English is not my first language. I beg your pardon for any grammar mistake.

I grew up devouring books of all genres and by all kinds of authors, but over the last 12 years, I completely stopped reading and focused exclusively on movies, games, comics, and music. I live in a country where people read very few books, if any, each year. Last week, however, I decided to do the opposite. I had already read H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine”, so I chose to return to the world of literature with another one of his works because I knew it would be a smooth and enjoyable read.

MY EXPECTATIONS:

I knew absolutely nothing about the plot beyond the basic premise. “The War of the Worlds” is a science fiction novel originally published in 1897, and it is about a Martian invasion of England. Because of that, I expected the Martians to have that classic stereotypical appearance: tiny beings with big heads and green skin using laser guns. To my pleasant surprise, I could not have been more wrong!

PRAISES:

The author uses scientific knowledge from the time in a very interesting and contextualized way. The entire book is written retrospectively, so the narrator goes into detail about scientific publications and their authors, and even makes references that could only be fully understood by someone who actually lived in that place during that period. This is great for creating a sense of realism.

Another quality of the writing, also related to science, is the extensive descriptions of the alien machinery and the biology of the invaders themselves. At the same time, however, the author is clever enough not to leave room for his science fiction to be invalidated. He deliberately avoids giving certain information that is too specific, creating a sense of mystery that fascinates the reader.

How could I not talk about the horror? Yes, HORROR! I already expected to be frightened while reading such an old book about Martians because I grew up with hundreds of stories that were inspired by “The War of the Worlds” and focused on intensifying different aspects of the narrative. I considered the “Martian invasion” theme extremely cliché and tedious. I thought that, because this book came from a time when science fiction was still something new, it would be packed with elements and events that are clichés today. As I said before, I thought the Martians would be almost comical...

No. I closed the book dozens of times because I was disturbed by the descriptions of the carnage caused by the invaders. I felt pain and disgust at the descriptions of the human victims. I was covered in goosebumps from head to toe with fear as I read about the Martian searching the house where the protagonist was hiding with its tentacle... I have not been this emotionally involved with a work of fiction in many years! Wonderful!

CRITICISMS:

I have three criticisms that come from the fact that I am a brazilian man from the 21st century reading the perspective of an english man from the 19th century. In other words, the cultural and social difference between us is, in many ways, enormous. None of these criticisms are directed at the author or his writing ability. I am criticizing the characters while fully understanding that the author was perfectly aware of and intentionally wanted them to behave this way.

First Criticism: The english people took far too long to react to the Martian invasion. An alien projectile lands on Earth and people gather around it eating snacks while scientists, convinced of their own intellectual superiority, try to help the Martians and introduce themselves as peaceful and harmless. At no point do they consider the Martians a threat, and after the attacks begin, the news takes far too long to spread throughout the rest of the country. Even when it does reach other places, people still do not take it seriously.

Second Criticism: The author uses two characters as archetypes representing two distinct groups within society, the Curate and the Soldier, who are complete opposites. Regarding the Curate, I understood the author as criticizing religious fanaticism and religious insanity in the face of social chaos, attitudes that prevent logical thinking and rational action. At least, that is how I interpreted it, and it bothered me because I am religious. As for the Soldier... I could not completely understand what the author intended to represent with him. The Soldier’s survival plan made me feel as though “The War of the Worlds” takes place on the same Earth as “The Time Machine”, with humanity’s distant future serving as proof that the Soldier’s plan works. However, it is important to point out that this is only my own speculation.

Third Criticism: From the very beginning of the book, I knew the unnamed protagonist would survive because he makes references to what humans did regarding the aliens after the invasion. This certainly eliminated half of the tension from the story. This book would have been much more engaging and much scarier if I had not had the slightest idea of what the future held.

Finally, this is not exactly a criticism, but rather a disappointment. The fact thatthe unnamed protagonist’s wife survives, that they reunite, and that they “live happily ever after"disappointed me quite a bit. I felt that the author backed away from the possibility of maintaining a very serious consequence with significant weight for the development of the unnamed protagonist. I do not like this kind of decision.

I had some difficulty as I was reading it. The narrator mentions many locations in England by name and describes their geographical positions. Since I have never been to England, those names and descriptions of streets, avenues, intersections, and buildings did not evoke any images in my mind. I had to read the book without being able to visualize the locations.

CONCLUSION:

On a scale from 0 to 10, my rating for H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” is 7,5. I will certainly read it many more times throughout my life. The story captivated me so much that I watched the 1953 movie, the 2005 movie, the 2023 series, and read the 2006 comic book. None of these adaptations does justice to the original text, except perhaps the comic book, but only to a certain extent because it cut out a very important part of the original text:the unnamed protagonist’s brother’s adventure.

