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Summary: Great Classic Story, Desiring More Character Development
Review: "The War of the Worlds" is a gripping sci-fi classic detailing the devastation of London and environs during a Martian invasion, told in the past tense by an unnamed narrator (likely Wells himself) who luckily has lived to tell the story. Wells' late 19th century conceptualization of the Heat-Ray (laser gun), Black Smoke (chemical warfare) and Secret of Flying (airplanes) correctly anticipates the direction of 20th century military technology. However, his descriptions of the brain-strong, emotion-free Martians, with their intricate though wheel-less machines and rapid-growth red creeper plants, today remain only imaginary, since prospects of extant advanced life on Mars are, by modern scientific judgment, whilst conceivable, strikingly remote.Wells' depiction of how humans commonly respond in disaster situations--initial nonchalance and controlled denial, followed by convulsive panic in the face of imminent death--is superb. Further, the juxtaposition of the narrator's courageous realism alongside the curate's wimpy fatalism and the artilleryman's dreamy idealism elevates the plot-oriented adventure to a stimulating, higher philosophical level. The "good guy wins" story remains suspenseful until the end because the means of victory (I'll just say "by power of nature," to avoid revealing too much) is intriguing and believable. Regarding the title of the book, since the confrontation is limited geographically and involves a very restricted number of Martian invaders within the span of only a few weeks, a less grandiose title along the lines of "Invasion of the Martians" would be more true to the actual unfolding of events. The main weakness of the book as a literary work is the superficial development of the human relationships between key characters. The narrator's brother seems to be mostly a literary device used by the author to expose the reader to events outside of the narrator's immediate experience. Most importantly, the narrator's relationship to his wife begs further development, especially since she is the emotional driving force behind the narrator's lonely resolve to persevere through his struggles and, ultimately, return to her side.
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Summary: Read the book before you see the movie!
Review: This novel is another classic of vintage science fiction. H.G. Wells has a knack for creating situations and characters that literally jump off the pages at you; but only if you haven't polluted your mind with the images from the movie based on the novel. The War of the Worlds is a very entertaining book with a lot of action. It is perhaps the most entertaining of Wells' works, but it lacks the social insight you find in The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Time Machine. What it does give you, though, is a reminder that despite mankind's great achievements, we are all still very vulnerable! (This point is driven home rather bluntly at the end of the novel with the fate of the alien invaders - but I can't reveal it here without giving away too much) This is a great work that I recommend for any true fan of science fiction. Enjoy!
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Summary: So real it's scary
Review: What makes this book so great? It's not the plot or the characters... it's the believability of the story. Everything that happens seems well within the realm of reason, and is presented in such a way as to make you actually believe it is happening. You can feel the fear of the narrator, and the impending doom of the planet Earth. This book was the first to address the subject of an extra-terrestrial attack on the Earth, and is undoubtedly the best.
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Summary: Bad Boys From Mars
Review: Martians land in England and later pretty much everywhere on Earth. They find it rather easy to defeat its armies and proceed to establish total domination. Wells developed this original idea of an apocalyptic alien invasion in the last year of the 19th century. It would be copied endlessly in the 20th century. Orson Welles scared millions of Americans out of their wits with his 1938 radio adaptation of the story, except that his aliens landed on the East coast of the U.S. The Hollywood movie version differs significantly from the book. Wells deserves credit for originality, facility of expression, and subtle observations about human nature found in the book. The idea of the ultimate defeat of the Martians due to a virus to which they had no immunity was recently adapted for the computer age in the movie "Independence Day." And the Martians' feeding method was adapted in the recent box office hit "The Matrix." Read this book. It may feel a little dated in its description of technology, dress, and manners. But all the essentials of a truly good book are there.
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Summary: A little too retro "Sci. Fi." for me.
Review: In "The War of the Worlds" Martians come down from space and start their conquest of our home Earth. The Martians, with their heat rays and giant robotic machines, are attempting to conquer Earth and use it as their new home because Mars has become uninhabitable. This story is told from an English man's point-of-view, with vivid descriptions telling what it was like when the Martians came down and waged their war on Earth. The story takes the reader through a chaotic and suspenseful journey seen through the eyes of one man trying to survive.
In my opinion the story was well written, overall. It was just a bit too retro science-fiction for me. The plot mainly revolves around a man's travels while he is trying to escape the onslaught of the Martians. I lost interest about mid-way through the book, because the plot became redundant. The character descriptions in the book were good, as well as the descriptions of the Martians. There was good visual depiction of the destruction that took place as the Martians conquered more territory. I think the conclusion could have been a little more climactic. Although it was clever, it just wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Although the concept of this story is interesting, I would not recommend this book to teens that enjoy futuristic adventure.
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Summary: "...this world was being watched keenly and closely..."
Review: 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. 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.
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Summary: The one that started it all.
Review: Welcome to the book that has influenced all other Alien Invasion.
Although now written over 100 years ago the concepts and much of the Alien technology is still being used today. Do yourself a favour and read this book to find out how it all began.
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Summary: The war of the worlds
Review: I would recommend this book because it was exciting, keep you interested to see what would happen next, glad the humans got control back of Earth.
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Summary: Might it be the best?
Review: It just might be! What a book. If you prefer quality over quantity, or don't have a lot of free time to read (and of course, if you do), then this should definitely be on your list. Wells spins a masterful multi-layered tale that is at the surface a story of an alien invasion, but also a statement about the effects of imperialism, mankind's abuse of our planet earth, our complacency in being at the top of food chain (what if something displaced us?), and illustrates the split between "intellectual" types (the narrator is a writer of philosophy) and working-class "primal warrior" types (he meets a character who wants to start a guerilla movement against the Martians). On top of all that, Wells eerily predicts the spread - and later, the internal rotting out - of communism, and its association with the color red (pay attention to Book 2 for this). Not bad for less than two hundred pages. But if you read for entertainment more than for education, this remains a gripping and entertaining piece of speculative science fiction. I'm not sure whether Wells is truly the genre's all-time master, but we're all hard-pressed to find someone who did it better. Spend a day or two immersed in this - and don't forget to come back a second and third time in the future.
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Summary: school effort turns into pleasure
Review: 'The War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells tells the story of an English scientist who witnesses the invasion of Earth by Mars. Martians are being forced to relocate due to the failing resources of their own planet. Ten waves of alien craft crash into earth and immediately begin to slaughter the human race. Their superior technology makes them unstoppable by modern Earth weaponry. It becomes clear that the humans are nearing their extinction. Though The War of the Worlds is a tale of warfare, it is also a commentary on the irony of human existence. Humans have become a hunted race, surviving only by hiding from the enemy. Just hours before, humans were the hunters. We ruled our planet with the concept of Survival to the Fittest and by that same concept we were defeated.
Although I had to read this book for school purposes, not voluntarily, I had heard of it before and it did not disappoint my expectations. The story is really interesting and it is a pleasure to read this novel, which truly is one of science fictions masterpieces.
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