War of the Worlds: Book Review

First things first. The rich descriptions really sucked me into this book. Right from the start. But the ending… I was so disappointed. I know this is a classic, but we can’t love them all.

War of the Worlds is considered to be one of the first explicit science fiction novel. Previous novels such as Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde played with the idea of science experiments and xenophobia, but they ultimately fell under the gothic genre.

H.G. Wells continued to strike fear into the hearts of respectable folk with talk of Martians and other aliens.

I was surprised when I picked up this book. I don’t really know what I was expecting as I’d never watched any interpretation of it. I expected it to be slower, but everything happened so quickly. There were short chapters which made it easier to read and a quicker pace.

I enjoyed the scientific element, as someone who has always been interested in space and the calculations, it was nice to be reminded of all that. The vivid descriptions London made it so surreal. I think if I lived in London, in particular those streets I would have felt incredibly anxious that something might happen due to the accuracy of the descriptions.

The Martians, while they were supposed to strike fear into the hearts of the people, to me it was the impact of the main characters and his relations and experiences with the clergyman who dealt with the invasion differently. It really showed an insight into the human psyche which gothic genres had tended to exaggerate a bit more. Human survival and their instincts are explored really well which I enjoyed.

The invention of the heat-ray systems and the poisonous black smoke is seen as a common element in Science Fiction and it was nice to read the origin of such ideas.

It’s no surprise that War of the Worlds has gone on to inspire metal giants of many forms in so many different medias. From TV and the likes of Doctor Who, to the big screen and even in the Incredibles with the metal robot that Mr. Incredible fights.

As a Sci-Fi fan, it was great! I was just disappointed at the ending. It seemed rushed and it felt like Wells was thinking ‘how do I make this a happy ending? How do I kill these machines? Oh! I know, the common cold...’

I would recommend it to sci-fi fans, you will enjoy it!

– Henna