Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean, but is soon rescued by a passing boat. He is taken to the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates human-like hybrid beings from animals via vivisection. On the island, Edward will have to confront cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.

H. G. Wells is credited with the popularisation of time travel in 1895 with The Time Machine, introducing the idea of time being the "fourth dimension" a decade before the publication of Einstein's first Relativity papers. In 1896, he imagined a mad scientist creating human-like beings from animals in The Island of Doctor Moreau, which created a growing interest in animal welfare throughout Europe. In 1897 with The Invisible Man, Wells shows how a formula could render one invisible, recognizing that an invisible eye would not be able to focus, thus rendering the invisible man blind. With The War of the Worlds in 1898, Wells established the idea that an advanced civilization could live on Mars, popularising the term 'martian' and the idea that aliens could invade Earth.