The War of the Worlds (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: H. G. Wells
- First Published: 1897
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—invasion story
- Time of Work: The early twentieth century
- Setting: London, England, and the county of Surrey
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Extraterrestrial life, Science or scientists, Space ships, stations, or vehicles, Emotions, England or English people, Fear, War, Death or dying, Moral conditions, London, Earth, Bacteriology, Horror, Technology, Battles, Mars, Aliens, space
- Locales: London, England, Woking, England
The Plot
The story is told retrospectively by an unnamed narrator, an educated, philosophically trained man who witnessed many of the events he describes and reports them as recent history. The first signs of an invasion from Mars come when astronomers note a series of spectacular explosions on the planet. Experts, however, think they were caused by meteorites or volcanic eruptions; no one suspects any danger. Only later does it become known that climatic changes steadily had made Mars less hospitable for its inhabitants, and they were looking to Earth as their only refuge. The...
[The entire page is 1314 words long]
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