Reviews - The War of the Worlds (illustrated version): with biography and text analysis

4.64k reviews for:

The War of the Worlds (illustrated version): with biography and text analysis

H.G. Wells

3.6 AVERAGE

hadvalkal's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

rob_c's review against another edition

3.0

I feel almost guilty rating such a classic novel as only average, with three stars, but I have to be honest about how I feel, right? But it’s not all bad.

Wells’ prose in this book, his second publication, is very different to his first, The Time Machine, where he spends a lot more time simply telling a story, which I enjoyed a great deal. But here, for a lot of the read, I felt like I was deciphering an academic science paper.

So much of the detail Wells has put into this book is incredibly imaginative and quite phenomenal considering the time in which it was written, 1898. Not only for the alien invasion itself, but also for the study of human nature and morality.

One big positive I did get from this read is a newfound respect for an already favourite movie of mine, Tom Cruise's War of the Worlds. There is a vast amount of subtle, and not-so-subtle, nods to the original material I simply hadn’t recognised before reading this.

Despite my misgivings, this is undeniably a classic and well deserving of that moniker. If you haven’t ventured into Wells’ writing yet, I would definitely recommend you do so. The man can write and was obviously ridiculously intelligent.

Next stop, The Invisible Man… again.

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious reflective sad slow-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

Classics aren't usually my thing, but glad I've read it - definitely keen to now listen to the radio version to see how it was adapted.

lrjohnson13's review against another edition

3.0

In this classic science fiction tale, an army of Martians invades England, causing widespread panic and fear among the population. The Martians, traveling in massive three-legged machines, unleash destructive heat rays and toxic gases, posing a dire threat to human civilization. As the story unfolds, humanity grapples with the terrifying possibility of its own demise and the potential rise of Martian dominance.