The book is very different from the film adaptations, as expected. It’s a fascinating science fiction considering how long ago it was written. David Tennant is quite a narrator, very dramatic and emotional. I am a fan of his, but I think he overdid his reading. ( )

“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; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

So opens what is H.G. Wells best known novel and the one that is regarded as the forerunner of much of the Sci-Fi novels and movies that we see today.

I don't intend to say too much about the plot as its already well known other than its a fairly simple one; the narrator sees the Martians land and tries to survive. Instead I would like to talk about the two characters with whom the narrator spends most of his time with during the invasion, the curate and the artilleryman.

I won't pretend that I know anything about Wells views on religion but if the curate is anything to go by it seems pretty obvious that he had little time for people who claim to be religious but fail to act and live by the teachings that they profess to follow. The curate is a whining selfish glutton who views the invasion as God's judgment and is unable to see what he has done to deserve it.

“‘Be a man!’ said I. ‘You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes, and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent.’”

In contrast the narrator sees the invasion from a more scientific standpoint marvelling at how far advanced the Martian technology is. Whereas the curate is fatalistic about mankind's future and can only see things in the short-term, the artilleryman is far more optimistic, whilst admitting that the Martians have won this battle he believes that eventually mankind will overthrow the invaders and reclaim the world. The narrator is initially taken in by the artilleryman's bold predictions but soon comes to realise that he is a idle dreamer who will never accomplish anything and so leaves him.

In fact this to me is the over-riding message in this novel. If people act as individuals rather than in a coordinated manner then they will never overcome the worlds problems. Many may see the Martians' demise as an anti-climax but I fear that they may be missing the point. It wasn't mankind who defeated the Martians here rather microscopic, invisible germs working together and if humans cannot work together to solve the world's problems, global warming etc then Mother Nature will find a way; and that might not be to the benefit of mankind.

This book is a classic for a reason. Its wonderfully paced with some great characters and a simple story but not so simple message that still feels relevant today despite being first published well over a hundred years ago. I initially struggled to get the musical version of this story out of my mind and maybe for that reason alone I felt that this wasn't quite as good as 'The Time Machine'. ( )

The book is very different from the film adaptations, as expected. It’s a fascinating science fiction considering how long ago it was written. David Tennant is quite a narrator, very dramatic and emotional. I am a fan of his, but I think he overdid his reading. ( )

Reads not like a novel but rather like a documentary work. An extended report. A testimony. Thus, the voice is hauntingly compelling. There are moments when the story is terrifying, and I can imagine feeling this more so as a late-20th-century Briton. The denouement might be a little too sentimental for my taste, but overall this is a page-turner with philosophical gravitas. ( )

Well I am thrilled to have read one of the 'granddaddies' of alien invasion books.

It was amazing to read the book that inspired other science fiction writers and movie makers and I was literally naming books and movies that I could see may have been inspired by this great novel. I did a little bit of reading about the novel and the time period it was written in, and it was fascinating to see that the invasion storyline was possibly due to feelings of unease in a time of British imperialism, and may have reflected fears that someone could do to Britain what they were doing to other nations. So many themes and ideas to contemplate in this novel. Interesting stuff! ( )