Anybody who is a fan of time travel has most likely seen George Pal’s 1960 film adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. However, very few know that Pal intended to create a sequel film. Unfortunately, this never happened, but he did publish a novel entitled Time Machine II that continued the story of the 1960 film and was published in 1981, a year after his death.
I recently got my hands on this extremely rare novel and believe it was superb, despite what I thought the plot was going to entail.
The story begins with George and a pregnant Weena traveling backward in time. The machine stops in 1941 and Weena gives birth to a son, only to have George and Weena die from bombs in World War II. The baby is instantly saved by a G.I., as James Filby Jr. watches this entire scene from his window, unable to help. The scene ends with another man watching nearby who is standing next to a machine that has an engraving reading “Time Machine II”.
The real story begins in an unknown year with a man named Pem Haversham. Haversham comes to CalTech in search of a physics professor by the name of Christopher Jones, who was an orphan as a child and always wondered about his parents’ identities. Haversham soon finds him and tells Chris that he is a friend of Filby’s and is the heir to George’s estate. Eager to know more about his parents, Chris follows Haversham back to England to meet Filby. Once there, an elderly Filby tells Chris about his father and his obsession with time. Filby even relates the story of how George demonstrated time travel one night in 1899 and Filby himself met George in 1917. Chris was ecstatic and rushed over to his father’s home to uncover any mysteries that lay behind.
Days turned into months as Chris found blueprints to the Time Machine and journals of his adventures. Chris became just like his father and builds a new Time Machine, complete with improvements, such as a seat belt, a storage area, dials to set a destination time, a time traveling radar detector, and a canopy. It was then that the year was revealed to be 1971, ten months since Haversham found him. Chris tests his machine by traveling a few hours into the future and back.
Filby begged Chris not to use the machine any more, just as his father warned George. Chris, being stubborn, does not heed the warning and travels back to 1941, to the moment of his birth. Unfortunately, he is unable to save his parents and sees the G.I. take his infant self away. It was then he decides to travel to the far future to warn his parents not to return to 1941. Once he arrives in 802,701, he notices everything is Zen and peaceful. He enters a nearby house, in which he finds the original Time Machine. Shortly after, George and Weena enter the room and Chris attempts to tell them who he is and to warn them about 1941. He even shows them his Time Machine II with the updates. George becomes upset, claiming he has no son, never will, and that Chris must be someone who stole the blueprints and built another machine. In the end, George forces him to leave the premises.
Before he knew it, two Eloi children start to play with the machine and Chris jumped in before it vanished forever. Chris felt horrible that his father reacted the way he did, but then recalled a journal entry where he was disgusted at what the future held for the last of humankind. Chris then realized he was going backwards in time and pushed the lever forwards. Millions of years pass and all Chris could see was a stagnant sky with no Moon and the Sun barely seemed to move at all. The waters lay still, with no sign of humans anywhere. Has Chris reached a point where humans no longer exist? Suddenly, giant crabs come out of nowhere chasing after him, along with many giant insects. Even a giant spider catches him and envelops him inside a cocoon. Chris believes this is the end when a woman sets him free. She leads him to an empty giant honeycomb section where other humans hide.
There, an old man tells Chris that another man like him was here before. Chris concludes it was his father. The old man also describes that over eons, humans have destroyed the entire ecosystem in such a way that the insects have mutated into giant carnivores, hunting humans. He even stated that the current generation of humans have given up and will be the last as they kill their offspring. Chris now understands his father’s frustration.
Chris soon notices that one of the humans has a bullet shell and demands to know where it came from. The human, Aba, takes him to a cave, which turns out to be an old storage area for weapons. Over the course of a few days, they test the weapons and see that some burn something to ashes or freeze something into a block of ice. Chris then wonders about how humankind has gone from a bow and arrow to complete destruction; nothing is ever good enough.
When a swarm of giant creatures attack, they use these weapons to defend themselves, and as Chris watches, many of the humans die. Chris becomes depressed feeling that he is the reason they died: they could have died gracefully but were subject to the brutal attacks while defending themselves. Before the old man dies in Chris’ arms, he tells Chris that he is wrong and that the fight was worth it… because of sacrifice.
