BOOK REVIEW - THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

In keeping with trying to keep things fresh on here, I decided that I would do my first book review.  For the first one I wanted to review one of my favorite stories of all time - H G Wells The War of the Worlds.

The book was written at the end of the 19th Century and the story is set in this period of history.  The story begins with the unnamed character who Wells writes in the first person and is a journalist by occupation witnessing the strange eruption of gas on the surface of the planet Mars.  At the time little attention is paid to the events until some time later a cylinder lands on Horsell Common in southern England.

It becomes apparent that this is an alien transportation craft and shortly after the cylinder opens the Martians attack the large crowd that had gathered along the edge of the Common.  Using what Wells describes as a 'Heat-Ray' many are left dead.  The story develops with the Martians leaving the Common using gigantic tripod war machines that sweep the company of soldiers sent to put down the crisis out of existence.  The journalist tries to get back to his wife in Leatherhead after he had taken her there for safety but gets cut off by the Martian advance.  For about two weeks he wanders the ruined landscape meeting an Artillery Man who survived the massacre at Horsell Common and a Curate who has been driven insane by the events that have gone on.  The book is a tense tale of survival and horror and the mind numbing effects of a hostile and technologically advanced force invading and occupying the country.

Wells writes the book in the first person narrative for the most part.  The only time he deviates from this format is to tell the account of his brothers fight for survival in London.  By using this method of story telling the book comes across as a more factual account.  Wells does not go into any great detail about events that happen outside of his or his brothers own personal experience and this really does add weight to the story telling.  It is easy for the reader to become immersed in the horrifying events as they unfold and Wells vivid descriptions of the violence and horror the Martians unleash on the population is terrifying.

Wells does not spare the rod when detailing the effects of the Heat Ray or the Black Smoke that the Martians use as a means of chemical warfare in order to clear vast areas of population.  He also describes the Martians ghoulish eating habits which come across more horrifying than their advanced technological assets they have at disposed of people.

When you consider the time that this book was written, it contains many intelligent observations and a good deal of scientific dialogue.  It is easy to forgive some of the inaccurate science when dealing with the matters of space and Mars, after all when the book was written man was still struggling with the concepts of flying and knowledge of the planets of the solar system was in it's infancy.  However the idea of the Heat Ray can clearly be related to the modern day laser or microwave technology and the Black Smoke would see it's real world counterpart deployed on the battlefield in World War 1 with chemical weapons being used on a large scale.

Again, by using scientific descriptions of the Martian technology and biology, he expertly draws the reader in, but the real impact of the book is more of a social commentary as opposed to a mere work of science fiction.

Wells' main point and one that he hammers home on many occasions is that the Martian invasion is no more horrific than the invasion of the Europeans in other countries and the annihilation of many primitive races and cultures at the hands of the more technologically advanced races.  He also draws a parallel to the Dodo when he says that the arrival of European settlers were probably dismissed by the Dodo as a threat to their whole existence as the apathy of the people was to the Martians when the first arrived.

He frequently questions the readers feeling of horror and outrage against the Martians which he juxtaposes against scenes when the Martians are committing acts of genocide.  It grounds the reader making an almost credible defence of the Martian indifference to the atrocities they are carrying out.  It is quite unique to read a story where the narrator who has seen so much mind bending trauma can be rational enough to argue convincingly that humans have no right to feel indignant about the whole thing.

What is also interesting is that this book was written at the height of the British Empire.  Victorian Britain at that time was the super power in the world.  The prospect of this Empire being threatened and swept out of existence would have been abhorrent to the population and reading a book such as this must have filled them with fear and dread.  It is clear that Wells draws comparisons between the Martians and the British Empire and it serves as a commentary on the way with which seemingly more advanced races view other less advanced with disdain and a lack of compassion.

I could go and cover more themes, but I don't want to give away much more of the book for those who have never read it before. 

I love this book because of it's depth.  It is not a long book in particular yet manages to pack an awful lot into it's pages.  It has stood the test of time as the themes of the book are still relevant today.  The Steven Spielberg movie version in 2005 showed that it could still be applied to a modern day culture and so it still does provide a tense and scary read.  This story provided the blue print for the alien invasion genre yet tellingly, in my opinion, very few match the original story.  I think it is the factual way it is written and presented that elevates it above it's counterparts.  It's well worth reading if you have not done so already.