This is a brand-new, original audio recording of H.G. Wells' classic short story, narrated by Ben McCulloch in 2026.

Published in 1897, H.G. Wells's apocalyptic short story 'The Star' details humanity’s reaction to a cosmic catastrophe.

The narrative begins when astronomers discover a strange, luminous object that has collided with Neptune, knocking it out of orbit. This combined mass forms a massive, glowing "star" that begins hurtling directly toward the Sun—and right past Earth.

Initially, the public treats the star as a mere celestial novelty. However, a brilliant mathematician calculates its trajectory and realizes a horrifying truth: the star's gravitational pull will cause global devastation. As the star draws closer, it grows brighter, turning nights into days and causing temperatures to soar.

When the star makes its closest approach to Earth, the gravitational disruption triggers catastrophic worldwide disasters. Polar ice caps melt rapidly, massive tidal waves swallow coastal cities, earthquakes tear apart landscapes, and volcanic eruptions fill the atmosphere with ash. A large portion of the human population perishes in the chaos.

Ultimately, the star misses a direct collision with Earth and settles into a permanent orbit around the Sun, leaving behind a scarred, tropical world with a drastically reduced human population forced to adapt to a new climate. The story closes from the perspective of Martian astronomers. Observing the disaster from millions of miles away, they coldly note that the damage to Earth was remarkably minor, highlighting Wells’s theme of human insignificance in the vast, indifferent scale of the universe.

This story is brought to life by narrator Benjamin McCulloch, and includes a bonus chapter describing the continued relevance of this story to modern audiences.