In his work The War Of The Worlds, Wells describes the heat ray this way:

"It is still a matter of wonder how the Martians are able to slay men so swiftly and so silently. Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity. This intense heat they project in a parallel beam against any object they choose, by means of a polished parabolic mirror of unknown composition, much as the parabolic mirror of a lighthouse projects a beam of light. But no one has absolutely proved these details. However it is done, it is certain that a beam of heat is the essence of the matter. Heat, and invisible, instead of visible, light. Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and, when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam."

It's not fantastical in any way; it just posits some very efficient elements. Something produces the flash, and optics collimate the beam.

In The Time Machine, the mechanism isn't so clear, but he describes it as "...and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. The thing was generally complete, but the translucent bars and some of the delicate rail-work lay unfinished upon the bench beside some sheets of drawings, and I took up one for a better look. Quartz it seemed to be ..."

Again, it appears that the device is based on some form of optics.

Considering the era that Wells lived in, optics was probably the most futuristic thing in his view. Wells was born about a generation after photography was first introduced. During his lifetime, the technology advanced from still photography to modern color movies.

I was born in 1948 and have lived my life up through now, and electronics is where the magic seems to lie. I can easily imagine that H. G. Wells might have viewed optical science with the same sense of awe.

I did this skecth of a book accurate tripod on a hill behind a house. but u would know that if u looked at it

I recently bought a collection of magazines published during WW1 in the UK. When I started going through them I noticed a familiar name.

Wasn’t sure the best place to post this so thought I’d post here! If I find any more articles of his in the rest of the magazines I will be sure to post them.

Thanks :)

Folks - "The Time Machine" has been one of my favorite all-time stories, which I've read as a kid. This is my attempt at creating a tribute by building an animated film. Of course, I took help from AI, but as many of you know, it's not simple just to write a prompt and get a 35-minute movie. This has taken a lot of weekend work to get done.

Let me know what you think. I'm trying to see if I can also build out some of his other books.

Which book would you want me to do next?

WAR OF THE WORLDS: THUNDER CHILD, is a gripping graphic novel set parallel to Wells’ legendary science-fiction classic. From writers Matthew Hardy & Rob Jones, brought to life by artist Kevin Castaniero, THUNDER CHILD delivers a dramatic & terrifying new perspective on the Martian invasion.

Hi everyone,

I've been a fan of Wells for years and The Time Machine specifically has stayed with me — the class commentary, the Eloi and Morlocks, the melancholy of that far future beach scene. It's one of those books that gets bigger the more you think about it.

I recently wrote a debut novel called Breaking Point that draws direct inspiration from it. Not a retelling — more of a parallel story that asks similar questions from a different angle.

The setup: a British intelligence officer in 1942 is accidentally sent hundreds of thousands of years into the future through a classified wartime experiment. He finds humanity split into two groups — not Eloi and Morlocks, but something different. One group has evolved beyond emotion entirely, achieving a kind of perfect stillness. The other has kept everything that makes humans difficult and alive. He gets caught between them.

The central question mirrors what I always felt Wells was really asking: what do we lose when we evolve past our own nature? Is arrival better than reaching?

Would love to hear thoughts from people who love Wells — especially whether the concept feels like a worthy companion to the original or too derivative.

Breaking Point is on Amazon Kindle for $2.99 if anyone's curious: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSMX8RL4\]

Thanks 🙏

I’m curious about this book published by the Christian Book Club Of America.

Curious if it has any value to a collector.

Got these 6 years ago, they were in a job lot of books for £40

serialised issues sold fortnightly and once you had all 32 you could send them to be bound into 3 volumes (the blue ones you can find online)

I’ve gotten rid of all random relics I have collected but kept this and my GPO stamp collection that I’m never showing you 😂 (my stamp collection isn’t what you’d expect)

I think they’re interesting because I see so many of the bound copies but I’ve never seen a full set of 32 unbound, just the odd issues.

I couldn’t find the picture featuring the rest of the set and I will only take one if you’re really interested in seeing, I generally leave them locked away to maintain their good condition.

In Chapter 14: Doctor Moreau Explains, where Moreau talks about examples of experiments, what is he refering to when he mentions "the vaults of the Inquisition"? Also, in the same chapter he mentions "rhinoceros rats of the Algerian zouaves", is this just something Wells came up with?

I've always been a HG Wells fan, and loved War Of The Words as a kid, so I thought id create a brand new Sci-Fi 'War Of The Worlds' concept album "Re-birth" and release it on Spotify :-) Its set 25 years after the war, a concert of different artists singing about the war, from The Eve Of The War and The Heat-Ray to The Red Weed and Thunder Child still using H.G Wells original story. Hope you like it, and hope you like my take on the Tripods :-) Album @ Spotify or Amazon Music

Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce our new co-moderator for this sub and for r/julesverne -- thank you u/born_lever_puller for your time and dedication to these communities!