The war of the Worlds

Locations
Call Number: Science Fiction / Wells, H. G., Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Wells, H. G.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	Due 04-19-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Wells, H. G.	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Coming of the martians: Eve of the war -- Falling-star -- On horsell common -- Cylinder opens -- Heat-ray -- Heat-ray in the Chobham Road -- How I reached home -- Friday night -- Fighting begins -- In the storm -- At the window -- What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton -- How I fell in the curate -- In London -- What had happened in Surrey -- Exodus from London -- "Thunder Child" -- Earth under the martians: Under foot -- What we saw from the ruined house -- Days of imprisonment -- Death of the curate -- Stillness -- Work of fifteen days -- Man on putney hill -- Dead London -- Wreckage -- Epilogue.
H.G. Wells' "scientific romance," published first in serial form and then as a book in 1898, attained perhaps its greatest fame in another form, the infamous realistic 1939 radio broadcast "Invasion from Mars" by Orson Welles. It was also made into an early 1950s science fiction adventure movie. Stover (emeritus, Illinois Institute of Technology) describes Wells' story as "a prophecy of startling originality foreseeing the coming of totalitarianism in the 20th century" (from the introduction). The War of the Worlds is presented as a profoundly ideological philosophical tale, with the world of the Martians representing the progressive future of humanity in a cultural war with our world of tradition and reaction.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes
Table of Contents

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good but slow, worth reading if you plan on reading other HG Wells books. submitted by joshuawferguson on August 26, 2009, 10:03pm The pace and descriptions within the book reflect its setting, a slow English countryside. If you plan on reading or have read any other Wells books, this is definitely worth it. In the end, it reflects his opinions of society and its future. At 100-150 pages, there's no reason not to spend an afternoon or two to see what he has to say :)

War of the Worlds submitted by SBNB on June 23, 2015, 2:22pm It’s a good book, but it’s definitely not my favorite HG Wells book. The Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau are better. Still, it's entertaining.

War of the Worlds submitted by mrondo on June 17, 2017, 10:07pm Good story, but not very scary and boring at times
Maybe it was scarier a hundred years ago.

A landmark book submitted by chowcy on August 28, 2020, 5:17pm Sometimes you know a book is a classic and a landmark book in literature, but as you read it, over 100 years after it's published, there's nothing particularly fresh or exciting about the book itself, maybe because what was innovative about the book then is no longer innovative now since the book has influenced whole genres and movies you've already seen. This is unfortunate, but I guess it just shows that this book has left its legacy. Reading it now, the book is a bit boring. For those who have no inkling of geography in the U.K., many of the descriptions of what happened in what places are meaningless, and the book can be kind of a drag.

SF that holds up submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on August 8, 2023, 6:50am Once again, I’m surprised by how good this classic book is, and wonder why I’ve never read it. I mostly know of it because of the story of how it was read on the radio, and people believed there was truly an invasion occurring. Listening to this as an audiobook made that especially fun to consider, as I heard it much as radio listeners might have.

It’s a clever and creative story (if you ignore the occasional blatant misogyny). The tension builds well, and the first-person narration is particularly effective for bringing a reader into the moment-to-moment uncertainty of what people might experience if aliens truly were to land. In 2022 we have a vast number of stories and movies exploring this idea, but in 1897 “alien” as “from outer space” was a newer concept, and _War of the Worlds_ still holds up as excellent science fiction.