The War of the Worlds: Official BBC tie-in edition

by H.G. Wells

Stephen Baxter (Introduction)

The classic and terrifying HG Wells novel of alien invasion is now a landmark series for the BBC from the makers of Poldark, Victoria and And Then There Were None.

One night a shooting star is seen over the skies of Surrey. The next day, it's discovered to have been a mysterious metallic cylinder from Mars. What comes next is a terrifying alien attack, as tentacled Martian invaders emerge from the cylinder and prey on humankind using shocking new weapons against which the people of Victorian England can offer no resistance.

The aliens begin to devastate the area in their tripod machines, and as our narrator struggles to return to his wife, the fight for London - and the world - begins.

Now with a new introduction by Stephen Baxter.

'A true classic'
GUARDIAN

'Immortal science fiction'
TELEGRAPH

• ISBN10: 0751574759
• ISBN13: 9780751574753
• Publish Date: 14 November 2019 (first published 1 January 1898)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Sphere
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 60000
• Language: English

Reviews

[wcs53]

The War of the Worlds surprised me. I thought I knew the story, but I didn't really. I should say that it surprised me in a good way. I had heard both good and bad comments about the book, many of the latter being in regards to it being dated, but taken in its context of the late 19th century, I did not really find this to be so.

The story centres around a Martian invasion of earth and is the story is told through the eyes of an eyewitness to the events that take place following this invasion.

Wells paints a very detailed picture of the invading Martians and their technology. His ideas seemed to be well ahead of their time, considering that the book was first published in 1898 and it is a credit to his imagination that many of his ideas were used/adapted by other writes in the years that followed. Without giving any details away, if you are curious then I'd recommend that you read the book for yourself.

I haven't seen the most recent movie adaptation of this story, so I have no idea how it stands up to the book, but I am curious to see it now. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction, but at its heart it is not totally a science fiction story, so it should have appeal to others as well.