The War of the Worlds (1898 H.G. Wells)

"By three, people were being trampled and crushed even in Bishopsgate Street a couple of hundred yards or more from Liverpool Street Station; revolvers were fired, people stabbed, and the policemen who had been sent to direct the traffic, exhausted and infuriated, were breaking the heads of the people they were called out to protect."

I'm a big fan of the musical War of the Worlds by Jeff Wayne and WotW has been on my reading list for a long time and finally, Finally! I have gotten round to reading it. Written in 1898 Wells' language is pretty typically Victorian making it a little tricky to read for modern audiences. If you do persevere it is well worth it for the intelligent Sf and excellent themes and insight. 

There are three really brilliant things about this self reflective novel; the attacks on the media, the intelligence of the science and the amazement and captivation by such horrifying and unknown creatures. Throughout the novel it is shown that the media both use the aliens to sell their papers and misinform because of lack of knowledge. There are many amazing ideas in the book including the way the aliens bodies look because of the difference in gravity, this is just one example, the many innovative intelligent ideas are some of the best I have read because of their logical foundations. Finally the narrator's constant captivation by the Martians, his still fear and emotional states are really amazing, you feel like you are in his head. The two things that contrasts this feeling are the self reflective style and the sheer number of other peoples stories that are told by the narrators single voice. This is one of the reasons the book has not had a decent film adaptation, because its many peoples stories told by one person through a retrospective narrative that is difficult to translate into film. 

I really enjoyed the book despite the "hither and thither"s and such other victorian language that I usually find hard work. Its well worth a read and is a slightly different story to the musical I have yet to hear the radio drama but am looking forward to it. It has amazing ideas well translated and mixed with strong emotional turmoil. Sf's fans should read it for sure!

7.5/10