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Written in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau is an early science fiction treatment of what makes a human and the ethics of biological experimentation on sentient creatures. I found it it be sad and disturbing.

Our protagonist, Englishman Edward Prendick, is saved by a passing ship after the ship he's on wrecks in the south Pacific. The ship that saves him is unfortunately full of animals on its way to the infamous island. The man who saves Prendick, the doctor's assistant Montgomery, mentions that the labs of a Dr. Moreau are on the island and Prendick recalls the name as Moreau worked as a physiologist in London until his horrifying biological experiments were made public which caused him to flee from England to parts unknown. Prendick is taken care of on the island but is kept in a hut away from the labs.

While on the island Prendick eventually encounters Moreau's ghastly creations, some of which exhibit a subhuman intelligence, and hears the screams of the animals being experimented on. He eventually discovers exactly what horrors are taking place and confronts Montgomery and Moreau, and the plot picks up steam from that point on. Things do not go well for any of the characters, human and proto-human.

I listened to this on Chirp and Gordon Griffin did a fantastic job telling this chilling tale. This story is typical HG Wells - cutting edge science fiction for his time. While the subject matter was dark and more bizarre than what I'm used to for HG Wells I still really liked this despite the dreadful imagery it planted in my mind.