Chris now thinks it is a good time to go back to his own time and live out his life naturally, so he ventures to the spot where he left his machine, hoping the giant crabs will be gone and haven’t ruined the machine. He instead finds both machines along with his father. George has come to apologize and formally introduce him to his mother, who is laying down fully pregnant on the floor of the original machine. Some time after Chris left 802,701, Weena told George that she was pregnant. Chris once again tries to stop them from going to 1941, but George tells him that he wants him to be born in 1900 and to be part of his Great Experiment: Can a person change the course of events?
Just then, a giant crab comes out of nowhere and grabs Chris, crushing his pelvis, along with destroying the Time Machine II. The story now divides in two: as George rushes inside his machine to return to 1900, Chris becomes more and more wounded as several crabs claw at his body. Weena has severe contractions as Chris is being dragged underwater. Chris lets out one last scream as Weena gives birth in 1945.
The story ends in 1945 with George, Weena, and newborn Chris at the hospital. George then wonders who is this baby boy? Is it the same Chris who warned him about their deaths and left to die millions of years in the future? Are they living in a parallel world? Will the now changed events change the outcome of future generations of humankind?
This is an extraordinary adventure. Before I read it, I thought it would be about how George returns to 802,701 to build a new world for the Eloi, along with Weena. I also thought it would answer the cliffhanger question of Filby’s in the film: Which three books would you have taken?
As one can see by my recap, the novel did not touch on either of these. It is just assumed that George did whatever he did to get rid of the Morlocks and bring peace to the Eloi.
The story did begin with George and Weena traveling through time, but she was already giving birth and they soon died. That was a real disappointment. I wasn’t sure what else could be done, but obviously, it became better.
It was odd to me that Pal did not include the year 1970 at the beginning. This would’ve helped provide the setting, especially with it being a time travel novel. When Filby was introduced as James Filby Jr., I was confused. In the film, George’s friend was David Filby and his son James Filby. At first, and with not knowing what year it was, I thought maybe this was James’ son, but no. I can only conclude that David’s full name is James David Filby and George just calls him David. For those who aren’t aware, the character of George in the film is in fact H. G. Wells himself, which can be seen engraved on the Time Machine in the film.
I am surprised by the fact that George’s house still stands. It was encapsulated by molten lava in 1966 in the film. Did Pal retcon this? If so, then anything is possible for this novel. I’m not fond of this kind of retcon in a time travel franchise, because the plot can get messy very quickly, much like what happened in Terminator: Genisys.
One of the things that caught me in awe was something Filby said when Chris and Haversham first arrived at his house. He stated that they were late, which means time was wasted, and therefore, Haversham is a thief, stealing his time. I honestly never thought about it in that light before, but it is so perfectly true. Time should not be wasted and anyone who steals another’s time could essentially be considered a thief. Quite profound!
Filby told Chris the stories about his encounters with George, including the events in 1899, 1900, 1917, and 1941. It’s now the year 1970. Why didn’t he mention their meeting in 1966? That would have been a big moment that convinced Filby that George could travel through time. In the film, Filby tells George “You haven’t aged a day.” (during the period from 1917 to 1966). Furthermore, in 1966, why didn’t Filby mention to George that he saw him die in 1941 as described in this book? I understand this is a sequel and that this plot point couldn’t have been anticipated for the film, but we are talking about chronology here.
As I was reading, I was curious as to where these pieces of the original Time Machine came from that were being dug up by Chris. I can only assume they were left there from the rubble in 1941. I have another remark about this that I’ll return to later.
Initially I thought Chris would use the same machine, but it was nice to see improvements. The dials reminded me of the mistake from the episode of The Big Bang Theory that featured the Time Machine. Originally, there were no dials, and I somewhat doubt the show’s writers knew of this sequel novel. Even if they did, the dials would not be a part of the original machine. The canopy also reminded me of the glowing sphere from the 2002 film The Time Machine. Again, I doubt the animators of that film knew of the novel.
I was confused as to why Chris stopped at the moment he did in 1941. Why not a few moments sooner so he could save his parents? Or why didn’t he do this after he witnessed their deaths? Of course, there’s the whole paradox issue, but this would be my first thought if I were him. If he was worried about a paradox, why bother going to 802,701 to warn them? This would still create a paradox.
