Book Review: "This isn't a war...It never was a war, any more than there's war between men and ants."

The War of the Worlds 
by H. G. Wells

Edition: I started with Aladdin Classics, then switched over to B&N classics, because I found a volume of five H. G. Wells stories at the thrift store. 
Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars



[As always, if there are any typos, let me know!]


The story:  After England is attacked by cylinders (spaceships) from Mars, the narrator finds himself caught up in a terrible struggle for survival and safety from the invaders.  Though the Martians themselves are weaker on Earth than on Mars, their advanced machinery and technology are helping them rapidly destroy the country.  Can anything stop their seemingly certain domination of the earth?

My thoughts:  Wow...Wells has done it again!  The portrayals of horror, fear, and human nature that make his books worthwhile are all here, vivid and affecting.  I must say, the first chapter didn't look very promising, but it gets much better.  For various reasons (elaborated below), I would not recommend this as a first H. G. Wells read (try The Invisible Man or The Time Machine first), but if you've read and liked other stuff by him, I do recommend this.  I'm certainly glad I read it!

First of all, the Martian creatures were totally unlike what I had expected (except for the big black eyes).  They aren't cute little green people with human-like anatomy....in War of the Worlds, they're actually like vampirical octopuses, and thus extremely revolting.  In addition, they operate on Earth entirely by machinery--they have robots, and gigantic walking tripod-things that they ride in--so their inability to walk quickly does not really disable them, at all.  So, as far as the Martians go, don't think that War of the Worlds is just some kids' book; unless you read nothing but horror stories, I'm sure this book will definitely creep you out.

But wait a minute, this is starting to sound laughable--octopuses driving three-legged machines?  How ridiculous and non-scary is that?  Well, that's where Wells's writing style comes in.  Believe me, it takes real talent to be able to make readers take your plot seriously...he's got that talent, and it's especially evident here.  He "introduces" us to the Martians very gradually; and when the English citizens start taking things seriously, that's when the reader does, too.  The first person narration is also effective--not only does it bring the danger closer to the reader, but it keeps us in the action and does not allow us to see the situation from a less dangerous perspective (such as an American across the Atlantic, reading about the Martians' attack in the newspaper, for example).

Then there's the destruction that the Martians carry out, and the way people react.  If anything will get a readers' sympathy, it's all the burning, killing, and terror inflicted on the people; and if the story still doesn't interest or impress you, the depictions of peoples' reactions are very worth reading.  That, in fact, was one of the best things about this novel.  The initial skepticism, the waves of thousands of people leaving, the crazy rush to get on trains and other transportation, and the people who died just trying to survive; that much is true and realistic.  I would recommend the book for that aspect alone.  SPOILER:  One of my favourite parts was when a military ship and its crew shot down two of the Martians.  The ship had been set on fire by the Martians' Heat-Ray, but even as the ship was burning, its crew kept fighting and brought down the second Martian.  The ship's people died, victorious; it was amazing, but really sad.

One of the problems with this story, however, is that it's easy to lose interest, if you don't know your English geography.  I've read a lot of British lit, but there were still some names I didn't recognise; even if I did, I couldn't picture their relative positions to each other.  Don't let that discourage you, however.  You could always get a map, or just not worry about it (like me).  ;)

The second major problem with this story is the (believe it or not) scientific parts.  A lot of it involves evolution (which the narrator believes in), so that's where the story loses its credibility, for me.  I can't take it seriously, whereas The Invisible Man was far more believable, because evolution had little or no part in it.  (In my opinion, if you want to read classic sci-fi just for the "science" part of it, go with Jules Verne instead.) Overall, Wells is great, so long as you overlook the evolution parts; still, it detracts from the story, so it's too bad he decided incorporate it. 

One last thing: the second part (Part 2: The Earth Under the Martians) starts out to be worse than the first part, especially since the narrator does something despicable.  However, the ending is really, really good, so even if you find yourself hating Part 2, I definitely think it's worth it to finish the book.  :)