The War of the Worlds

Rating:
Summary: Still A Classic
Review: This masterpiece by H.G. Wells was one of the first Science Fiction books I read as a youngster, and to this day still stands among my favorite books of all time. Taking place in England didn't bother me one bit, as I always thought in the back of my mind that these Martians were landing throughout the planet, we were just getting one English survivor's viewpoint. This book could be adapted into a great movie (and yes I've seen the 1950's version, which gave us flash but very little, if any substance, as well as Independance Day, which was all flash and nothing else) in the hands of someone with vision and an understanding of what Wells was trying to get across.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: Far more vivid than I was expecting, and it felt much more scientifically sound than I thought it would be from a general description. Although some of its claims are not valid, from the perspective of someone living in the 1890s, all of the alien's tools were logically explained, and seemed reasonable in an overall sense. Unlike in the movie version of the War of the Worlds, the aliens were not invincible due to some flimsy excuse of a magnetic field. They were vulnerable to man's weapons, but too clever to be devestated by them.

I disagree with those who say this book had no passion. The author's reaction while being trapped in the house for weeks on end was quite vivid and believable. He never got all mushy or melodramatic, and we are meant to assume that he is writing an objective account of what happened to him, which would be hindered by over-emphasising his emotions.

In a sense, though, the argument that the book should not have been set in England is valid. If aliens were going to invade, why would they choose such a geographically tiny island to attack first when the body of usable land is on the main continents. The book never once addressed this issue.

As a side note, some of the reviews on this page are staggeringly stupid, to put it bluntly. If you can't get past page 10 of a fast moving book like this, I'd hate to see how hard you'd crash and burn on something like Tale of Two Cities, and you certainly have no business writing a review of it. What grade must these people be to be below the required reading level? Third?

Rating:
Summary: This Book Was Great.
Review: To those high school students from backwoods, VA I say "If you can't appreciate good literature, no one wants to hear about it". I am a grade 10 student and I read this book voluntarily. It was awesome and I am hoping to read more of his works soon. It appears that books never do well when you are 'forced' into reading them. Maybe since the English plot was so boring, why don't you rewrite it for the states? Then it can suck just like every other american novel has.

Rating:
Summary: Mars Invasion
Review: H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds is a great book for people who like science fiction. The book begins with puny-looking and repulsive Martian invaders, but quickly turns into a hopeless battle for the humans. With a few twists and turns, for better or for worse, the Martians invasion is cut short, but not by the humans. If you like books about alien invasions, I strongly recommend you read The War of the Worlds.

Rating:
Summary: A race of aliens with very human characteristics
Review: Many people who have heard of "The War of the Worlds" may have seen the movie without reading the book. The movie was set in Cold War America, with martians that flew in what looked like greenish manta rays. The book was set in Victorian England, and the martians looked like towering tripods. In both versions however the premise is the same: Earth invaded by a superior alien intelligence. HG Wells wrote about humanity's ego and complacency being crushed by a highly developed lifeform.

"The War of the Worlds" has been interpreted as an allegory of imperialism. Just as the British took over other countries to make them part of the Empire, so too is the Earth being taken over by the Martians. They even bring their own plant life with them, the "Red Weed". The Martians see us as vermin, trying to wipe us out with heat rays and poisonous black gas. Thats's what makes the story so much fun. It is frightening in a cosy sort of way. We read the story in a safe, comfortable room, while the narrator talks of all the death and destruction he sees.

An interesting point that Issac Asimov once brought up was that if alien intelligence did exist, their advanced evolution would also mean they would be emotionally superior to us. They would not act like barbarians, as war is a primitive thing. When people write alien invasion stories, they are really saying something about us. We are destructive and aggressive by nature. Our history has been one long story of conquest, slavery and even genocide. So HG Wells has put a little bit of us into his Martians. Both metaphorically (as imperialists), and literally (as food).

Rating:
Summary: Defining the word science-fiction
Review: What Tolkien is to fantasy, HG Wells is to science fiction.

For those who want some New York setting I can only recommend "The war in the air". But be warned- its boring if you expect a thrilling (and uninspiring) war story. If you manage to imagine the world in 1910, its great - just like this book.

Rating:
Summary: This book was Terrible
Review: This book was the worst book i ever read I had read The Invisible Man and hated that also but I heard from people that H.G. Wells was a good author so i said i would give him another chance. What a waste of time. Both these books were terrible i would reccomend them to anyone they were the worst books i ever read and it was a waste of time

Rating:
Summary: Eng-Lit comes to Manassas and doesn't like it one bit
Review: Having read the comments of those peerless students of the classics from Manassas, VA (where?), one can only wonder what correctional facility is currently running English Literature classes in that unhappy region. If only Mr Wells were still alive, I'm sure he would have agreed with their analysis and realised his mistake in not setting the book in Manhattan, and as for its 'british' language I'm sure he would have slipped in a few words of Southern-Fried Hick to enable the good ol' boys to understand the novel more clearly.

Rating:
Summary: This book was'nt any good if you like roles
Review: Some time in the past. There was a war that raged in two worlds. Villages and towns were destroyed by akueb foot soldiers. These people were either captured or killed. The lucky ones fled out of the area of fire or even some of them formed rebel armies. For thousands of years this war raged, people died. Also alien technology grew even more deadly until they devised a heat ray to destroy the remaining villages. A lot of people died at the hands of the aliens. Many of them were lucky to escape from the heat ray's range. Those who were captured were never seen or heard of again. The survivors created legends about them.

Rating:
Summary: A Review:
Review: I found the War of the Worlds a difficult book to read. This is down to many things, not least my lack of experience with Science Fiction novels. That aside, this book is a story designed, at the time it was written, for a nation (England) that Wells believed was complacent in its own power and dominance. It is this complacency that helps the martians in their destruction of human kind, and also nature in its destruction of the martians. For me the greatest importance of the book is the irony in the fact that the martians are not defeated by humans, but by nature, something neither the martians or humans have control over. This twist to the story is what seperates it from other science fiction works, and this is why i rate it so highly.