The War of the Worlds - Book Review

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안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Here is my second book completed as part of my reading challenge this year, it's also my 2nd book completed in January, this time it's a classic and even if you haven't read if you will have heard of it, heard the album or seen the films.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It was first serialised in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan Magazine in the US. It's first appearance in hardcover was in 1898 from publisher William Heinemann of London.
It was written between 1895 and 1897, it's one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race.
It's written in a first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians.

The War of the Worlds has been both popular and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films, radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. It was most memorably dramatized in a 1938 radio program that allegedly caused public panic among listeners who did not know that the Martian invasion was fictional.
The novel has even influenced the work of scientists, notably Robert H. Goddard, who inspired by the book, invented both the liquid fuelled rocket and the multistage rocket, which resulted in the Apollo 11 moon landing 71 years after.

"For countless centuries Mars has been the star of war."

The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common near London. At first, naive locals approach the cylinder armed with just a white flag - only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat-ray as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilization is under threat, as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays, and feast on the warm blood of the trapped, still-living human prey. The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear.

The first modern tale of alien invasion, The war of the Worlds remains one of the most influential of all science-fiction works.

"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 and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water."

Growing up, I've always known of The War of the Worlds, and I've always been a massive fan of Jeff Wayne's musical interpretation of the novel, I'm also a big fan of the 1953 movie adaptation, I wasn't so much a fan of the 2005 adaptation starring Tom Cruise but my opinion on the film slightly changed from reading the book. I really enjoyed reading The War of the Worlds, even though it's a story that was written 122 years ago I found it easy to follow and I actually found it difficult to put down, even though I know the story to a t and how it ends, I still found it an exciting read, I still found myself holding my breath in suspense. In all honesty, I'm not surprised that The War of the Worlds popularity has stood the test of time, it's a story that is enjoyable from start to finish, it helps your imagination run wild while you read it. Personally for me, it made me think of whether there is life on planets other than Mars, are we a race run on fear, science fiction, whether it be a series, film or novel we are always the race that is being attacked and taken over, while reading The War of the Worlds, I couldn't help wondering if there is life on other planets are they worried that we would attack them to try and take over, or as we always suspect are they just plotting to destroy and take over the human race.

If you haven't, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The War of the Worlds and giving it a read, it's truly a masterpiece that has stood the test of time, and it's made me want to check out all the other works from H. G. Wells.
Have you read The War of the Worlds? Is it part of the classics that you love? 

Check out other titles by H. G. Wells:
The Time Machine
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Invisible Man
The Shape of Things to Come
Ann Veronica
The New Machiavelli
Love and Mr Lewisham
Kipps
Tono-Bungay
The History of Mr Polly
The Outline of History
The Science of Life
The First Men in the Moon

See you soon!

안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)

Bye