Star-Begotten, a 1937 biological fantasia by H.G. Wells

Star-Begotten: A Biological Fantasia (1937), by H.G. Wells.

Pictured: Paperback (North Hollywood, CA: Leisure Books, 1970) 75¢. Cover art by George Barr depicts “Nightmare Child,” which won first place at the 23rd Annual West Coast Science Fantasy Conference in 1971. A short science fantasy novel, here is the promotional piece from the back cover:

It has been said that the only real difference between a sociologist and a novelist is a matter of unbiased statistics. In Star-Begotten, H.G. Wells weaves a narrative of a time when all earthlings will have been biologically altered by the maneuverings of an unseen, extraterrestrial race. A time when men shall no longer fight wars, will resist established orders, when compromises and consolations will make way for a new order of man. Wells predicted a future when the world of human beings would go totally sane … and a period of transition amazingly like the headlines of today!

Several reviews of Star-Begotten were written in the wake of the Wesleyan University Press 2006 reprint. One, posted at SciFiDimensions, in which Carlos Aranaga concluded that “Star Begotten is a tale of Wells’ second Martian invasion, one from within. Read it. You will be privileged with a view from inside the mind of a man ahead of his time, who challenged society, with questions still valid today." Another, posted at Strange Horizons, in which Paul Kincaid concluded that “This excellent new edition […] is an often forgotten novel that really deserves a much wider audience.”

The full text of Star-Begotten is available online at Project Gutenberg Australia.