The Invisible Man vs The Time Machine: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Scientists, Classic Literature, Science Fiction, Fiction
The Invisible Man
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This book is the story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.
The Time Machine
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The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, travels over 800,000 years into the future. He lands in the year 802701: the world has been…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Time Machine highest: The Time Machine 3.9 · The Invisible Man 3.6.
- The Time Machine has the widest readership — 579364 ratings behind its score.
- The Time Machine reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 34 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Invisible Man | The Time Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (224148) | 3.9 (579364) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (1) | 3.8 (1493) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (3777) | 4.5 (1863) |
| LiveLib | — | 4.3 (5) |
Reception
| The Invisible Man | The Time Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 224148 | 579364 |
| Editions | 563 | 1146 |
| Citations | 9 | 34 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 238136 | 406157 |
| Reading it now | 18865 | 20904 |
| Written reviews | 12579 | 20618 |
| Wikipedia attention | 14161 | 12134 |
| Pages | 124 | 119 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Invisible Man or The Time Machine?
The Time Machine has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Time Machine 3.9/5, The Invisible Man 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Invisible Man or The Time Machine?
The Time Machine is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Time Machine (119 pages, ≈ 2 h 12 m); The Invisible Man (124 pages, ≈ 2 h 18 m).
Which is harder to read: The Invisible Man or The Time Machine?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Invisible Man: Challenging; The Time Machine: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
The Invisible Man: 5 film adaptations; The Time Machine: no film adaptation on record.