Review: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

“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.” Thus begins one of the most terrifying and morally prescient science fiction novels ever penned. Beginning with a series of strange flashes in the distant night sky, the Martian attack initially causes little concern on Earth. Then the destruction erupts—ten massive aliens roam England and destroy with heat rays everything in their path. Very soon humankind finds itself on the brink of extinction. H. G. Wells raises questions of mortality, man’s place in nature, and the evil lurking in the technological future—questions that remain urgently relevant in the twenty-first century.







Review:

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about War of the Worlds, mainly because I'm conflicted. Overall, I feel like Wells writing style and devices should give him five star ratings and on the other hand I just feel like while War of the Worlds is relatively short, it was a little too long.

Firstly, I want to say that coming into this I honestly expected it to be nothing like the movie. I really did, so I was relatively surprised at the amount of action Wells wrote in. However after a certain point the storyline and action derailed (I'm talking about the chapters in the brother's POV) and seemed to drag.

That's my only complaint.

The rest I'm absolutely astonished about Wells's writing style and just how ahead of his time he really seemed to be, writing about martians in a Victorian era is extremely unusual. 

His writing... I'll say that his style is extremely refreshing. While he overuses on run-on sentences, which seems to be almost the writing style for most classics, he captivated me with his voice which is something most classics fail to do. His technique of switching POV's was seemless even though he's writing in a biography first person format. Despite the fact that I felt this slightly derailed the book from the plot, I can't help but admire the risk he took when writing those chapters.

While I wasn't as entertained as I thought I would be, Wells is definitely a writer I'll venture back to. His style, voice, and technique are unique and I loved them! Definitely a recommended read, although don't come in expecting the movie and a lot of dialogue. There's practically none.

Rating: 3 stars