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The War of the Worlds
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The War of the Worlds (1898) (edit title/settings)

by H. G. Wells (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

The science fiction classic that proposed the possibility of intelligent life on other planets — written over 100 years ago, this compelling tale describes the Martian invasion of Earth and man's struggle to survive.

H.G. Wells's science fiction classic, the first novel to explore the... read more

Summary edit see section history

They came from outer space - Mars, to be exact. With deadly heat-rays and giant fighting machines they want to conquer Earth and keep humans as their slaves until they eat them. Nothing seems to stop them as they spread terror and death across the planet. It is the start the most important... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

They came from outer space - Mars, to be exact. With deadly heat-rays and giant fighting machines they want to conquer Earth and keep humans as their slaves until they eat them. Nothing seems to stop them as they spread terror and death across the planet. It is the start the most important war in Earth's history. And Earth will never be the same.

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Yet so vain is man, and so blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligent life may have developed there far, or indeed at all, beyond its earthly level.”
    Narrator
  • “And before we judge them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?”
    Narrator
  • “So some respectable dodo in the Mauritius might have lorded it in his nest, and discussed the arrival of that shipful of pitiless sailors in want of animal food. 'We will peck them to death tomorrow, my dear.'”
    Narrator
  • “Never before in the history of warfare had destruction been so indiscriminate and so universal.”
    Narrator

First Sentence edit see section history

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.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Introduction.

Book One - The Coming of the Martians

1. The Eve of the War
2. The Falling Star
3. On Horsell Common
4. The Cylinder Opens
5. The Heat-Ray
6. The Heat-Ray in the Chobham Road
7. How I Reached Home
8. Friday Night
9. The Fighting Begins
10. In the Storm
11. At the Window
12. What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton.
13. How I Fell In With the Curate
14. In London
15. What Had Happened in Surrey
16. The Exodus from London
17. The "Thunder Child"


Book Two - The Earth Under the Martians

1. Under Foot
2. What We Saw from the Ruined House
3. The Days of Imprisonment
4. The Death of the Curate
5. The Stillness
6. The Work of Fifteen Days
7. The Man on Putney Hill
8. Dead London
9. Wreckage
10. The Epilogue

Afterword

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Alien Life: Not only do we discover alien life, but we find out it's HOSTILE.
  • Human Nature: We observe human actions in face of death
  • Natural selection: conflict between mankind and the Martians is presented as a form of natural selection
  • Human evolution: The novel discusses a potential future for human evolution, where humans would become similar to Martians, that is: developing human brain, but diminishing ability to use their emotions

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 195 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This book is in Classic Starts. (publisher edition list)
This is book 108 of 199 in Newman and Jones 200 Best Horror Novels. (community list)
This is book 790 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This is book 56 of 99 in Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century. (authoritative list)
This book is in Penguin Classics. (publisher edition list)
This is book 39 of 99 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 84 of 101 in Penguin English Library. (publisher series)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. H. G. Wells (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: William Heinemann
Country: England
Publication Date: 1898
ISBN: 978-1612931005
Page Count: 303

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: 20016467
  • Dewey: 741.5973

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

This book is known for its violence, and might not be suitable for children.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Movie Connections edit see section history

  • War of the Worlds (2005) (IMDb): Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dock worker who is finishing a night of work in the morning, because he works the night shift. But when he gets home his young daughter Rachel and teenage son Robbie are staying with him at his house in Bayonne, New Jersey, while his pregnant ex-wife Mary Anne and her new husband Tim visit her parents in Boston for the weekend. But then the unthinkable and, ultimately, the unexpected happens to him in an extraordinary sense! Witnessing, and barely escaping the horror, first-hand, it's up to Ray to protect his two kids from terrorist and races up to Boston before one of them gets murdered by a large tripod machine in its path! (Source IMDB)
  • War of the Worlds (2005) (IMDb): The story tells of a man named George Herbert (C. Thomas Howell) who is separated from his wife and child when a Martian invasion begins. He tries to make his way to Washington, D.C. to reunite with them as the world is torn apart. But civilization is laid to ruin when a race of super aliens ultimately invades Earth! (Source IMDB)
  • The War of the Worlds (2005) (IMDb): At the end of the 19th century a large cylinder falls on the English countryside. A young writer is among those who witnesses the event. But soon the cylinder opens and a group of Martians appear. It soon becomes apparent the Martians intend to attack. The writer soon finds himself fighting for his own survival as the military fights to stop the Martians, society collapses, and as the human race fights to win the war of the worlds.
  • War of the Worlds (1988) (IMDb): At the end of the 1953 film "War of the World", earth is saved from alien invaders when they are apparently killed by common bacteria. However, what if the aliens weren't really dead? In "War of the Worlds" the aliens from the 1953 invasion are brought out of suspended animation when radiation kills the infecting bacteria. Now the aliens launch a genocidal war against an unsuspecting Earth, using their ability to take over human bodies to allow them to move freely. Dr. Harrison Blackwood teams up with microbiologist Suzanne McCullough, computer programmer Norton Drake, and army Lt. Colonel Paul Ironhorse to save the world from this alien menace. In the second season, Harrison and Suzanne are joined by mercenary John Kincaid, who help them fight in a post-apocalyptic urban wasteland against a second wave of invaders dedicated to the death of all life on earth. (Source IMDB)
  • Wojna swiatów - nastepne stulecie (1981) (IMDb)
  • The War of the Worlds (1953) (IMDb): The Martians unchain a direct assault to our planet, with hundreds of invulnerable ships. The invasion takes place all over the world, and all the major cities are destroyed one after one; even the atomic bomb can't stop them. But, if the humans can't beat them, who can? Maybe something MUCH smaller than them...

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Time Machine
  • I Am Legend

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • Edison's Conquest of Mars
  • A Princess of Mars
  • The Second War of the Worlds
  • War of the Worlds
  • The Space Machine
  • War of the Worlds
  • Scarlet Traces
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 2)

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