Internet Book List :: Book Information: War of the Worlds, the

Book Information: War of the Worlds, the

War of the Worlds, the (1898) [Novel]
by H. G. Wells Rating: No votes (Rate!)
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Summary (From the publisher):

This is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories, first published by Wells in 1898. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator tells readers that "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..."

Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100-feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat. With horror his narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance, and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much a corralled.

Original title: The War Of The Worlds
Original languages: English

Quotes:

Genre: Fiction→ Science Fiction→ Alien Beings→ Alien Invasion & Post-occupation
Fiction→ General Fiction→ Literary Fiction/classics

This work is a subwork of the following works :
Seven Famous Novels (1934) [Omnibus Volume]
Author: H. G. Wells
Time Machine & The War of the Worlds, the (1961) [Paired Work]
Author: H. G. Wells
Three Novels of the Future (1979) [Omnibus Volume]
Author: H. G. Wells
Science Fiction Stories (1988) [Anthology]
Authors: Arthur C. Clarke , Ursula K. Le Guin , Isaac Asimov , Ray Bradbury , Jules Verne , H. G. Wells , Michael Shaara , T.H. White , John Christopher , Monica Hughes , Jay Williams , Nicholas Fisk , Glenn Chandler , Tim Stout , M.P. Shiel , Stephen David

Notes:

An extract of the same name was published in the anthology Science Fiction Stories in 1988.

Links:

Gutenberg.net :: Free online version available at the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive.
IMDb Link :: The War of the Worlds (1953)
IMDb Link :: The War of the Worlds (2005)

Edition #1: The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds (1960)

Edition Details (From the publisher):

In 1960, Edward Gorey prepared a set of his inimitable pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate a new edition of Wells's The War of the Worlds for the legendary Looking Glass Library. Characteristically quirky, elegant, and entrancing, Gorey's visual take on Wells's seminal tour de force has been unavailable for close to fifty years.

Language: English

Illustrated by: Edward Gorey

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Book Information: War of the Worlds, the

Edition #1: The War of the Worlds

Edition #2: The War Of The Worlds