The Star

First published in the Christmas 1897 issue of The Graphic and collected two years later in Tales of Space and Time, H. G. Wells's 'The Star' stands as one of the earliest and most powerful works of apocalyptic science fiction in the English language. A strange luminous body enters the solar system and collides with Neptune, forging a blazing new star that hurtles sunward, passing perilously close to Earth. As the celestial intruder draws nearer, its gravitational fury triggers earthquakes, tidal waves, and melting ice caps, while humanity cycles through wonder, denial, and terror. Wells tells this story not through a single protagonist but through the collective voice of a world under siege—scientist and laborer, believer and skeptic—building a remorseless planetary tension that culminates in a final shift of perspective so coolly devastating it has haunted readers for more than a century.