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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A classic for a reason and now it is prophetic that they died on the end from a pandemic
The Martians would never have survived COVID!!!!!
A really interesting read, Wells' speculative biology was particularly fascinating. I felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic, and quick--I'd have liked to see more of how Britain and the world fell into ruin with the Martian invasion--but nevertheless served the story well.
Also the narrator for the audiobook version I listened to, Vikas Adam, SLAYED boots the house DOWN--one of the most engaging narrators I've listened to.
A really interesting read, Wells' speculative biology was particularly fascinating. I felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic, and quick--I'd have liked to see more of how Britain and the world fell into ruin with the Martian invasion--but nevertheless served the story well.
Also the narrator for the audiobook version I listened to, Vikas Adam, SLAYED boots the house DOWN--one of the most engaging narrators I've listened to.
What a great book. I listened to it in audiobook form and thoroughly enjoyed the lovely archaic language, the excellently engaging, self-deprecating first-person narration and the truly incredible (given the time of writing) scientific thought and future-prediction.
A bit of a slow start, but I think that was mostly because of it being written over a hundred years ago and the styling is much different from today's style.
But otherwise, WotW holds up tremendously even to modern sci-fi. I had a great time reading about the adventure that the narrator (and his brother) had been thrusted into and would recommend this to any fan of sci-fi, horror, suspense, or to someone just enjoys historically significant novels.
4/5.
But otherwise, WotW holds up tremendously even to modern sci-fi. I had a great time reading about the adventure that the narrator (and his brother) had been thrusted into and would recommend this to any fan of sci-fi, horror, suspense, or to someone just enjoys historically significant novels.
4/5.
I had to read this for some test in junior high and found it a slog and bit of a disappointment after having enjoyed the movie. A conference panel about Dracula and WotW inspired me to read it again, and I found it just as much of a slog this time.
I, for one, am glad I don't live in an HG Wells novel. I'd rather live in a Bram Stoker novel, because I'd be better written and have more fun gadgets.
I, for one, am glad I don't live in an HG Wells novel. I'd rather live in a Bram Stoker novel, because I'd be better written and have more fun gadgets.
I did enjoy the story, but my problem with it was I was unfamiliar with the countryside and some of the place names so I had no idea of how extensive the takeover was or whether fleeing from the martians would be difficult. England is small. How long could it take you to get to the coast? I know this was before cars were prevalent, but the communication had to be better.
So understanding the terror when the author described what was happening was real enough, but the urgency sometimes lacked due to so much depending on you knowing the surroundings.
Was interesting to see that it was nothing the humans did that exterminated the martians.
So understanding the terror when the author described what was happening was real enough, but the urgency sometimes lacked due to so much depending on you knowing the surroundings.
Was interesting to see that it was nothing the humans did that exterminated the martians.
Verdict: This may be first iteration of a now-familiar paradigm but it still has a few shocks and surprises up its sleeve. Certainly better than that Tom Cruise crap.
In my review for The Time Machine I commented on how incredible it was that this ancient book which has spawned so many of our now familiar sci-fi elements should still read as fresh and inventive. I’m afraid I cannot bestow similar praise upon The War of the Worlds. I’m afraid it’s just a case of H.G. Wells being a bit too ahead of his time. After all, this is a man who lived in a world before the invention of airplanes, much less spaceships. (A fact that might explain why Martians prefer to do their interstellar travel by space cannon rather than more conventional UFO methods)
I found that the book dragged a bit, especially at the beginning. Wells is not a ‘story based’ writer, in that the plots in most of his books are fairly thin and linear. The brilliance comes from the scenario, the big idea that the book is based around. Perhaps Wells’ contemporaries had to take a little longer to understand the implications of life on other planets coming to Earth, but as a 21st century nerd I’m pretty familiar with the subject. I’ve seen numerous movies, TV episodes of varying budget and quality, and read a stack of books on the subject of alien invasion, most drawing in no small way from this very novel. I therefore came into War of the Worlds already very well versed in this particular ‘big idea’.
