Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

The best Sci-Fi of all time - The War in the Air (Penguin Classics)

Reviews
 

This is one of Wells' less known works and has been out of print from time to time over the years, which is a shame as it's well worth a look, being both an interesting exercise in (1907) futurology and quite entertaining at times too.
However, I do have two reservations; one with the book and one with this particular edition.
At times the narrative seems to lose its way, and one can't help thinking that the manuscript could have done with a bit of slimming down here and there. In particular, things get a bit tedious where Wells describes in detail the development of a world war and the various diplomatic moves of the protagonists and it is easy to lose sight of the main characters and plot.
As regards this edition, while it contains some useful prelims, the text is peppered with quite bizarre footnotes, most of which look as though they are aimed at primary school-aged children. These explain, for instance, what 'forte' means, where Brighton is and that 'tueff, tueffed' is supposed to refer to the sound a motor bike made. They also tell us what the Eiffel tower is just in case we didn't know!
Goodness knows what Penguin was thinking of when it commissioned these!

birchden

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Bert Smallways is a rather backward sort, trying (but not too hard) to make a living in England, and watching the advance of technology. But, technology is moving on in directions that he might never have guessed. With the advent of the airship, a secret arms race has broken out among the world's powers, and a new type of war is about to break out.

When Bert is accidentally scooped up by a German fleet, on its way to launch a surprise attack on the United states, he finds himself with a front row seat to the greatest war that has ever been - the war in the air! This new war is to be a different sort of war than all the wars that came before it, unprecedented in its ferocity and destructiveness. When everything can be smashed, what will be left? A good deal less than you might hope.

This now largely forgotten work was written by H.G. Wells (1866-1946) in 1907, and is a masterpiece of forward thinking. While Wells missed the true course of the development of military aviation, his grasp of what a major war, involving fleets of aircraft, would mean was spot on. In fact, this book is quite spooky in its prediction of the destruction of cities and modern infrastructure, and in its portrayal of fleets of warships destroyed from the air! As a prediction of the future, this book is nothing short of amazing.

Well, if the book is so good, why is it now forgotten? In fact, while Wells' portrayal of aerial warfare is right on target, the book, as a novel, is not as good as it should be. The story starts out quite slowly, wasting too much time on the development of the character of Bert Smallways. And, there are many places throughout the narrative where the book could have benefited from some pruning and tightening of the narrative.

So, if you are a fan of H.G. Wells, or are interested in how correct a man of 1907 could have been about modern warfare, then this is the book for you. However, if you are looking for a good science-fiction story, you might be disappointed. Overall, I found this to be an interesting story, one that I am glad that I read. It's almost frightening how close to reality Mr. Wells was. I just wish that he had had a better editor.
Kurt A. Johnson

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