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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
OMG, how had I not written for a review for this? That's a TERRIBLE oversight. I love this book, and do you know why? Because it was written in 1897, and do you know what scientific discoveries we had before 1897? NOT A LOT OF GOOD ONES. I mean, they had just discovered Uranus in the 1840's, they had only been working with the redshift of stars for a little while, and in 1895 they had JUST discovered that a rocket would work as a propulsion vehicle in the vacuum of space. That's a big deal that the population was just absorbing. HG Wells never got too see the magnificent pictures that Hubbell has provided, the idea of landing a robot on Mars was literally a baby idea in science fiction, let alone realty, had had no idea how many billions of stars were really out there.
And that's what makes most of his work positively genius. Nothing is cliché, because it hadn't been done before. Lasers? Biological Warfare? Space Travel? These were conversations that, before HG Wells popularized them in his amazing works, were only being bantered and philosophized about in the most educated sitting rooms and men's parlors.
That's the thing that I think is greatest about early sci-fi and why, in general, I love it so much. It was all so new, and they didn't really understand the laws of science, so they could write them themselves.
What makes War of the Worlds particularly spectacular is the breadth of human emotion and science that it captures. The literary world was finishing a time when raw emotions were never dealt with, it would have been disagreeable because it would have been obscene to see someone at their worst. Wells captured fear, bravado, lunacy, desperation, with brilliant candor. He never sacrifices the picture he is painting of a terrifying alien invasion. Mars blooming on Earth.
You just don't get works like this today.
And that's what makes most of his work positively genius. Nothing is cliché, because it hadn't been done before. Lasers? Biological Warfare? Space Travel? These were conversations that, before HG Wells popularized them in his amazing works, were only being bantered and philosophized about in the most educated sitting rooms and men's parlors.
That's the thing that I think is greatest about early sci-fi and why, in general, I love it so much. It was all so new, and they didn't really understand the laws of science, so they could write them themselves.
What makes War of the Worlds particularly spectacular is the breadth of human emotion and science that it captures. The literary world was finishing a time when raw emotions were never dealt with, it would have been disagreeable because it would have been obscene to see someone at their worst. Wells captured fear, bravado, lunacy, desperation, with brilliant candor. He never sacrifices the picture he is painting of a terrifying alien invasion. Mars blooming on Earth.
You just don't get works like this today.
dark
slow-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
The book is a "classic" in the sense that it gained and maintained popularity for quite a time, and it's fairly well-deserved.
In the first half, we are beset with immediate terror, of which we are well-warned even without the existence of the tale within modern culture, that allows the rest of the book to become a creeping horror not only of the doom that will befall the world, but also of the inability of man to adapt to such a doomed world.
In the first half, we are beset with immediate terror, of which we are well-warned even without the existence of the tale within modern culture, that allows the rest of the book to become a creeping horror not only of the doom that will befall the world, but also of the inability of man to adapt to such a doomed world.
Spoiler
In the end, we are met with a tainted hope that the world might be able to move forward.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wasn’t every able to get fully into the story. :( I’ll try again later
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes