The War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells
(Tor Books, New York: 1993)
First published in 1898.
READ: August 2005
When The War of the Worlds was first published in 1898, it was heralded as a horrifying vision of the future. Earth is under attack by Martians! This story later became famous because of Orson Wells' 1938 radio version with the Mercury Theatre - people panicked across America, thinking they were listening to an actual broadcast and that Martians had in fact landed. The original War of the Worlds takes place in England, just outside London, and while we know that something must happen to the Martians in the end - the narrator obviously must have survived in order to later pen this account of the events - the story is no less gripping and enthralling.