Oh the aliens are from Mars? Well duh. They have a heat ray? Makes sense. Tentacles? Kind of obvious. Wait what’s this? They’re experimenting with some sort of rounded…no. It can’t be. It is! My God, the Martians are building some sort of saucer shaped flying machine! And so on. I’m sorry but these are just not new ideas to me and Wells, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you hadn’t been such a goddamn visionary your source material might not have been the subject of wholesale plunder. This, of course isn’t really a valid criticism to lay at Herbert’s feet, but its all I have. I didn’t enjoy reading this as much as my past Wells’ forays and, as far as I can tell, the fault lies with the fact that it has so completely permeated scifi that I found it rather dull at points.
But I did like it, definitely. Though I’ve absorbed many fictional accounts of space invaders, never has one been so quaint. I’ve already mentioned the adorable terror the people of London had that the Martians might actually make a machine that could fly. Beyond that though, you have people fleeing in dog carts and hackney carriages. The artillery’s guns are on wheels and dragged about by horses. Normal people can afford to live in Zone 1. Truly, this is sci-fi like you’ve never seen it before; in Edwardian sepia.
Also, once Wells is satisfied you’ve overcome the shock of envisioning space folk arriving on Earth, the story actually returns to our nameless narrator and picks up in pace a bit. We meet The Curate and The Artillery Man. Though their responses to pressure do not live up to (cannot live up to) Montgomery’s Bank Holiday they are, nonetheless, interesting character studies.
I especially like the Artillery Man, keen to go feral, form a new city underground from the sewers and tube lines, amass a collection of whatever advances they can glean from the Martians and then, eventually, steal a Martian machine and wipe them all out. Naturally even grand plan starts with digging a ditch in Richmond. Also, ditch digging is thirsty work and this abandoned champagne isn’t getting any fizzier. Hey, you ever played poker? I dunno what Whatshisface got so uppity about. I would totally have chilled with the Artillery Man.
It may not be my favourite, but I was always going to enjoy this book because it’s all about London. Nowadays, thanks to the hubris of Hollywood, it’s always the bloody Whitehouse that’s first on the ET hit list, but Wells’ Martians had it right. They knew right where they wanted to be; Woking. And from there, onto London; Greatest City on the 3rd Rock from the Sun and really the only place worth invading. As you may have deduced I am rather enamoured of my adopted hometown and am almost physically unable to dislike books that name checks places I know.
War of the Worlds, especially towards the end, (I have no great knowledge of Chobham) was a veritable disaster travel-log of places I’ve lived and wandered. Ole Whatshisface even ends up in Regent’s Park standing on Primrose Hill, a locale down the road from where I currently reside. Needless to say, I was thrilled and considered the conclusion a stirring success. I was even pleased by the sappy happy epilogue. An exuberant 3.
In my review for The Time Machine I commented on how incredible it was that this ancient book which has spawned so many of our now familiar sci-fi elements should still read as fresh and inventive. I’m afraid I cannot bestow similar praise upon The War of the Worlds. I’m afraid it’s just a case of H.G. Wells being a bit too ahead of his time. After all, this is a man who lived in a world before the invention of airplanes, much less spaceships. (A fact that might explain why Martians prefer to do their interstellar travel by space cannon rather than more conventional UFO methods)
I found that the book dragged a bit, especially at the beginning. Wells is not a ‘story based’ writer, in that the plots in most of his books are fairly thin and linear. The brilliance comes from the scenario, the big idea that the book is based around. Perhaps Wells’ contemporaries had to take a little longer to understand the implications of life on other planets coming to Earth, but as a 21st century nerd I’m pretty familiar with the subject. I’ve seen numerous movies, TV episodes of varying budget and quality, and read a stack of books on the subject of alien invasion, most drawing in no small way from this very novel. I therefore came into War of the Worlds already very well versed in this particular ‘big idea’.
