James is a master, there is no doubt. But I'm convinced to now check out Wells who I somehow haven't read anything of!
If you just want to dip in then I can heartily recommend Wells’ short stories, of which he wrote a bunch. Standard Ebooks has a nice edition for free: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/h-g-wells/short-fiction
Absolutely everyone should read "The Time Machine." If you prefer, then an unabridged audiobook is great, I recommend putting in the effort to find a reading by Simon Vance. (It isn't a long book.) The first paragraph of The Time Machine, is one of the best introductory paragraphs ever written (in my opinion, obviously.) One relishes the imagery it reveals, as you read it, like a great main course of a fine meal - with delight, flavour and a promise of more.
"The first paragraph of The Time Machine, is one of the best introductory paragraphs ever written (in my opinion, obviously.) One relishes the imagery it reveals, as you read it, like a great main course of a fine meal - with delight, flavour and a promise of more."
Beautifully put - I will look for Vance's reading
Huh, I found "The Time Machine" disappointingly boring and hard to believe (I mean, it's sci-fi, and old sci-fi at that, so I was quite prepared to suspend some disbelief, but within the setting and the premises I remember I found the actions and thoughts of the characters unlikely)
Definitely do Time Machine first, then his other "classics for a reason" the War of the Worlds, the Invisible Man, the Island of Dr Moreau, and IMO the Food of the Gods. His work tends to have a sort of bipartite structure where the second half diverges quite a bit from the first or there is a major thematic shift partway, usually as a consequence of "committing to the bit." Sometimes it seems like he has lost the plot, other times that he has found it. But the books are extremely readable.
'Kipps', is the novel H G Wells, reportedly considered the most favourite amongst his works.