Star Begotten: A Biological Fantasia was published by Chatto & Windus in 1937 and represents Wells’s final significant return to the science fiction mode that had made his reputation four decades earlier. The novel revisits the Martians of The War of the Worlds — but where the 1898 novel imagined a military invasion, Star Begotten imagines something far more subtle: the Martians are directing cosmic rays at Earth that alter human genetics, producing children who are more intelligent, more rational, and less bound by the tribal emotions that keep humanity mired in conflict.
The Novel
Joseph Davis, a popular historian (another Wells self-portrait), becomes obsessed with the idea that Martian intelligence is intervening in human evolution. He discusses the theory with friends — a biologist, a philosopher, a journalist — who alternately encourage and debunk his speculation. The novel’s central ambiguity is never resolved: are the Martians real, or is Davis experiencing a peculiar form of paranoia? And if the Martians ARE directing human evolution toward greater intelligence and rationality, is that a threat or a salvation?
Wells clearly sympathizes with the Martians (if they exist). The “star-begotten” children — more curious, less violent, less susceptible to propaganda — are precisely the kind of humanity Wells had spent his career advocating. The novel’s irony is that humanity might only achieve rationality through alien intervention, being incapable of achieving it on its own.
Themes
Paranoia and prophecy — Davis cannot tell whether he is a prophet or a lunatic, and neither can the reader. This ambiguity gives the novel its psychological depth.
Evolution — Wells, trained as a biologist under T.H. Huxley, understood that evolution was not finished: humanity was not a final product but a transitional form. The question was whether the next step would be an improvement.
The failure of human nature — writing in 1937, with fascism ascendant and war approaching, Wells was deeply pessimistic about humanity’s ability to save itself. If rationality required Martian intervention, that was an indictment of human civilization.
Intertextuality — the novel deliberately revises The War of the Worlds. Forty years later, Wells has evolved from imagining alien contact as military invasion to imagining it as genetic engineering. The shift reflects his growing sophistication — and his growing despair.
Collecting Star Begotten
First edition (Chatto & Windus, London, 1937): Blue cloth binding with gilt lettering. Dust jacket.
Market values (with dust jacket):
- Fine in dust jacket: $400–$1,000
- Very good in dust jacket: $150–$400
- Without dust jacket: $50–$150
First American edition (Viking, New York, 1937): $200–$600 in dust jacket.
The novel is Wells’s least-known significant work: a fascinating late meditation by an aging master on the themes that had defined his career. It is increasingly valued by scholars and collectors who appreciate its subtlety and its relationship to The War of the Worlds.