I was surprised to see George’s reaction to Chris. It’s not that incredible to have a man claiming to be your son and in possession of a time machine, when you yourself are a time traveler. Why would George even accuse Chris of lying? This is not like George at all. I can understand his frustration, but why take it out on Chris? George mentions that he has passed through 1941 several times and saw no bombs. This is not true. In the film, George did stop in 1940 (but didn’t leave the Time Machine) and saw bombings.
By the way, how did Chris know exactly when to arrive in 802,701? Sure, there was a point where journal entries stopped, but does that mean George is still there in 802,701? It would actually be interesting to see what would’ve happened if Chris arrived during the time when his parents met, during George’s first journey to 802,701.
Chris’ journey to the end of humankind was very similar to George’s first journey to 802,701. I can agree with what he saw at first, and even the giant insects. Chris even describes in the novel how insects are the most adaptable creatures on Earth. The humans of the time seemed much like the Eloi. This part was basically George’s story retold, but with giant insects instead of Morlocks. Chris finding the weapons was rather coincidental and I do agree with him that weapons seem to become more destructive as time passes.
Again, I was surprised to read that the old man knew of George. Why does Chris always go to time after his father has been there? I understand he has a radar detector, but why doesn’t he stop while George is still there? The only time he does is in 1941. This makes no sense. Is he avoiding his father? I wouldn’t think so. Is the Time Machine II incapable of stopping before the original leaves? I don’t think so because of the events depicted in 1941.
The war between the humans and insects was interesting, but nothing spectacular. Once again, the “Eloi” of that period have triumphed over their adversaries. Is it worth sacrificing a few to save the many? That’s a deep philosophical question, and in my opinion, no. Everyone deserves a chance to live. However, those who wish to live out their last days fighting for a cause, that’s their decision.
It was also strange to see George come to the future to see his son. How did he know when to arrive or that Chris would even be there? This was never mentioned. Last time he saw him was when he shooed him away. Chris didn’t say anything to him about going to the future. And how long has George been there? I assume not long, since Weena was about to go into labor, which makes even less sense for George to be there at that time. Not to mention George couldn’t remember exactly what year it was that they died. Did he come to ask Chris? Seems silly.
I enjoyed how the story split into two at the end, moving at a fast pace, going back and forth between the two. I especially loved that as the events of Chris’s death are being described in the future, we learn the details of his birth in 1941. Perfect ending.
Then, George began thinking about parallel worlds and how his life and Chris’ life intertwined, something not mentioned in the film. The Chris of the future was his son, but not the same son he now holds in his arms. George has created a new world for his family. I guess this explains where the parts from the 1970 dig came from: from the demolished Time Machine from 1941, which doesn’t exist in this timeline, but another, just like the Chris born in 1941 exists somewhere in the multiverse.
I love this novel and reccomend it to all fans of time travel and The Time Machine. You will love it, even though there are a few asynchronicities. On the cover, the book is described as a sequel to Wells’ novel, but it’s really not. It’s a sequel to the 1960 film. I only wish this was a movie, but I’m perfectly happy with the 2002 film. Thank you George Pal for leaving us this legacy. Keep in mind that this is an extremely rare find and if you do happen to locate it, hold onto it for all time!
RJ Onyx Moonshadow
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Hello RJ,
I came across your website, when I notice it was about The Time Machine 2. You have done a very good job on the site, it is well put together and informative. It so happens, I am the illustrator of The Time Machine 2 paperback cover, and the featured illustration on your home page. Of note I produced a 2nd concept in 1981 for the cover which was never executed because of time restraints. I still have a copy of that sketch in my files. I look forward seeing how your website progresses. Best wishes, John Melo
Thanks for contacting us regarding your artwork on the Time Machine II cover! We always love knowing more about time travel projects, particularly when we can hear it right from the people who made it happen. If you’d care to share more details about working on the artwork, including the concept work that wasn’t used, and maybe other time travel related books you have contributed to (The Door Into Summer comes to mind), we’d love to hear more. Drop me a line at craig@timetravelnexus.com.
Hi Craig, following up with you. I sent you a brief story on the creation of the Time Machine 2 cover as you suggested, a couple of weeks ago. Along with a digital copy of the 2nd cover sketch. Let me know whether you received the email.
Regards,
John