Famous for the mistaken panic that ensued from Orson Welles's 1938 radio dramatization, The War of the Worlds remains one of the most influential of all science fiction works. The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. Naïve locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag--only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilization is under threat as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroying all life in their path with black gas and burning ray. The forces of Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they appear.
-Includes a newly established text, a full biographical essay on Wells, a list of further reading, and detailed notes -Brian Aldiss's introduction considers the novel's view of religion and society
This is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories, first published by H.G. Wells in 1898. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator tells readers that "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's..."
Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100-feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat. With horror his narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance, and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much a corralled. --Craig E. Engler
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Overrun:
While I enjoyed the book for its overarching themes of religion, science, and longing humanity...I thought it was overrun with locations and devoid of clarity and detail. The martians are never fully described, the characters lack names and are one note, and the plot is repetitive and would have made for a better lengthy essay instead of a novel. It is blatantly racist and pro-caste, which I do not mind, besides that it is lacking the oneness that people feel with each other when something tragic is... more info
Shame on Penguin:
I hope they did not succeed in getting anyone to pay $5.00 for an electronic copy of a public domain work.
Steam driven extraterrestrials:
It's amazing to read this book from 1898 because in many respects it has scenes which seems to be taken from the countless Mars attackers movies that was made by Hollywood in the last half of the 20.th century. One almost thinks that H. G. Wells was able to tap into the collective experiences of the American film makers more than 50 years after he had written his book. In this book the metropolis is not New York, but good old London, but when the Martians attack London we see the same traffic jammed roads,... more info
Thank you:
Thank you, My nephew loves his book.
It was fast shipping, and good price.
