The Crystal Egg
written by H. G. Wells
www.ink2quill.com

“The Crystal Egg” is a scifi, short story written by the father of scifi himself H. G. Wells and published in 1897. The other writer that can be called the father of scifi is Jules Verne and the mother of scifi, or at least one of them, would have to be Mary Shelley herself. This was written in the same year as his scifi classic “The War of the Worlds”. During this time there was a great interest in the planet Mars. It was a time when the canals on Mars were visible by telescope and thought to be evidence of life and that is where the inpiration for the story came from. There have been many adaptations by some of the greatest storytellers like talented writer Alan Moore and the illustrator Kevin O`Neill.

The Crystal Egg Goodreads webpage

“The Crystal Egg” takes place in the England of 1897. This is a world of free thinkers and hypocritical social norms. A world of emerging technologies that will revolutionize the world. Machines like the steam engine, printing press and the emergence of electricity are the forerunners to our gas based technologies, internet and push out to space. The person at the center of the story is a Mr. Cave who lives in a neighborhood of London called the Seven Dials. He owns an antique shop with his wife and two step children but is in a miserable situation. His wife, who drinks a lot, and two step children treat him very poorly. His adventure begins when two men come into his shop and try to buy a crystal egg on display. One is a clergyman and the other is what the author calls an Oriental meaning he was of Indian descent or from India. Mr. cave does his best to hang on to the crystal egg by asking for the high price of 5 pounds and succeeds.

Later on when Mr. Cave is alone he peers into the crystal and sees a spectacular sight. He sees a world of lush meadows with light red stones and flocks of creatures in the sky as clearly as if he was looking through the lense of a telescope or even a computer screen. Keep in mind that this is a time before television, computers or the like. He sees a city populated by the flying creatures and when one moves close he remarks that it is strangely human. He takes the egg to his friend Mr. Jacoby Wace to keep it away from his greedy wife and miserable step children and the two uncover the mystery that is this crystal egg. They figure out, by looking at the constellations in the alien sky, where the planet in the crystal is located.

One great thing about H. G. Wells stories and novels is that he knows how to end them. Take his novel “Around The World In 80 Days” for example. The ending is fantastic with a great twist. Many writers cannot do this so it is a great talent to have as a writer. However, in “The Crystal Egg” the author kind of leaves us, the reader, hanging but not in a bad way. I think he might have planned for a sequel as soon as he thought a good one up. Come to think of it the author could ahve given us an entire series from the story by the way it ended.

First thing to note is that technologies have come and gone. They have upgraded over the years in ways hard to imagine much less predict. This story ages very well unlike so many scifi stories and who knows if we don´t invent a communnication systemlike the one in the story. It´s a interplanetary communication system, like a telephone, that works well and lets the people on both ends communicate instantaneously with no delays and in clear images. If anything the technology is ahead of its time. For this reason “The Crystal Egg” will most likely be enjoyed by readers for decades to come.

Another less obvious story element that worked was that of the person with an unhappy family life who finds escape and adventure through alien technology. Mr. Cave does not have many friends and is trapped in a miserable marriage and family. He keeps the egg a secret for that very reason. Sadly, it was the only positive thing in his life. Another person might have sold it for the highest sums or used it to get rich and famous. He would have been in all the newspapers and probably been invited to visit the Queen of England, which would have been a big deal back then. Mr. Cave does not do this.

I loved the descriptions of the alien world too. He drops hints of which planet it is like the pink stones in the meadows and the red bushes until he tells us at the end of the story. The planet Mr. Cave saw was a place where the intelligent life had wings and flew around instead of walking in legs like people on Earth. The author´s imagination was the best part of the story. Consider too that this was published in 1897 some 120 years ago. H. G. Wells was definitely a man ahead of his times, without a doubt.

Anyway, this is a fun read albeit a short one. So, you non readers out there have no excuse. Besides, you´ll enjoy it.

John Ink2Quill

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