#81. THE FOOD OF THE GODS By H G Wells

Published : 1904
Pages : 209
Overall Mark : 8/10

Professor Redwood and Mr Bensington were unprepossessing men, leading lived of eminent and studious obscurity, scientists working away from the public gaze. Then they discovered Herakleophorbia, a substance that could nourish a possible Hercules. And became responsible for the most important development in the evolution of man. For they had found the Food of the Gods, and a new kind of human, intellectually and physically superior, became a wonderful and terrifying possibility.

H. G. WELLS (1866-1946)
Born in Bromley, Kent, the third son of a shopkeeper, Herbert George Wells was apprenticed to a draper before becoming a teacher-pupil at Midhurst Grammar School and winning a scholarship to study under T.H. Huxley. He became a hugely influential figure of international renown.

VERDICT
This book is probably most famous for the movie version in which people are devoured by giant rats, but that isn't the be-all and end-all to the premise. The idea is that people need more food so a supplement is discovered that can expand said food to feed the populace, but some people start feeding it to their children and accidentally create a race of giants. The treatment of these giants is what forms the basis of this satirical book, which in many ways is one Wells' best.