The Crystal Egg: Illustrated [Print Replica] Kindle Edition

“The Crystal Egg” is a science fiction short story written by H. G. Wells in 1897.
The story tells of a shop owner, named Mr. Cave, who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars
The story was written the same year in which Wells was serializing The War of the Worlds in Pearson’s Magazine, a year before it was published as a novel. Because of the vaguely similar descriptions of the Martians and their machines, “The Crystal Egg” is often considered a precursor to The War of the Worlds, though there is no clear foreshadowing of the events that transpire in the novel

Mr. Cave has an antique shop in Seven Dials, a district in the West End of London which, at the time the story was written, was a poor area. He is well educated but is in an unhappy situation. His wife, who is younger, treats him with contempt, as do his stepson and stepdaughter. He is in declining health.
He is a friend of Mr. Jacoby Wace, who is Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy at a nearby teaching hospital and is interested in unusual characters like Mr. Cave