The Space Machine, subtitled A Scientific Romance, is a science fiction novel written by English writer Christopher Priest.
First published in 1976, it follows the travels of protagonists Edward Turnbull and Amelia Fitzgibbon. The pair is dropped on the surface of Mars (due to interference by Turnbull) prior to the Martian invasion of Earth that forms the storyline of The War of the Worlds.
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This novel effectively binds the storylines of the H.G. Wells novels The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine into the same reality. Action takes place both in Victorian England and on Mars, as the time machine displaces the duo through space (in addition to time).
Technology is shown to be roughly Victorian of nature, so as not to destroy the setting for War of the Worlds, but also shows some unpublished advancements of Sir William Reynolds (such as a form of bicycle that requires no input from the rider).
The book was first published in 1976 by Faber and Faber Limited (ISBN 0571109314). It was republished in paperback by Pan Books in 1981 (ISBN 0330263455) and by Gollancz's VGSF imprint in 1988 (ISBN 0-575-03994-9).[1]
Richard A. Lupoff described The Space Machine as "a completely new, gripping, and ingenious book," although he faulted the relatively slow pacing of its opening segment[2]
It won a Ditmar Award in 1977, winning the "International SF" category [3].
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