A Story of the Stone Age is one of the less well-known stories of H. G. Wells. Rather than dealing with alien invasion, space travel or the far future, this tale takes us back 50,000 years ago to Pleistocene Europe where we follow Ugh-Lomi, a young prehistoric man and his lover Eudena. Living in exile after killing the chief of his tribe, he becomes the first man to ride a horse and craft an axe while fending off dangerous beasts.
The whole story is available to read on Project Gutenberg
and in audiobook form on LibriVox.
The story provides examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Uya to Eudena.
- Artistic License – History horseback riding and hafted axes wouldn't be invented in real life until way after 50,000 years ago.
- Artistic License – Paleontology: The cave bear is described as a strict carnivore like a polar bear. Cave bears were actually herbivores.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Writing for a Victorian audience, Wells had to be careful about depicting paleolithic sex but mature readers can easily infer what is going on when Ugh-Lomi and Eudena lie together and "caress" by the fire.
- Handsome Heroic Caveman: Ugh-Lomi is an early example.
- National Geographic Nudity: None of the humans wear clothing save for belts of animal skin they hang pouches on.
- Talking Animal: An interesting example in that the animals have more articulate dialogue than the humans.