Oh the aliens are from Mars? Well duh. They have a heat ray? Makes sense. Tentacles? Kind of obvious. Wait what’s this? They’re experimenting with some sort of rounded…no. It can’t be. It is! My God, the Martians are building some sort of saucer shaped flying machine! And so on. I’m sorry but these are just not new ideas to me and Wells, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you hadn’t been such a goddamn visionary your source material might not have been the subject of wholesale plunder. This, of course isn’t really a valid criticism to lay at Herbert’s feet, but its all I have. I didn’t enjoy reading this as much as my past Wells’ forays and, as far as I can tell, the fault lies with the fact that it has so completely permeated scifi that I found it rather dull at points.
But I did like it, definitely. Though I’ve absorbed many fictional accounts of space invaders, never has one been so quaint. I’ve already mentioned the adorable terror the people of London had that the Martians might actually make a machine that could fly. Beyond that though, you have people fleeing in dog carts and hackney carriages. The artillery’s guns are on wheels and dragged about by horses. Normal people can afford to live in Zone 1. Truly, this is sci-fi like you’ve never seen it before; in Edwardian sepia.
Also, once Wells is satisfied you’ve overcome the shock of envisioning space folk arriving on Earth, the story actually returns to our nameless narrator and picks up in pace a bit. We meet The Curate and The Artillery Man. Though their responses to pressure do not live up to (cannot live up to) Montgomery’s Bank Holiday they are, nonetheless, interesting character studies.
I especially like the Artillery Man, keen to go feral, form a new city underground from the sewers and tube lines, amass a collection of whatever advances they can glean from the Martians and then, eventually, steal a Martian machine and wipe them all out. Naturally even grand plan starts with digging a ditch in Richmond. Also, ditch digging is thirsty work and this abandoned champagne isn’t getting any fizzier. Hey, you ever played poker? I dunno what Whatshisface got so uppity about. I would totally have chilled with the Artillery Man.
It may not be my favourite, but I was always going to enjoy this book because it’s all about London. Nowadays, thanks to the hubris of Hollywood, it’s always the bloody Whitehouse that’s first on the ET hit list, but Wells’ Martians had it right. They knew right where they wanted to be; Woking. And from there, onto London; Greatest City on the 3rd Rock from the Sun and really the only place worth invading. As you may have deduced I am rather enamoured of my adopted hometown and am almost physically unable to dislike books that name checks places I know.
War of the Worlds, especially towards the end, (I have no great knowledge of Chobham) was a veritable disaster travel-log of places I’ve lived and wandered. Ole Whatshisface even ends up in Regent’s Park standing on Primrose Hill, a locale down the road from where I currently reside. Needless to say, I was thrilled and considered the conclusion a stirring success. I was even pleased by the sappy happy epilogue. An exuberant 3.
How can you rate a classic? One of my favorite lines was in the beginning: “Few people realise the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims.”
I've directed and acted in the staged radio version of this play twice.
I read the book and most everything I can find on this radio broadcast and the history of it.
The book is entirely different. It was published in 1897 so you really have to expect that the mode of communication from one town to the next, armed forces, no TV or radio, etc.
So if you do sit down to read this classic, be prepared. There is no Tom Cruise in this story.
In addition, there is a lot more narration so do keep that in mind.
With that being said, I thought it was a good read but not one of the classics I'd be in a hurry to re-read.
I read the book and most everything I can find on this radio broadcast and the history of it.
The book is entirely different. It was published in 1897 so you really have to expect that the mode of communication from one town to the next, armed forces, no TV or radio, etc.
So if you do sit down to read this classic, be prepared. There is no Tom Cruise in this story.
In addition, there is a lot more narration so do keep that in mind.
With that being said, I thought it was a good read but not one of the classics I'd be in a hurry to re-read.