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Highly influential on both science fiction and the more recent Steampunk movement, this is the alien invasion story that went on to inspire them all.
Our anonymous narrator tells the story of mysterious cylinders from Mars that land in and around London. Treated at first as a curiosity, they swiftly become the catalyst for a series of bleak and horrific events - turning the protagonist's quaint and simple daily life into a battle for survival.
As a brief aside, I already had some familiarity with this story, having seen and listened to Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation (which I strongly recommend to anyone and everyone.) Whilst I now know characters were added and changes made for dramatic purposes, the tense heart of the tale was excellently captured, and it was impossible to read this book without hearing Liam Neeson or Richard Burton's voices, or the magnificent music, in my head... neither of which is a bad thing!
Getting back to the book, Wells' writing, whilst primarily creating a thrilling adventure, also deeply explores the nature of humanity and its place in the natural order. His descriptions are extremely evocative and detailed, giving the account of this extraterrestrial conquest a genuine feel, and strengthening the tale overall. Even the descriptions of Martian technology, whilst retaining a wondrous fantasy element, have plausibility, helping to construe the invaders as a very real and dangerous threat to mankind.
(Points that follow in italics discuss the book's ending. Skip to avoid spoilers.)
Ultimately, the Martians are defeated not by weaponry or warfare, but by humble bacteria - unknown and long since gone from their own planet, but to which we humans on Earth have adapted and are able to live with. In the current climate of the Covid-19 lockdown, this ending created an almost "doublethink" sensation in my mind. We, like the Martians in this book, are currently at the mercy of a previously unknown virus we cannot cure nor vaccinate against - although we are taking sensible steps to help prevent its spread, rather than being ignorant of it. We are still frail and vulnerable despite all our technological advances. And yet, Wells' work makes it abundantly clear how humans have adapted to and survived various microbes over the years, and strongly evokes the sentiment that we as a species will continue to survive, come what may. It is this hopeful notion that I am choosing to focus on right now and take away from my reading.
Wells gave us a classic and enduring science fiction story in this short book: offering a wondrous tale of an alien invasion with a strong humanity streak, mixing together technological marvels and familiar emotion. Long since considered a foundation block of sci-fi and Steampunk, it really is a must-read for any fans of those genres, and being a swift read, one less than 200 pages in length (in my edition at least), there isn't, in my opinion, a good excuse not to.
Our anonymous narrator tells the story of mysterious cylinders from Mars that land in and around London. Treated at first as a curiosity, they swiftly become the catalyst for a series of bleak and horrific events - turning the protagonist's quaint and simple daily life into a battle for survival.
As a brief aside, I already had some familiarity with this story, having seen and listened to Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation (which I strongly recommend to anyone and everyone.) Whilst I now know characters were added and changes made for dramatic purposes, the tense heart of the tale was excellently captured, and it was impossible to read this book without hearing Liam Neeson or Richard Burton's voices, or the magnificent music, in my head... neither of which is a bad thing!
Getting back to the book, Wells' writing, whilst primarily creating a thrilling adventure, also deeply explores the nature of humanity and its place in the natural order. His descriptions are extremely evocative and detailed, giving the account of this extraterrestrial conquest a genuine feel, and strengthening the tale overall. Even the descriptions of Martian technology, whilst retaining a wondrous fantasy element, have plausibility, helping to construe the invaders as a very real and dangerous threat to mankind.
(Points that follow in italics discuss the book's ending. Skip to avoid spoilers.)
Ultimately, the Martians are defeated not by weaponry or warfare, but by humble bacteria - unknown and long since gone from their own planet, but to which we humans on Earth have adapted and are able to live with. In the current climate of the Covid-19 lockdown, this ending created an almost "doublethink" sensation in my mind. We, like the Martians in this book, are currently at the mercy of a previously unknown virus we cannot cure nor vaccinate against - although we are taking sensible steps to help prevent its spread, rather than being ignorant of it. We are still frail and vulnerable despite all our technological advances. And yet, Wells' work makes it abundantly clear how humans have adapted to and survived various microbes over the years, and strongly evokes the sentiment that we as a species will continue to survive, come what may. It is this hopeful notion that I am choosing to focus on right now and take away from my reading.
Wells gave us a classic and enduring science fiction story in this short book: offering a wondrous tale of an alien invasion with a strong humanity streak, mixing together technological marvels and familiar emotion. Long since considered a foundation block of sci-fi and Steampunk, it really is a must-read for any fans of those genres, and being a swift read, one less than 200 pages in length (in my edition at least), there isn't, in my opinion, a good excuse not to.