- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (19 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753820145
- ISBN-13: 978-0753820148
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 220,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"Phoenix have reissued six of his classic science fiction novels, and they make fascinating reading." (THE HERALD )
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'No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's...' So begins H. G. Wells' classic novel in which Martian lifeforms take over planet Earth. As the Martians emerge, they construct giant killing machines - armed with heatrays - that are impervious to attack. Advancing upon London they destroy everything in their path. Everything, except the few humans they collect in metal traps. Victorian England is a place in which the steam engine is state-of-the-art technology and powered flight is just a dream. Mankind is helpless against the killing machines from Mars, and soon the survivors are left living in a new stone age.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The first great alien invasion story and much, much more,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: The War of the Worlds (Paperback)
It is ironic and yet totally appropriate that the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories remains the most realistic of them all in that humanity is saved because the Martians have no immunity against our diseases. While that simply explanation may or may not explain what happened to the dinosaurs we do know that the arrival of Europeans in the New World introduced small pox and other diseases which decimated the Native American populations, primarily in the eastern part of the continent. However biological truth only gets in the way of good science fiction so that alien encounters in the worlds of "Star Trek" and "Farscape" rarely worry about speaking the local language or breathing the local air, let alone falling prey to the local diseases. Written by H.G. Wells in 1898, "The War of the Worlds" also has arguably the most famous opening line in science fiction history, although I am sure most of us always hear the voice of Orson Welles intoning the words, "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's" (my second choice would probably be "Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time" as long as we are on that topic). The other major contribution to the alien invasion genre Wells provides is the idea that these strange visitors from another planet come because it is Earth that has something special that they need; in this case it is the delicacy of human blood, sucked from living beings (which begs the question, did the Martians know we were such tasty treats or did they just luck out by traveling to their closest neighbor in the solar system?). Isaac Asimov argued that "The War of the Worlds" could be read as an argument against British colonialism as the empire expanded to the point where the sun never set upon it. By the end of the 19th-century the British Empire covered a quarter of the land area and the population of the world, and while this is an intriguing parallel it does not strike me as being particularly profitable since the analogy is rather subtle and I would think most of his British readers would have entirely missed the point. Given the omnipresent idea of futurism in Wells' writing it is more worthwhile to look at the issues of mortality, humanity's place in the natural order, and the potential evils of technology. While rereading "The War of the Worlds" to consider it for a Science Fiction class completely devoted to novels about the Red Planet, I was rather surprised to rediscover that it is a good yarn. The fact that his stories hold up, not just as escapist fantasies or scientific romances but as stories that continue to be relevant critiques of both the time in which he wrote and the times in which we live, only serves to confirm the place of H.G. Wells as not just one of the greatest names in science fiction, but also as a social critics and visionary futurist.
5.0 out of 5 stars
"...this world was being watched keenly and closely...",
By
This review is from: The War of the Worlds (Paperback)
We are in 1898 England. Yep we see something happening on the surface of Mars. Later what looks like a meteor comes to earth. Once we realize the significant of the situation (or think we do) Different people approach the situation in different ways. The true story is how the different people meet the situation. Many people want to equate this story with real potential invasions others as the bad guys vs. the good guys. However from the very first we see that they are the greater (more evolved) intelligence and we are the equivalent of vermin or the ants that are being held under the magnifying glass. From our point of view they seem like cruel creatures, from theirs is indifference. Their way of consuming nourishment is appalling yet look at what and how we eat. The writing its self is of the time in which Wells lived so the descriptions of our world may seem a little alien to today’s younger readers. However the suspense is still there and the story will hold their attention. Do not miss the 1953 movie. Even thought it adds more religious overtones it is still pretty much the same story with similar characters. Of course this one names the narrator and adds a love interest.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best read. Over and over again,
By
This review is from: The War of the Worlds (Paperback)
I've read this book many, many times, and I never get bored. HG Wells was the most prolific writer of his time. The structure of the book is so well laid out, and it follows both the writer and his brother during the Martian invasion.The descriptive manners are perfect, and you can easily imagine what thing look, smell and feel like during the story. "It was the massacare of mankind" is one of the best lines in the book, but saying that, all of the lines are perfect. Very befitting for the story line. This one of a handful of books I would heartily recommend to anyone wanting a storming read.
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