- Paperback: 339 pages
- Publisher: Bantam USA; Reprint edition (1 Aug 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553575988
- ISBN-13: 978-0553575989
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.7 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,226,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
In an anthology of tales inspired by H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds," notable science fiction authors imagine the Martian invasion seen through the eyes of his contemporaries in other locations throughout the world.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had a ball with this book. Essentially, it's a collection of pastiches in the styles of numerous writers and public personalities, depicting either how they experienced the 1898 Martian Invasion or how they were inspired by it later. There are also some third-person accounts where the subject (Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein) isn't really best known as a man of letters.
Although all these accounts pretty much stay within H.G. Wells' framework, there's an enormous variety. Henry James wanders through a deserted London. Mark Twain hides in a New Orleans cellar with a bunch of disreputables, including a dwarf and a gypsy. A bunch of Texas Rangers take a no-nonsense and no-prisoners approach to the Martians unlucky enough to land outside Pecos City.
A couple of the pieces rise above pastiche into the realm of art. "The Roosevelt Dispatches" perfectly captures Theodore Roosevelt's energy and epistolary style as he describes an encounter with a Martian in the jungles of Cuba (the Martian comes off second best). And the Jack London piece is a seamless imitation of the genuine London style, as well as one of the few pieces in the book to explore interesting thematic territory.
There are a couple of duds, but, in all, this should be considered as much literature as science fiction. I hope Kevin Anderson, who put the project together, can do something similar in the future.
Although all these accounts pretty much stay within H.G. Wells' framework, there's an enormous variety. Henry James wanders through a deserted London. Mark Twain hides in a New Orleans cellar with a bunch of disreputables, including a dwarf and a gypsy. A bunch of Texas Rangers take a no-nonsense and no-prisoners approach to the Martians unlucky enough to land outside Pecos City.
A couple of the pieces rise above pastiche into the realm of art. "The Roosevelt Dispatches" perfectly captures Theodore Roosevelt's energy and epistolary style as he describes an encounter with a Martian in the jungles of Cuba (the Martian comes off second best). And the Jack London piece is a seamless imitation of the genuine London style, as well as one of the few pieces in the book to explore interesting thematic territory.
There are a couple of duds, but, in all, this should be considered as much literature as science fiction. I hope Kevin Anderson, who put the project together, can do something similar in the future.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I got quite excited when I found there was a "sequel" to the mighty War of the Worlds, so I ordered this book, it comprises a collection of short stories written by authors pretending to be famous people from the turn of the last century.
Not too bad really, some are almost pointless and rely on alternate paths to historical events such as Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba (not very exciting, bit on an anti climax to be honest)
The Churchill story was a plagiarised rehash of his South African adventures, almost taken directly from the film "Young Winston"?
However I found the Jules Verne story quite good, the Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling stories were very engaging, although because they're short stories its all over too quickly, each one makes a reference to HG Wells, some subtle others quite distracting and irritating, the majority are from an American perspective.
All in all, give it a try, at the very least it passes the time!
Not too bad really, some are almost pointless and rely on alternate paths to historical events such as Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba (not very exciting, bit on an anti climax to be honest)
The Churchill story was a plagiarised rehash of his South African adventures, almost taken directly from the film "Young Winston"?
However I found the Jules Verne story quite good, the Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling stories were very engaging, although because they're short stories its all over too quickly, each one makes a reference to HG Wells, some subtle others quite distracting and irritating, the majority are from an American perspective.
All in all, give it a try, at the very least it passes the time!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Great concept, barely average execution.
9 Nov 2000
Format:Paperback
Spreading H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds" around the Earth and having famous people encounter the Martians was a wonderful idea. Too bad that for the most part the original PLOT was also spread around the world as well, with comparatively little to differentiate the famous people from anyone else. Other than to note that I was seriously surprised that Robert Silverberg did not do better in his entry (featuring Henry James), I will refer to the stories by star rather than author. The best ones were the ones featuring the Dowager Empress of China (which was rightly included in the Year's Best), Edgar Rice Burroughs and John Carter (which nevertheless could have been developed MUCH more than it was), Jack London, Joseph Conrad, and H.P. Lovecraft. The James, Picasso, Texas Rangers, Pulitzer, Tolstoy, Twain, and to a lesser extent Kipling and Churchill were basically retellings of the same plot over and over and over. The Roosevelt was distinctive but too restricted by its format, the Lowell distinctive but restricted by its pre-invasion tone. The Einstein suffered from vagueness (all of the sudden time inside the Martian war machine is relative, no explanation for the implications of that), the Verne was ridiculous, and the Dickinson...well, it obviously wasn't serious and so didn't fit in with the rest of the book. All in all, I'd say this was reasonably entertaining reading, but not NEARLY as marvelous as it could have---SHOULD have been.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
War of the Worlds on a global scale!
3 Mar 2003
Format:Paperback
What if the Martian Invasion had happened all over the world? And what happens if it's witnessed by all the great authors, such as Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein and Teddy Roosevelt? From China to Cuba, from Paris to New Orleans, from Africa to Canada follow the reports of the alien invasion. Most of the stories are very good but some are old, like 'Night of the Cooters' which is a cool story about Martians against Texas Rangers, and some don't seem to fit with the rest of the stories, like 'Paris Conquers All' in which the aliens and the machines are NOT the same used in the other stories.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Wonderful idea, well executed
4 Jun 1997
Format:Paperback
I had a ball with this book. Essentially, it's a collection of pastiches in the styles of numerous writers and public personalities, depicting either how they experienced the 1898 Martian Invasion or how they were inspired by it later. There are also some third-person accounts where the subject (Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein) isn't really best known as a man of letters.
Although all these accounts pretty much stay within H.G. Wells' framework, there's an enormous variety. Henry James wanders through a deserted London. Mark Twain hides in a New Orleans cellar with a bunch of disreputables, including a dwarf and a gypsy. A bunch of Texas Rangers take a no-nonsense and no-prisoners approach to the Martians unlucky enough to land outside Pecos City.
A couple of the pieces rise above pastiche into the realm of art. "The Roosevelt Dispatches" perfectly captures Theodore Roosevelt's energy and epistolary style as he describes an encounter with a Martian in the jungles of Cuba (the Martian comes off second best). And the Jack London piece is a seamless imitation of the genuine London style, as well as one of the few pieces in the book to explore interesting thematic territory.
There are a couple of duds, but, in all, this should be considered as much literature as science fiction. I hope Kevin Anderson, who put the project together, can do something similar in the future.
Although all these accounts pretty much stay within H.G. Wells' framework, there's an enormous variety. Henry James wanders through a deserted London. Mark Twain hides in a New Orleans cellar with a bunch of disreputables, including a dwarf and a gypsy. A bunch of Texas Rangers take a no-nonsense and no-prisoners approach to the Martians unlucky enough to land outside Pecos City.
A couple of the pieces rise above pastiche into the realm of art. "The Roosevelt Dispatches" perfectly captures Theodore Roosevelt's energy and epistolary style as he describes an encounter with a Martian in the jungles of Cuba (the Martian comes off second best). And the Jack London piece is a seamless imitation of the genuine London style, as well as one of the few pieces in the book to explore interesting thematic territory.
There are a couple of duds, but, in all, this should be considered as much literature as science fiction. I hope Kevin Anderson, who put the project together, can do something similar in the future.
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