The War of the Worlds
H. G. Wells · 1898
This book is rated Ages 13+. It isn't available on your library card.
On a quiet summer night in 1890s Surrey, a falling star lands on Horsell Common, and the curious crowd that gathers around the strange metal cylinder in the sandpit has no idea what is unscrewing itself inside. One man's flight through the burning English countryside becomes a desperate fight to survive, and to find his way back to his wife.
A science-fiction invasion story with many deaths, a city's panicked flight and one killing, shown through distance, flame, smoke and aftermath, never in gruesome detail.
Characters
The narrator
A thoughtful Surrey writer who watches the first cylinder open on Horsell Common and must survive whatever comes out of it.
The Martians
Cold, vast intellects from a dying Mars who cross space with envious eyes, grey and bear-sized, glistening like wet leather.
The fighting-machine
A hundred-foot metal tripod striding across the English countryside, its hooded head turning as it hunts.
The narrator's wife
The narrator's gentle, white-faced wife, whose safety becomes his deepest worry once the Martians arrive.
The narrator's brother
A young London medical student who sees the great city's panic and flight with his own eyes.
The curate
A pale, frightened young clergyman whose faith is badly shaken when the invaders bring terror to the Thames valley.
The artilleryman
A smoke-blackened young gunner who has seen the Martians' power close up and has bold ideas about what comes next.
Ogilvy
An energetic astronomer at Ottershaw who first spots the flashes on Mars and first finds the cylinder.
Henderson
A wiry London journalist who drops his spade and races to telegraph the astonishing news of men from Mars.
Miss Elphinstone
A calm, steady-eyed young woman who joins the narrator's brother on the crowded roads out of London.
The cylinder
A colossal ash-crusted metal shell half-buried on Horsell Common, its round top slowly unscrewing from within.
The red weed
A strange blood-crimson Martian plant that spreads in thick tangled mats over English earth and water.
About the story
The War of the Worlds begins in the quiet Surrey countryside at the end of the nineteenth century. A falling star lands on Horsell Common near Woking and turns out to be a huge metal cylinder. What climbs out is not human. The story is told by an unnamed writer who lives nearby. He watches the first meeting between people and Martians go terribly wrong, and then he tries to get his wife to safety as more cylinders come down and towering fighting-machines start to cross the land.
The story moves from village gossip and curious crowds to panic and the collapse of ordinary life. Along the way, H. G. Wells looks at how sure of itself the British Empire was. His narrator points out that the Martians treat humans much as people had treated the dodo, the bison and the Tasmanians. The book is also about fear, how people behave in a disaster, and how small humans are in a vast universe.
Wells published the novel in 1898, and it is one of the founding works of science fiction. It is one of the earliest stories of an alien invasion, and the heat-ray and the tripod machines became lasting images. It has inspired radio dramas, films and countless later stories. The book still holds readers because of its plain eyewitness voice and its real English places.
This is a condensed picture-book retelling of the novel in 64 illustrated pages, with about 25 minutes of narration by a synthetic voice. The pictures are AI illustrations drawn for this edition. Wells's full original text is free in the public domain and well worth reading too.
Adapted from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1898), public domain.
Questions
What is The War of the Worlds about?
Martians in metal cylinders land in the English countryside near London and attack with heat-rays and huge three-legged fighting-machines. A man living nearby tells the story as he tries to survive and to find his way back to his wife.
Who is the main character in The War of the Worlds?
The narrator is an unnamed writer who lives in Woking, Surrey, and he tells the story as an eyewitness. Other characters include the astronomer Ogilvy and the narrator's wife.
Is The War of the Worlds suitable for children?
This edition is rated 13+. It includes frightening scenes: people are killed by the heat-ray, crowds panic, homes burn, and the Martians are described in disturbing detail. Most teenagers can handle it, but it may be too scary for younger children.
How long does this edition take to read or listen to?
The narration lasts about 25 minutes over 64 illustrated pages.
Is this the full book?
No. This is a condensed picture-book retelling that follows the main events of the story. The complete original novel is in the public domain and free to read.
Read the text version: every page's caption, with its picture, on one page.
