The night after a shooting star is seen streaking across the sky, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common. Fascinated and exhilarated, the local people approach the mysterious object armed with nothing more than a white flag. But when gruesome alien creatures emerge armed with all-destroying heat-rays, their rashness turns rapidly to fear. As the rays blaze towards them, it soon becomes clear they have no choice but to flee – or die.

I purchased a copy of this book for my own reading.

Determined to explore more of the classics of literature while also diving into sci-fi more of late, The War of the Worlds was a must read for me.

Ever since I was young, I’ve been a massive fan of the iconic musical version of this tale by Jeff Wayne. The story, the music and the characterisations are something I’ll never grow tired of. But, this led to a quandary for me – would the book feel like a chore by comparison to the audio version?

I need not have worried. The classic tale is just as brilliant if not more so, than the audio version. It’s beautifully written with wonderful characterisations, vivid descriptions and tense action. And underlying it all, a love that drove the character to survive.

Though an older form of English is employed throughout given it was written in the late 1800s, it’s no more challenging than A Christmas Carol written a good fifty years earlier. If anything, the language only serves to add to the immersion. I felt I was there with the narrator. I could easily imagine the Martian fighting machines, the deliberate violence they visited on Earth and the following events.

My early concerns rapidly faded and I’m now keen to try further classics from Wells and beyond.

My rating: