Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The War of the Worlds” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

more photos (3)

Read Book* *Different edition

The War of the Worlds

H.G. Wells

3.82 · Rating details · 228,834 ratings · 7,130 reviews

Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.

H.G. Wells's science fiction classic, the first novel to explore the possibilities of intelligent life from other planets, it still startling and vivid nearly after a century after its appearance, and a half-century after Orson Wells's infamous 1938 radio adaptation. The daring portrayal of ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 194 pages

Published November 1st 1988 by Bantam Classics (first published 1898)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The War of the Worlds, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Gunn Center's Basic Science Fiction Library

211 books — 14 voters

True Classics Before 1966

311 books — 19 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.82 ·

Rating details

· 228,834 ratings · 7,130 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The War of the Worlds

Apr 15, 2017 Joey Woolfardis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: champion, sterling, egads-bogen, masculine, ce19, bookshelf, 2017

Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

The War of the Worlds goes beyond the of-the-time popular military invasion fiction, which took away the standard protagonist/antagonist arc of single characters and popped whole countries or tribes in their place, and brings down to Earth a whole new enemy at a time when science fiction did not exist and science itself was oft thought of as fiction.

In Surrey, a professor is caught up in the ...more

flag 158 likes · Like · see review

Jun 22, 2007 Joeji rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: artillerymen

I acknowledge that I am one of the few people who actually enjoyed the recent "War of the Worlds" movie. The reason for this has to do more with the original book than Tom Cruise or Steven Speilburg's tendency to wittle everything, including alien attacks, down to simple family problems. In a lot of ways, "War of the Worlds" (2006) was a close to dead-on adaptation of the original Victorian novel.

Just a few words on why you should like, or if you don't like, respect "War of the Worlds" as a I acknowledge that I am one of the few people who actually enjoyed the recent "War of the Worlds" movie. The reason for this has to do more with the original book than Tom Cruise or Steven Speilburg's tendency to wittle everything, including alien attacks, down to simple family problems. In a lot of ways, "War of the Worlds" (2006) was a close to dead-on adaptation of the original Victorian novel.

Just a few words on why you should like, or if you don't like, respect "War of the Worlds" as a movie:

It avoids alien movie cliches:
1. There are no characters (Presidents, generals, etc.) who tell you what is going on on a global scale--all information is through rumors.
2. You do not see a major city destroyed nor any iconic landmarks.
3. Instead of humanity banding together to defeat a common foe, the characters and others they interact with are left increasingly fragmented and isolated.

That being said, Speilburg's "War of the Worlds" adapts much of the plot line and themes from the original novel. Instead of the 1950s version which pits a united front against the aliens (Cold War adapted), the original Victorian novel has a character travel isolated. Wells' narrater, like Tom Cruise, finds himself on a ferry-crossing, holed up with a panicked priest (who conflated with the artillery-man, provides us with a freaky Tim Robbins. Robbins even shares a few lines with the artillery-man). The ending is much the same, a kind of "Now what?" sense pervades. And of course, Morgan Freeman's opening and closings, are practically word by word from the novel.

The movie is also a great window into some of the novel's most important themes. "War of the Worlds," is a very Post-9/11 movie. There is the dust, the annhilation of things we find familiar, clothing floats from the sky in mimic of office paper...There is a pervading fear of complete and nonsensical annhiliation. Whereas the 1950s adaption pits humanity against an enemy, the updated version worries itself with unknown enemies who spring from the ground. And, Speilburg, not one to be subtle, has Dakota Fanning ask Tom Cruise, "Is it the terrorists?"

That being said, the Victorian novel is a catelogue of Victorian anxieties. This is the age of colonialism, afterall, and suddenly England is beset by a much more powerful force, unexpected, and completely foreign. 'Reverse' colonialism? The aliens take England's resources, kill off its people, and even cover the landscape with alien plant-life.

And perhaps the most over-arching anxiety of all: Darwin. Here we have evolution at its cruelest; then consume us (drinking our blood like in Bram Stoker's Dracula). Just when humanity seems at its lowest, nature kicks in and saves the day. The ending seems anti-climatic now, but you have to remember that H.G. Wells did not have a pop-reference that included Will Smith destroying the mother-ship.

So my point is, "War of the Worlds" is an amazing book and good movie, and one can inform the other.

"This is not a war any more than it's a war between men and ants."

...more

flag 145 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2019 Anne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, sci-fi, audio, read-in-2019

I didn't listen to the novel-novel, but I listened to a radio adaptation performed by some fan-favorite cast members of Star Trek. <--Leonard Nimoy is amazing.
It was cool as hell.

description

And hilarious.
Because it doesn't really have a Big Battle or anything that humanity has to do to overcome these invaders. They just show up, and we watch in horror as they thoroughly hand us our asses.

description

Eventually, they just...die off because (regardless of their superior intelligence & firepower) they didn't get ...more

flag 141 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2011 Apatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, favorites, pre-80s-sf, classics, fave-classics

“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 scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

A beautiful opening to the book but I must say the Martians did a very poor ...more

flag 111 likes · Like · see review

Sep 26, 2018 Leonard Gaya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Paraphrasing Whitehead, I would say that the safest general characterisation of the science-fiction tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to H. G. Wells. Indeed, The War of the Worlds is probably the most influential novel of the whole science fiction genre, as well as a significant part of the horror category. I remember reading this short novel as a child and being viscerally engrossed and terrified. Rereading it now made me aware of a few more things. First I realised how ...more

flag 122 likes · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2017 Paul Bryant rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-novels-aaargh

This was not anything like the Tom Cruise movie so be warned. If you’re expecting an action story about a divorced union container crane operator with a 10 year old daughter you ain’t gonna find it here. They changed like 99% of everything around. As far as I could see there are only two things which are the same, one is that the Martians attack Earth in these COOL THREE LEGGED METAL 70 FOOT HIGH HEAT RAY KICK ASS DEATH MACHINES and two is that they die in the same way which I won’t say here This was not anything like the Tom Cruise movie so be warned. If you’re expecting an action story about a divorced union container crane operator with a 10 year old daughter you ain’t gonna find it here. They changed like 99% of everything around. As far as I could see there are only two things which are the same, one is that the Martians attack Earth in these COOL THREE LEGGED METAL 70 FOOT HIGH HEAT RAY KICK ASS DEATH MACHINES and two is that they die in the same way which I won’t say here because that would be a giant spoiler but really it’s a bit feeble but I guess could happen because they came from Mars which don’t have bacteria. I don’t do biology so I don’t know if a whole PLANET can not have bacteria. Seems like also they couldn’t have had YOGHURT as well, but HG Wells does not make this clear. Nor Stephen Spielberg either. Now this book version I think is not the book of the movie, I think it came first so that may explain why the movie is better, because really this book is lame. Yes more realistic because like the main guy is no Tom Cruise, but less action. What happens is that the Martians land and like fry everyone up with the DEATH HEAT RAY and send out the BLACK SMOKE to finish off anyone left alive and the main guy hops around and hides and eats really gross stuff and just sees stuff. As for instance he sees the army get a lucky shot in and kill the one single Martian but then like his buddies just wipe out the whole British army. Boom, heatray zzzzz – GONE! Oh yeah the book is set in England which I thought was strange. Why not America like the movie? Anyway just when the guy has realized that from now on we’re just going to be MARTIAN FRENCH FRIES and kept in cages (when not heatrayed) then the Martians just like shrivel up and die. End of. So, in my opinion, I say watch the movie. Or you could go for the prog rock version, lol. Oh I guess I did give away the end. Okay, SPOILER – sorry. But everybody knows this story. It’s like saying oh in the end Dracula dies with a steak in his arse. It’s a known fact. ...more

flag 102 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 Evgeny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

Ladies and gentlemen, I shall read you a wire addressed to Professor Pierson from Dr. Gray of the National History Museum, New York. "9:15 P. M. eastern standard time. Seismograph registered shock of almost earthquake intensity occurring within a radius of twenty miles of Princeton. Please investigate. Signed, Lloyd Gray, Chief of Astronomical Division" . . . Professor Pierson, could this occurrence possibly have something to do with the disturbances observed on the planet Mars?
War of the Worlds

Martians are ...more

flag 85 likes · Like · see review

Feb 08, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, kindle-freebie, horror, classics, victorian, mars-is-heaven, england

I hadn't read this classic (1898!) science fiction novel since I was probably a teenager, and I didn't particularly care for it much back then, but I let myself get roped into a group read of it, partly because it's so short. And also my literary diet needs more classics. And you know? I'm glad I did.

The War of the Worlds is a lot more thoughtfully written than I had remembered. In between deadly heat rays, huge tripod machines striding around the country killing everything in their path, and ...more

flag 86 likes · Like · see review

May 10, 2013 Vit Babenco rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The War of the Worlds belongs to the league of immortal books.
Tribal wars, civil wars, colonial wars… H.G. Wells managed to raise a phenomenon of war to the higher interplanetary level.

The air was full of sound, a deafening and confusing conflict of noises – the clangorous din of the Martians, the crash of falling houses, the thud of trees, fences, sheds flashing into flame, and the crackling and roaring of fire. Dense black smoke was leaping up to mingle with the steam from the river, and as

...more

flag 81 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2013 Adrian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, zz-owned-books, sf-classic

PLEASE SEE POSTSCRIPT

Well with GR telling me I haven’t read any books this year (doh !), I thought I’d finish my first.

In all seriousness this is a re-read because I want to go on to Stephen Baxter’s The Massacre of Mankind, which is part of one of this years numerous challenges (why do I do this to myself ?)
Anyway GR says this is my 2nd read of this classic book (hah, what does GR know), whereas in fact it is probably my 5th or maybe 6th. To me it is certainly 4.5 stars and is enjoyable for so ...more

flag 110 likes · Like · see review

Jun 25, 2014 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die

Wells sort of made a bet and wanted to have it covered both ways: in which shape will Apocalypse come?

Humanity wiped out by super-humans ruling over invincible machines?

Or wiped out by a tiny bacteria?

Choose your ending! And enjoy a vintage science fiction writer while you wait ...

flag 76 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2007 Bill Kerwin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-c-brit, science-fiction, fiction

In fiction, the fate of the successful innovator is seldom a happy one; the writer who invents an original plot or fresh theme may seem predictable, even shallow, to later readers, once that plot or theme—appropriated by scores of imitators—no longer shines like new. So it is with H.G. Wells and his The War of the Worlds (1897). Invading creatures from outer space became a cliché of “golden age” science fiction, and a double-cliche after the drive-in movies of the ‘50’s. H.G.’s “bug-eyed
In fiction, the fate of the successful innovator is seldom a happy one; the writer who invents an original plot or fresh theme may seem predictable, even shallow, to later readers, once that plot or theme—appropriated by scores of imitators—no longer shines like new. So it is with H.G. Wells and his The War of the Worlds (1897). Invading creatures from outer space became a cliché of “golden age” science fiction, and a double-cliche after the drive-in movies of the ‘50’s. H.G.’s “bug-eyed monsters” no longer chill us as they did the thrilled readers of more than a hundred years ago.

That’s not H.G. Wells fault, though, for they are certainly bad-ass “bug-eyed monsters,” as “bug-eyed monsters” go. Bear-sized land-octopi with a circle of little mouth-tentacles (shades of Cthulhu!), they make their way around England in walking tanks (tripodal fighting machines equipped with a deadly heat-ray and an even deadlier cloud of black gas), sustaining themselves by draining the blood from any available human (or—in a pinch—a sheep or two) while emitting strange whistles of delight.

Still, scary stuff like this got old a long time ago, and I found myself bored with the whole monster invasion thing (as I suspect you might too). But then I paused, dipped a bit into literary history, and soon realized that The War of the Worlds was a more interesting work than I had suspected.

Ever since the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, dozens of English novels had been written under the umbrella of the “invasion literature” genre, beginning with Chesney’s The Battle of Dorking (1871), which featured a German invasion of England. The name of the invading country varied in these books—often Germany, sometimes France—but all the novels tended to feature surprise attacks, the devastation of Southern England (including London), and the inadequacy of English military preparedness. By the time Wells published his short novel in 1897, the genre of “invasion literature” had prepared an enthusiastic audience for his books.

Of course Wells enjoyed the invasion genre, and thought that the addition of Martians would “up the ante,” making The War of the Worlds the invasion novel to end all invasion novels. But I believe his intentions were more complex and richer than this.

I believe that what Wells admired most about the invasion genre was that it shattered the complacency of the English middle class, demonstrated that not only the horrors but—perhaps worse—the profound disruptions of war were possible even here, here at the heart of the Empire: the destruction of villages, the separation of families, the forced movement of whole populations. The problem with the invasion genre, though, was that its villains were too specific, too localized, too susceptible to British dislike of the Hun, mistrust of the Frog. Such parochial prejudices diminished the profound experience of disruption.

But what if the invading forces were not men at all, but beings from another planet, organisms that did not look or act like men? If so, then the writer could use the genre’s images of dislocation and disruption—the burning houses, the victims of a black gas, the horde of Londoners fleeing in terror—to say something about the vulnerability of the human race itself, a race all too convinced of their own imperial destiny.

I’ll end with this passage in which the principal narrator, who has just experienced the demolition of his hiding place and the death of his only companion (a selfish, vexatious, half-mad curate) looks out upon a landscape transformed by Martian war.

For that moment I touched an emotion beyond the common range of men, yet one that the poor brutes we dominate know only too well. I felt as a rabbit might feel returning to his burrow and suddenly confronted by the work of a dozen busy navvies digging the foundations of a house. I felt the first inkling of a thing that presently grew quite clear in my mind, that oppressed me for many days, a sense of dethronement, a persuasion that I was no longer a master, but an animal among the animals, under the Martian heel. With us it would be as with them, to lurk and watch, to run and hide; the fear and empire of man had passed away.

...more

flag 83 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2018 Jeff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brit-lit, scifi-fantasy, buddy-reads

One of my favorite movies growing up was the old War of the Worlds movie – the ‘50’s film, not the itty-bitty Tommy remake. I had to watch it each and every time it played on television. The same running dialogue would go on inside my head: “Cowardly dudes, don’t wave that white flag, they’re Martians, they’re probably color blind or something."

"Oops, too late, you’re toast.”

Or “Maybe the A-bomb will work this time. Nope, you’re toast.”

I also liked to imitate the heat ray sound when I ...more

flag 71 likes · Like · see review

Jun 27, 2017 Susan Budd rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: english-literature-uk

You would think that as Man grows in intelligence he would likewise grow in morality. But you would be wrong. Or at least, that is what history teaches us. About a hundred years before Harvard professor Robert Coles wrote his now famous article “The Disparity Between Intellect and Character,” H.G. Wells made much the same observation.

At the end of The War of the Worlds, the unnamed narrator returns to his house and sees the paper he had been working on before the war began. “It was a paper on ...more

flag 66 likes · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2018 Carmen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone; Vegans

Recommended to Carmen by: Non-Crunchy Group

Shelves: fiction, horror, science-fiction, classics, traditionally-published, he-says, british-author, read-around-the-world-2018, published1898

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 our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their ...more

flag 64 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2013 Bionic Jean rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-authors-u-z, classics, sf-speculative, 19th-century-ish

Was H.G. Wells schizophrenic? I'm just wondering because his novels fall into 2 distinct groups. There are the gently humorous novels such as "Kipps" or "The History of Mr Polly" - and then there are his SF novels, of which The War of the Worlds is surely the most famous.

His prescience is startling. Not only was he writing in the pre-atomic age, but it is as well to remember that this book was written over a century ago (1898) which is even before powered flight (though only just!) I now want to ...more

flag 62 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2013 Donna Backshall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, philosophy, speculative, aliens, 131-in-2018, classic, reviewed-amazon, reviewed-bookbub, reviewed-goodreads

Wow. I knew this, but I didn't KNOW this, until I re-read his 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells was eerily and impressively ahead of his time.

I'll admit, The War of the Worlds was hardly an easy read. The dispassionate and overly formal style of writing/reporting constantly dragged me back to a long ago time and place almost as foreign as Mars itself. His "speculative philosophy", as he put it, interweaving themes of colonialism and the subjugation of humankind as a whole, was ...more

flag 59 likes · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, 20th-century, british-isles, science-fiction

While it may seen inhumane to all the stockbrokers and their dependants, there is some vicarious pleasure to be had in the destruction of Surrey commuter towns by the Martians. The fear, confusion and rapid break down of late Victorian life following on from the initial attack is striking.

The War of the Worlds is one of those science-fiction books that are full of contemporary fears - it is a pre World War One invasion fantasy like The Riddle of the Sands but with the German army transformed ...more

flag 59 likes · Like · see review

May 11, 2015 Denisse rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Denisse by: My brain, tired of Young Adult Bullshit XD

Shelves: favorites, best-adult-books

Read for the 2015 Reading Challenge: #41 A book by an author you've never read before ~~stupidly haven't read before I should say~~ And for my 2015 Reading Resolutions: 5 classics (5/5) :’D completed!!

Excellent. Not just very interesting for all the technology and science it has, but outstanding in describing human behavior and criticizing its time. Very thrilling at parts, philosophically emotional at others and overall, well written. Highly recommended for any sci-fi fan. The ending might be a ...more

flag 58 likes · Like · see review

Jul 29, 2008 Becky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: classics, science-fiction, dystopias, owned, apocalyptic-types, reviewed, 2008

As I was reading this, two thoughts struck me.

The first was that this book was less about Martians than it was about how humanity views itself as the "Kings of the Earth". Mankind has always had this annoying tendency to think that whatever serves us is good and right, despite whatever injury is done to the Earth and any other living creature on it in obtaining whatever it is that we want. The Martian invasion served only to open our eyes to this blindness and willful ignorance.

I appreciated As I was reading this, two thoughts struck me.

The first was that this book was less about Martians than it was about how humanity views itself as the "Kings of the Earth". Mankind has always had this annoying tendency to think that whatever serves us is good and right, despite whatever injury is done to the Earth and any other living creature on it in obtaining whatever it is that we want. The Martian invasion served only to open our eyes to this blindness and willful ignorance.

I appreciated some of the artilleryman's ideas on cohabitation, in so far as he compared the surviving humans to rodents or small animals -- the Martians (as the "New Kings of the Earth") will let us be, as we mean them no harm-- unless they run out of food, that is. Isn't this really how animals must see us? I think so. Too bad that's not true... Humans will hunt, kill and exploit for the sport of it, not just for survival.

The invasion in the book awakens us to the fact that there is always someone bigger, badder and meaner out there to hunt humans as if we are now the animals.

But I digress!

My second thought was that it was really odd that all 7 of the mentioned Martian cylinders landed in England. I mean, even if we expand this to include Ireland, Scotland and Wales, we are talking about an area of 151,502 square miles. Compare this to Asia at 17,700,000 square miles or even Europe at 3,930,000 square miles. (Figures are from Google.)

About 3/4 through the book, it's mentioned that other cylinders are probably wreaking havoc on other parts of the world. I suppose it must be assumed that they had some trajectory and that the cylinders were shot at the same time each day to follow it, but then why only aim at one area if world domination is your goal?

In this one particular, I could not suspend my disbelief to allow for 7 out of 10 cylinders to hit such a small area of the planet.

I am probably over-thinking this... I feel better after getting all of that off of my chest though! I did really enjoy the story itself, and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It's short enough so that it is not a daunting read, but it contains such a large story that it is immensely entertaining. ...more

flag 54 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, novels, fiction, science, literature, british, 19th-century

The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke (Introduction)

Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. —H. G. Wells (1898), The War of the Worlds.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialized in 1897. The War of the Worlds was one of the first The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke (Introduction)

Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. — H. G. Wells (1898), The War of the Worlds.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialized in 1897. The War of the Worlds was one of the first and greatest works of science fiction ever to be written. Even long before man had learned to fly, H.G. Wells wrote this story of the Martian attack on England.

The plot has been related to invasion literature of the time. The novel has been variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British imperialism, and generally Victorian superstitions, fears, and prejudices. Wells said that the plot arose from a discussion with his brother Frank, about the catastrophic impact of the British, on indigenous Tasmanians. What would happen, he wondered, if Martians did to Britain what the British had done to the Tasmanians? The Tasmanians however lacked the lethal pathogens to defeat their invaders. ...

عنوان: ج‍ن‍گ‌ ج‍ه‍ان‌ه‍ا؛ نویسنده: جرج هربرت (اچ‌. ج‍ی‌.) ول‍ز‏‫؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1999 میلادی

عنوان: ج‍ن‍گ‌ ج‍ه‍ان‌ه‍ا؛ نویسنده: اچ‌. ج‍ی‌. ول‍ز‏‫؛ مت‍رج‍م: ع‍ل‍ی‌ ف‍اطم‍ی‍ان‌؛ ت‍ه‍ران‌: وزارت فرهنگ وارشاد اسلامی، سازمان چاپ وانتشارات، نشر چشم انداز‏‫، 1377؛ در 254 ص؛ مصور، شابک: 9644220749؛ خلاصه شده از نسخه اصلی؛ چاپ دیگر: 1379؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 19 م
عنوان: جنگ دنیاها؛ نویسنده: اچ.‌جی. ولز ؛ مترجم: گروه ترجمه انتشارات آریانگار؛ تهران: آریانگار، ‏‫1389؛ ‬در 64 ص، رنگی؛ شابک: 9786009214389؛
عنوان: جنگ دنیاها؛ نویسنده: جرج هربرت ولز؛ مترجم: سیدرضا مرتضوی؛ تهران : آفرینگان‏‫، 1394؛ در 64 ص؛ شابک: 9786006753935؛
عنوان: جنگ دنیاها؛ نویسنده: اچ.جی. ولز؛ مترجم: میرپویا حسینی‌اصل‌اسکویی؛ تهران: انتشارات قافیه‏‫، ‏‫1397؛ در 64 ص؛ شابک: 9786226605496؛

جنگ دنیاها عنوان رمانی علمی-تخیلی ست، که «اچ. جی. ولز» نویسنده ی انگلیسی، در سال 1898 میلادی نگاشته و منتشر کرده است. این رمان شرح تجربیات یک راوی گمنام است، که در حومه ی شهر لندن، شاهد هجوم موجودات بیگانه‌ ای از «مریخ» می‌شود. «جنگ دنیاها»، یکی از نخستین رمان‌هایی است، که ستیز بین نژاد بشر، و موجودات ماورایی را، با واژه هایش به تصویر می‌کشد. با الهام از این رمان، کتابهای مصور، مجموعه‌ های تلویزیونی، و فیلم‌های سینمایی بسیاری ساخته شده است. «استیون اسپیلبرگ» نیز، در سال 2005 میلادی، با اقتباس از این کتاب، فیلمی با شرکت «تام کروز» را کارگردانی کردند. لندن، سالهای پایانی سده ی نوزدهم میلادی: مدتی است برجستگیها و انفجارهایی در سطح سیاره‌‌ ی مریخ، به چشم می‌خورد. چند دانشمند در رصدخانه های مختلف، متوجه این پدیده ‌ی شگفت انگیز شده اند. آیا روی این سیاره، موجودات هوشمندی زندگی می‌کنند؟ کسی پاسخی برای این پرسش ندارد، تا اینکه شیئی به زمین اصابت می‌کند. نخست به نظر می‌رسد، این شیء شهاب سنگ باشد، اما شهاب سنگی در کار نیست....؛ جنگ دنیاها، نوشته‌ ی ه«ربرت جورج ولز»، یکی از نخستین آثاری است، که ستیز انسان و موجودات فضایی را بازگو میکند. این اثر خواندنی و هیجان انگیز از آن روز الهام بخش نویسندگان بسیاری بوده است. «موجودات مریخی به سبب استفاده ی بسیار از هوش خود، تنها مغزی بزرگ و دهانی از آنان باقی مانده است و با آشامیدن خون انسان نیرو میگیرند. در مقابل اما دستاوردهای فنون و آلات جنگی آنان چندین برابر بزرگ‌تر از ماشین جنگی انگلیس است و مردم در برابر آن زبون و هراسانند و جز تن دادن به مرگ راه چاره‌ای ندارند. (اندیشه ی نوشتن رمان جنگ جهان‌ها زمانی برای نویسنده پدید آمد که استعمارگران اروپائی با حمله به جزیره تاسمانی در نزدیکی استرالیا، مردم بیگناه و بومی آن جزیره را میکشتند. نویسنده با برادرش فرانک، درباره ی این جنگ گفتگو میکرد که برادرش گفت: فرض کن که موجودات سیاره‌ای دیگر از آسمان فرود آیند و سراسر انگلیس را به تسخیر خود درآورند!)» ا. شربیانی ...more

flag 56 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2017 Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, drama-gen-fiction, ebook, monsters, classics, 3-star, movie-havent-seen, wordy, cover-love, reviewed

"I felt no condemnation; yet the memory, static, unprogressive, haunted me. In the silence of the night, with that sense of nearness of God that sometimes comes into the stillness and the darkness, I stood my trial, my only trial, for that moment of wrath and fear."

Hey, I finally get the addition of the rapidly growing red weed that's in one in favorite game of all time, SNES Zombies Ate my Neighbors. These martians weren't hunting cheerleaders though!

While the wording style is eloquent, ...more

flag 51 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2018 Raeleen Lemay rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, spooky-scary

Sadly... Not exactly what I was hoping for. The beginning was super interesting, as I loved how the Martians were introduced and the confusion that surrounded them was great. However, the book really dragged on from there, and became quite repetitive and bogged down by excessive detail. This book could have easily been under 100 pages long, but it's actually closer to 200 which felt very dragged out for this simplistic story. Definitely not my favorite Wells!

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2012 Owlseyes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, paranoid

A few days ago I have read this juicy article on a Portuguese magazine ("Visão"): 5th September...still missing 3290 days for a visit to Mars.

The article speaks about NASA's visit by 2030. Yet, a Dutch company* is preparing to anticipate NASA in a decade. A no-return voyage, vegetarians by force...and a water factory are some of the ideas approached.

To my knowledge, though thousands worldwide had already applied, there are 8 Portuguese people ready to embark; but only 4 of them disclosed ...more

flag 41 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2018 Mir rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: victorian, science-fiction

Probably everyone knows the basic plot, so there is no need to elaborate -- Martians come, they kick humanity's collective ass. The story is narrated by an average (if well-educated) guy who happens to see the arrival and survive, and is scrambling around trying to find food without getting seen in the process. Contra the movies, he is not heroic or important to the outcome of the invasion, which I thought an intriguing authorial choice.

A couple aspects that were interesting to me:

--The narrator ...more

flag 41 likes · Like · see review

Dec 13, 2011 Benjamin Duffy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, awful-movie-great-book, fantasy-sci-fi

I somewhat lazily and arbitrarily clicked this book onto my "science fiction" Goodreads shelf, but it isn't, not really. Sure, the monsters happened to come from Mars, but that isn't essential to the plot. They could just as easily have come from deep under the ground, from the bottom of the ocean, or from Mordor. All the story requires is that they be from Somewhere Else, and Mars fills that bill perfectly well.

So, leaving aside the creatures' extraterrestrial origins, War of the Worlds ...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Nov 23, 2015 Phrynne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was amazed that I had never read this before! Of course it is exceedingly dated; that's what happens when you are over 100 years old! But the man had some amazing ideas about the future and this is epitomised by the way this book ends. For today's reader it is an obvious resolution but back in Wells' day, not so much! The story is short but wordy with story advancement delayed by the main character philosophising frequently and at length. However I enjoyed it greatly and can understand why it ...more

flag 33 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2015 Joe Valdez rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-first-contact, sci-fi-apocalyptic

The next stop in my end-of-the-world reading marathon was The War of the Worlds, the classic of alien invasion and interplanetary paranoia by H.G. Wells. Published in serial format by Pearson's Magazine from April 1897 to December of that year, the story originated after the author's relocation to the town of Woking in Surrey County. It was here that Wells also wrote his comic novel The Wheels of Chance, as well as The Invisible Man, which has now been replaced as my favorite Wells invention ...more

flag 31 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2019 Ken rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This iconic alien invasion adventure is so revolutionary forward thinking, every Sci-Fi film or tv show owes a massive debt to this story!

I’d imagine everyone would be familiar with either the 1953 or 2005 movies, there’s also the famous 1938 radio broadcast that caused a huge panic in America.
Those are all good adaptations, but what I practically loved about the book was the invasion starting in Woking!

London and the surrounding towns and boroughs are integral to the story, places that I’ve ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Feb 10, 2012 The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, action-adventure, good-read, audio-book, kindle-book, classic, dystopian

H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds...

Wells wrote this in 1898, at the turn of the century. My Grandfather was less than a year old. The world found it'self i the middle of the industrial revolution where steam power had taken over the world, and mankind suffered from an Ego that had led them to believe that they were invincible. It was a dangerous illusion. Within the next twenty years, Nature will wallop man in ways that man had never believed possible. In 1906 an earthquake will flatten Charleston H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds...

