The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

the little green men from outer space

I was looking forward to reading War of the Worlds since it was arguably the most famous story on my list of books.  Like most people, my knowledge was limited to the countless film, television, comic book and radio versions of the story with my favorite being Orson Welles’ 1938 dramatization with the Mercury Radio Theatre.  I’m not sure I had even picked up a copy of War of the Worlds before this project. 

Still, I was eager to read the original and compare it to all that followed.

You know the story.  Earth lays sleeping, unaware of the danger that a distant planet poses, eager to learn about the visitors, helpless to stop the destruction and grateful for their eventual survival.  H.G. Wells’ story is very formulaic but it was the blueprint for the formula.  Considered the original space invasion novel (it wasn’t) it popularized the genre and opened the door for a wave of science fiction novelists for the next century.

Sandra with Evil Emperor Zurg, the sworn enemy of
the Galactic Alliance and some other weird alien
creature unidentified

Here are a couple of points to ponder.  War of the Worlds was written in 1898 (so why is it on the list of 20^th Century books?) and “Invasion Literature” was wildly popular in Great Britain.  Stories about foreign powers attacking England and then being repelled by brave, patriotic souls were the hot sellers.  Remember Red Dawn and Invasion USA in the ‘80’s?  At the same time, amateur astronomers were writing papers on the latest discoveries about Mars and how there was not just proof life, but of ancient civilization on the red planet.  Combine these two themes and you have the workings of a best seller.

But Wells didn’t take the easy road.  Instead of stalwart heroes making gallant last stands, his protagonist is a nameless “everyman” who despairs at the destruction that surrounds him, who survives by luck and who fears for the lives of his family and neighbors.  There are no tin soldier heroics here.  There are frightened human beings who run or fight.  Those who fight, die.  There are scenes of sacrifice but without the manly melodramatics that run through other contemporary fiction.

Wells spends much of the opening chapters building suspense and he does it very deftly.  However, once the Martians actually start attacking, he goes almost into a travelogue of destruction.  His descriptions of the Martians and their machines of death are frankly monotonous.  I had to remind myself that this was groundbreaking material and that no one had read anything quite like this before. 

War of the Worlds was wildly popular and brought on many inferior imitations.  Other writers turned the tables and sent their heroes to Mars or beyond.  One of the most durable of these is the Barsoom series written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The influence of War of the Worlds continues today.  Major motion pictures such as Independence Day, Men in Black and even another remake of War of the Worlds itself prove the theme of evil E.T.’s remains popular.  The “formula” is found in modern novels by Dean Koontz and Stephen King as well as TV shows such as The Walking Dead.



Is War of the Worlds a great book?  It was once.  Even if the writing style doesn’t translate well to our time, any fan of Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror genres should read it to learn about their roots.

Next Week – A Sinclair Lewis double header – Ernie reads “Babbit” while Sandra takes on “Main Street”