Book 7 -- The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells is a interesting classic of science fiction. Oblivious to even the notion of life beyond the Earth, the unnamed protagonist living in the English countryside is busy with the routines of daily life: working on his book, reading the paper, having tea with his wife, and enjoying walks around town and the discussions that go along with them. Although astronomers notice 12 separate puffs of smoke on 12 consecutive nights on the planet of Mars, the smoke is attributed to volcanic activity and quickly dismissed from the public mind. Then the first cylinder falls just outside of town. At first, it is examined by local scientists expecting it to be a meteorite. Eventually it is noted that the end of the cylinder is slowly unscrewing. Crowds gather to see the first Martians, and military units are dispatched to keep them back. No one considers the visitors a threat until the first heat ray is fired lighting up plants, houses, people, and anything else within their path. More cylinders appear to be matched by more military troops with greater weapons capacity. Then the Martians make their second move, climbing out of the pits in huge 100 foot tripod machines equipped with heat rays and able to grab and destroy those in their path. When one of their tripods is destroyed by a lucky artillery shell, they retreat back to their original pits only to reemerge firing canisters of a dense black poisonous gas that quickly wipes out all of the soldiers protecting London. Most of London evacuates, and the narrator relates his brother's story of escape to a ship and the destruction of a few more tripods by a brave military captain, who brings them down by using his ship as a battering ram. The narrator shifts back to his own story and describes a harrowing fortnight where he lies trapped in a house partially buried by another falling cylinder. Here he watches the Martians at work and learns that they feed on human blood. He finally escapes and makes his way back to London believing mankind is doomed only to find that as suddenly as it all began it has also ended not due to the bravery or ingenuity of mankind, but to the millions of bacteria that cause so much havoc among the human race as well.

Well established as a classic, I found the descriptions crisp and detailed and the action well-paced for the most part. If I have one gripe with the book it would be the ending. I would have preferred something more along the lines of the movie Independence Day with mankind winning in a triumphant battle, but I can respect the plausibility of the aliens succumbing to bacteria that they have no natural defenses against and the humility that comes with recognizing that mankind was unable to rescue itself. The fragility of modern civilization with our dependence on electricity and food that is transported over long distances is in some ways not so different from the 19th century world portrayed in the book that quickly fell into chaos. It should at least make an interesting discussion topic once DD has finished reading as well. I would recommend this book as a classic piece of literature for ages 13 and up.