The book is written as a frame narrative. The story starts with our protagonist, referred to only as The Time Traveller telling a group of friends about his time-travel device and explains the concept to them. In order to prove it works he activates the device, and the guests are asked to come a week later when they see The Traveller  walking in all messy and exhausted. There the epic tale of his travels begins.

He travelled to the year 802 701 AD, and there encountered small, humanoid creatures called Eloi. He soon finds out that the creatures are friendly, so he goes roaming around only to discover his time machine missing when he returns. Looking about, he decides that the only place it can be is in the pedestal of the nearby statue. He decides to observe the statue, and during the night he spots another kind of creatures, which he finds out are called Morlocks. Observing them, he deduces that they are nocturnal, and that they live underground. Continue reading →