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Quick answer: If you loved The Time Machine, try The War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Kindred. Each one is a classic or modern science fiction story about time travel, the far future or where humanity is headed.
H.G. Wells's 1895 novella follows the Time Traveller, a Victorian inventor who builds a machine and travels to the year 802,701. He finds humanity split into the gentle, childlike Eloi and the underground, predatory Morlocks, a dark picture of class division. When his machine is stolen, he must venture underground. Readers love its ideas and its eerie future. These books share its time travel and its warnings.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Style | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The War of the Worlds | H.G. Wells | Invasion | readers who want more Wells |
| The Island of Doctor Moreau | H.G. Wells | Experiment | readers who like dark science |
| The Invisible Man | H.G. Wells | Science | readers who like science gone wrong |
| Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas | Jules Verne | Adventure | readers who like Victorian sci-fi |
| A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Mark Twain | Time travel | readers who like comic time travel |
| Kindred | Octavia E. Butler | Time travel | readers who like history and time |
| 11/22/63 | Stephen King | Time travel | readers who like history-changing |
| The Time Traveler's Wife | Audrey Niffenegger | Romance | readers who like time and love |
| Doomsday Book | Connie Willis | Time travel | readers who like historians in time |
| Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt Vonnegut | Time | readers who like unstuck time |
| All Our Wrong Todays | Elan Mastai | Time travel | readers who like timelines |
| Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | Future | readers who like future societies |
| The Time Ships | Stephen Baxter | Sequel | readers who want an authorized sequel |
| Recursion | Blake Crouch | Memory | readers who like modern twists |
| This Is How You Lose the Time War | Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone | Lyrical | readers who like time-war romance |
1. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Martians invade England.
Best for: readers who want more Wells.
2. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
A scientist creates beast-men.
Best for: readers who like dark science.
3. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
A scientist turns himself invisible.
Best for: readers who like science gone wrong.
4. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne
Captain Nemo's submarine.
Best for: readers who like Victorian sci-fi.
5. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
A man is sent to Camelot.
Best for: readers who like comic time travel.
6. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
A woman is pulled back to a plantation.
Best for: readers who like history and time.
7. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
A teacher tries to stop JFK's assassination.
Best for: readers who like history-changing.
8. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
A woman loves a time traveler.
Best for: readers who like time and love.
9. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
A historian is stranded in the Middle Ages.
Best for: readers who like historians in time.
10. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A soldier comes unstuck in time.
Best for: readers who like unstuck time.
11. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
A man breaks the timeline.
Best for: readers who like timelines.
12. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
People are engineered.
Best for: readers who like future societies.
13. The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
The Time Traveller returns.
Best for: readers who want an authorized sequel.
14. Recursion by Blake Crouch
A detective investigates false memories.
Best for: readers who like modern twists.
15. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Rival agents fall in love.
Best for: readers who like time-war romance.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with The Time Machine: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to The Time Machine. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
For more Wells, The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man are classics. The Time Ships is an authorized sequel. If you love time travel, Kindred, 11/22/63 and Doomsday Book are excellent. This Is How You Lose the Time War is a lyrical modern favorite.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Time Machine about?
A Victorian inventor travels to the far future and finds humanity split into two species.
Who are the Eloi and Morlocks?
Descendants of humans: the gentle surface Eloi and the underground Morlocks who prey on them.
Is it short?
Yes. It is a novella of about 100 pages.
What is the novel's message?
It warns about class division and complacency.
Is there a movie?
Yes. Films were made in 1960 and 2002.
Did Wells invent time travel stories?
He popularized the idea of a machine for time travel.
What should I read next?
The War of the Worlds.