The War of the WorldsH.G. Wells's hugely influential book tracks the exploits of a writer who struggles to survive an alien invasion of Victorian England. After seeing the monstrous Martians firsthand, the narrator attempts to evade their destructive mechanized vehicles and must stay on the run to avoid detection. As he meets other desperate humans, he becomes increasingly pessimistic about any chance of survival. The novel stands as a major milestone in science-fiction literature, inspiring legions of subsequent writers and an endless array of hostile-alien scenarios. |
Common terms and phrases
artilleryman began black powder Black Smoke blackened body bridge brother Byfleet Chertsey Chobham common crawled creatures crouched crowd curate cylinder dark dead door earth Edgware escape eyes face faint fear feet Fighting Machine fire flame flash George's Hill going green grew guns hand Handling Machine heap heard Heat-Ray heliograph Hill horse Horsell Horsell Common houses huge human hurrying kitchen lane Leatherhead light London Londonward looked Mars Martians Maybury Maybury Hill mind morning nearer night noise Ogilvy Ottershaw pine-woods planet Putney Putney Hill Pyrford realised Red Weed river road rose round ruins running rushed sand-pits scarcely scullery seemed seen Shepperton shouted side sight silent slowly smashed staring stood stopped strange stream streets suddenly TAUCHNITZ tentacles terror Thames things thought trees tumult turned ulla Upper Halliford vapour watching Weybridge wife Wimbledon window Woking Station yards