Herbert George Wells (1866 — 1946) was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, writing dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, but he is now best remembered for his science fiction novels. "The Wheels of Chance" is his early comic novel. It is a humorous account of a young man's cycling holiday in the south of England, somewhat in the style of "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome.