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A review by kmhst25
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.75
My family had the War of the Worlds radio broadcast on tape, and I have many fond memories of listening to it growing up.
The book, however, is more or less nothing like the broadcast. It drags in a lot of places and is terribly bleak. In many ways, it reminded me of Shelley’s The Last Man, and I would not be surprised at all to learn that Wells drew inspiration from her work.
Also, it’s heavily reliant on the reader knowing London-area geography of the time, which I do not. This edition doesn’t include a map, but I would strongly recommend finding one that does, because there are a lot of descriptions of traveling between towns, neighborhoods, and landmarks that are more or less meaningless without one.
Overall, I’m glad I read it, but I won’t read it again.
The book, however, is more or less nothing like the broadcast. It drags in a lot of places and is terribly bleak. In many ways, it reminded me of Shelley’s The Last Man, and I would not be surprised at all to learn that Wells drew inspiration from her work.
Also, it’s heavily reliant on the reader knowing London-area geography of the time, which I do not. This edition doesn’t include a map, but I would strongly recommend finding one that does, because there are a lot of descriptions of traveling between towns, neighborhoods, and landmarks that are more or less meaningless without one.
Overall, I’m glad I read it, but I won’t read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
Moderate: Genocide, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship