fear, jealousy and hatred are eliminated from the human psyche. The remainder of the book is about how the narrator finds peace and happiness. There is an odd prologue in which Wells seems to be having a vision of an old man writing the story. Then there is an epilogue in which Wells is a bit taken aback at just how different the utopia is from our reality.