Wells wrote this in 1898, at the turn of the century. My Grandfather was less than a year old. The world found it'self i the middle of the industrial revolution where steam power had taken over the world, and mankind suffered from an Ego that had led them to believe that they were invincible. It was a dangerous illusion. Within the next twenty years, Nature will wallop man in ways that man had never believed possible. In 1906 an earthquake will flatten Charleston South Carolina. In 1914, The H.M.S. Titanic will go to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean after striking an iceberg, taking hundreds to their death in the icy waters of the North Western Atlantic Ocean. The White Star Line would loose the sister ship to the Titanic, the Oceanic in an at sea accident. In 1908 A meteorite hits Tunguska Russian and flattens trees for miles and miles. These are just a few of the lessons Mother Nature unloaded on man, a measure of how tiny we are against the power of nature, or God, or just plain things we had never fathomed before.

This is perhaps one of H.G. Wells finest works. Written in an era where lyrical prose had been the norm. Wonderful descriptions with powerful intelligent sounding words. While Edgar Rice Burrows and Arthur Conan Doyle explored "Brave New Worlds," full of dinosaurs and martians and beautiful princess hatched from eggs in the sand, H.G. Wells warned of danger. Where Jules Verne stopped with 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Wells forges ahead with a thread from a new direction, space, the final fronier. Wells warns us of danger, not so much in the extent of our exploration, but danger in the extent of our ego. Mankind was in for a tragic lesson.

The point of a dystopian novel is not what brings the death of civilization, the point of a distopian novel is to warn us about something in ourselves. What will the earth be like in the end? Will mankind be dignified and face their demise with class, like the famous Quartet on the Titanic who played music to help keep the passengers calm even as the deck sank into the frigid Atlantic, in the last desperate moments will we revert to neanderthals and cave men, or, will the darkest motivations and ugliest side of our survival instincts raise our ugly souls as judgement day is called on Earth, not from God, but from Mars, the closest planet even remotely possible of having life, at least as far as we knew in 1898.

This is a wonderful story, full of lyrical prose that raise hairs on the back of the neck with chilling clinical portrayal of man's basic dark side. At other times the desperation of the survivors wrenches hearts and strikes fear in the soul. This era produced some of the most colorfully and picturesque works of any time. Dead London will chill your bones. Well's world of rubble and burnt out husks slowly succumbing to the red weed standing against a darking sky while the few humans who hadn't fled hid in the wreckage like wraiths from "I Am Legend."

All is not death and doom. There is dignity, and heroism. (view spoiler)

What's important in a dystopian novel is how you live. The hint in the back of the mind that whispers like a martian hiss, "the way you will act in a crisis of epic proportions is not set by intentions, religion, prayers, but by how you live every day of your life now. The way I practice my life when there is no crisis, is a better indicator of how you will behave when a crisis comes. Do yo practice compassion? Do you practice love? Fairness?

My comments here are my opinion, this may be as well, however, I'm reasonably certain it is an opinion shared. Everyone believes they know how War of the Worlds goes. Most everyone has seen the 1959 Movie Version where the martians flew around protected by force fields, or, the Latest version of the movie with Tom Cruise and Tim Robbins. Some may have seen the Tv series loosely based on the martian threat and the spin off that spawned.

Do yourself a favor and read this book, regardless of how much you believe you know of it, don't short yourself the opportunity to experience the panic, highs and lows or pass on the wonderful lyrical words as were typical of an era before Televisions could show us all how things looked and Radios could let us hear any sound, new or alien to our ears. There is a special magic to the way writers wrote at the turn of the 19th century. This was a time when only words could describe the most unusual of places and things.

This is a 5 star read. It's dark, but suitable for anyone old enough to read it.

...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Cogs, Corsets & C...: The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells - Book Two	1	1	Feb 27, 2020 06:22AM
Cogs, Corsets & C...: The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells - Book One	1	1	Feb 27, 2020 06:21AM
Colosseum. Sfide ...: GDL: La guerra dei mondi	15	15	Feb 26, 2020 02:37AM
Reading 1001: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells	2	11	Dec 30, 2019 03:45PM
Goodreads Librari...: Please make corrections	2	32	Nov 01, 2019 11:43AM
The Reading For P...: September - October 2019 Classic Group Read - The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells	72	52	Oct 31, 2019 12:03PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

5,592 users

Science Fiction

5,223 users

Fiction

2,695 users

See top shelves…

About H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells

7,209 followers

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, ...more