The First Men in the Moon Or: When a Broke Businessman and a Mad Scientist Crash a Lunar Rave 🌝💥

🌌 Why This Book Moonwalks into the Sci-Fi Hall of Fame

Published in 1901, The First Men in the Moon is H.G. Wells at it again with the “what if?” scenarios — this time blasting us off into space way before NASA, Elon Musk, or astronauts were a thing. This novel predicted space travel decades before it became real, and it wasn’t all moon cheese and stargazing. Oh no. Wells dropped us into a nightmare lunar society of insect-like aliens called Selenites.

Imagine going to the moon and discovering it's run by hive-minded bug bureaucrats. Wells said:

“You thought it was just rocks up there? Lol, nope.”

🧠 Author Recap — In Case You Forgot

Quick reminder: H.G. Wells was out here inventing entire sci-fi genres in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was writing space travel when the best tech we had was steam trains and suspicious mustache wax. This dude was so ahead of his time he might’ve actually been a time traveler.

📖 Plot Summary — Moon Bros Gone Wrong

Meet Mr. Bedford, a businessman trying to bounce back from financial ruin. Enter Dr. Cavor, a socially awkward scientist who’s just invented Cavorite — a substance that blocks gravity. Like, actually cancels it. 🧼🚫🌍

Naturally, they decide to YOLO it and fly to the moon in a sphere powered by Cavorite.

When they land, they find:

• No air at first (oops)

• Then, surprise! The moon has an underground civilization

• The Selenites, moon-dwelling insectoids, have a full-on caste system, living in tunnels like some glow-in-the-dark ant farm

The guys get separated. Bedford nopes out, steals the sphere, and comes back to Earth alone. Cavor? He gets captured and might have spilled all Earth’s secrets to the Selenites...

And the book ends on a dark note — transmissions from Cavor cut off, implying the Selenites were not cool with being told about humans and their drama.

👨‍🚀 Characters That Took the Trip

• Mr. Bedford – Business bro, chaotic neutral, just trying to get rich or die moon-trying

• Dr. Cavor – Science king with zero social skills but 100% curiosity

• The Selenites – Bug-like lunar creatures with a social structure so rigid it makes high school cliques look chill

🪐 Themes That Hit Harder Than Zero Gravity

🧪 Science vs. Morality

Cavor’s discovery is a huge deal — but no one stops to ask if it should be used. (Classic sci-fi dilemma.)

📉 Colonialism in Space

Wells is not subtle. The Earth men treat the Selenites like exotic specimens. Bedford wants to exploit the moon for resources. Sound familiar?

🕳️ Isolation and Miscommunication

Two Earthlings, totally lost among an alien society, unable to connect. It’s giving “I studied abroad for a semester and now I can’t relate to Earthlings” vibes.

📡 The Danger of Knowledge

Cavor’s final mistake? Telling the aliens too much. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Or survival.

🌕 Symbols That Shine

• Cavorite – Power without responsibility. A metaphor for unchecked science.

• The Moon – A dream turned nightmare. A symbol of unreachable knowledge becoming too reachable.

• The Selenites – An alien mirror to Earth’s own class systems and obsession with order.

🎬 Pop Culture Shoutouts

• 1964 Film Adaptation – Stop-motion creatures, retro vibes, classic British sci-fi flair.

• Influence on Space Sci-Fi – Before Star Trek or 2001: A Space Odyssey, this was the blueprint for lunar exploration gone wrong.

• Doctor Who, Futurama, and even Rick and Morty have dropped nods to Wells’ moon trip.

🧃 Why It Still Slaps

Because Wells understood the assignment:

• Predict future tech ✅

• Roast human arrogance ✅

• Deliver existential dread in cosmic packaging ✅✅✅

In The First Men in the Moon, the scariest part isn’t the aliens. It’s the humans — always thinking they can conquer without consequence.