Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

20 All Time Classic Sci Fi Novels - The War of the Worlds

Reviews
 

When I first read this book at the tender age of 15 I found it hard to understand and didn't bother to finish, then I re-discovered it and found it to be totally original, HG Wells predicted evacuation and refugees on a massive scale.
The sense of despair after HMS Thundechild is described and captured in brilliant Victorian articulation.

After several attempts by Hollywood to make this better have failed, some quite miserably (Tom Cruise) its a joy to come back to the original time and again, I've read this book 10 times and always find something knew

A. D. T

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The granddaddy of all SF novels, The War of the Worlds still, I beleive, continues to merit its place in literary history as the greatest SF novel ever written. The innocuous beginnings and high drama, the spectacle, the matchless pace, the atmosphere of mystery and impending catastrophe, the originality, the constant surprises and consciousness of the war not being confined to London but worldwide, all contribute to make this a compulsive page-turner until the end of the book.

The War of the Worlds actually merits more than one reading, as subsequent readings reveal more to the discerning mind, which can be drawn towards inferences not made explicit on the page. An example is the description of the Martian machines, which is actually somewhat vague and allows the reader's imagination to be indulged. Wells only tells us that they are mounted on an enormous tripod and have a "hood" surmounting this containing the controlling Martian. No wonder artists and film-makers have been able throughout the years since to re-interpret this form in a number of imaginative ways!

Also, if one reads Wells extensively, one realises that the novel is much more than a simple story of invasion: for surely the Martians are what Wells envisages humanity will evolve into, given enough time and continuing in our present course. So the War of the Worlds is also a story of humanity in the future, predating works like Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men.

I do not beleive that the novel's place in the annals of SF will be superseded in the forseeable future. It retains its place as Wells' other works like the Shape of Things to Come and First Men in the Moon have lapsed into relative obscurity, eclipsed by the efforts of later writers working in a similar vein. Of Wells' "scientific romances", only The Time Machine continues to occupy anything like such a place in the public's affections.

Does the book have any weaknesses? The most glaring of such is the clumsy dramatic device of having half of the story told in a narrative within narrative, by the narrator's brother. This is a somewhat irritating device which injures the continuity of the work: however, one should not cavil too much as it fails to sufficiently mar the work as a whole.

The War of the Worlds is able to be re-invented and updated to accommodate any time and place, which is one of the reasons for its enduring popularity. It is hard to imagine a reader of any age being disappointed, as it is action all the way through for younger readers, and provides a philosophical discourse which rewards a later reading by the more mature. An unforgettable work.



mark chapman

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The War of the Worlds
An excellent and classic novel. I bought War of the Worlds after taking my 15 year old son to the O2 Arena to see the show. The show totally enthralled him and he not only continuously played the CD but couldn't wait to read the book. This book has since been enjoyed by myself and my husband also. I would recommend this as an introduction to all children that they may enjoy a timeless classic.
Sharati Larki

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Wells' has written a sort of adventure novel in which the protagonist, following the complete crisis and collapse of the country in the face of alien invasion, tries to make his way across country to be reunited with his family.

In the course of doing so he is exposed to the awesome technological prowess of the invasion force, their weapons superiority, the aliens themselves and what is possibly their attempts to re-engineer earth's environment or just the waste/by product of their machines.

The recent adaptation War Of The Worlds (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] [DVD] does a good job of incorporating many of the aspects of the novel, although the struggling single father figure is very different from that of the novel's hero who is much more a man of Wells era and you can envisage some how quaking with patriotic outrage at unwarranted and unprovoked incursion of "johnny foreigner" style aliens. The other movie adaptation The War of the Worlds: Special Edition (1953) [DVD] [1954] is a classic in its own right, impressed me as a child and does a great job of impressing the superior weapons of the aliens and their eventual demise but is more of a product of the sci films of its era.

None of the films really does justice to how well Wells is able to depict characters in the face of overwhelming horror or crisis, the scenes of being almost buried alive in basements will stay with me forever and the groups of people under pressure made me think of Mist, The of all things.

I also think that none of the films so far has been able to depict just how horrible Wells' describes the cannibalistic tendencies of the aliens, their blending of human beings in big machines and infact one of the closest visual depictions of them has been, in my opinion, in the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: v. 2, although a navy dreadnaught is replaced by Nemo's vessel.

The book is a cracking good read, the place to begin if you've not read Wells' before, I unreservedly recommend it to anyone and if you've seen any of the films you've not come close to sort of thrill the book will provide.
Lark

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We are in 1898 England. Yep we see something happening on the surface of Mars. Later what looks like a meteor comes to earth. Once we realize the significant of the situation (or think we do) Different people approach the situation in different ways. The true story is how the different people meet the situation.

Many people want to equate this story with real potential invasions others as the bad guys vs. the good guys. However from the very first we see that they are the greater (more evolved) intelligence and we are the equivalent of vermin or the ants that are being held under the magnifying glass. From our point of view they seem like cruel creatures, from theirs is indifference. Their way of consuming nourishment is appalling yet look at what and how we eat.

The writing its self is of the time in which Wells lived so the descriptions of our world may seem a little alien to today's younger readers. However, the suspense is still there and the story will hold their attention.

Do not miss the 1953 movie. Even thought it adds more religious overtones it is still pretty much the same story with similar characters. Of course, this one names the narrator and adds a love interest.


The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)

bernie

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