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melsage1823's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
An Over Hyped Classic That Will Leave You Feeling Heavily Underwhelmed And Disappointed.
Considering this was the basis of alien invasions stories I was really excited to pick up this story but ended feeling immensely disappointed and let down. For a supposed basis of science fiction it was very bland and boring. I did appreciate the creativity and philosophical elements but other than I found myself bored and almost in a reading slump. I was barley hooked. Perhaps I needed to consume it in another format but either way it wasn't for me.
Okay so let's get into why this novel felt so dry before I try give at least a few positives about this mystical alien invasion story.
First the writing style. After how many science fiction I've consumed I can whole heatedly declare that a tell not show writing style does not suit the premise of this story. This is suppose to be a spectacular early period alien invasion story but instead feels dull and anti climatic due to all of it being narrated in a diary like style. It takes all of the excitement and enjoyment of what a good science fiction story should be. I also feel like it takes away the threat of the Martians and the proper world building of the story. We are only told the scale of the Martians destruction we don't get to witness the full invasion. I would have rather had multi povs then a memoir from a nameless underdeveloped main character.
The poor writing style links into my second and third point. The side characters are very poorly fleshed out due to being in a diary like format so it just leaves you feeling numb and apathetic for any characters that die. No backstory or proper motivations there just there to briefly interact with the main character and his brother before leaving. It also seems to go discarding characters left and right as if there nothing but puppets to fill in plot. Although the main characters Brother felt like he was there to tell the story of the destruction of London his story is immediately discarded as if we didn't just spend several chapters with him.
Again it all links but the ambiguity of the main character. It's bad enough having boring pointless side characters but having a main character with no name and proper backstory makes it hard for me to sympathise with the character. I only understand his need to survive but not who he is as a person. In a story with such a spectical of an idea it feels really insulting to follow a character recounting alien invasion when we barley know anything about him including his family. The main character narrating in past tense also foreshadows the happy ending of the story making everything feel pointless. A story with an ambigous identity does not work at all and distracts from the Martians.
Okay with all the main negatives out of the way I'll get into the very positives of this novel in my opinion.
First the creativity. As much as I don't understand the hype, you can clearly tell in Wells writing that he layed the brick works for much science fiction to come. It was very bold risk to have the story told first person in a memoir like format and as a result allowed for very cool ideas. I loved the idea of the Martians pods and lazerbeams they used to act as it was especially a good contrast to such an industrial time period. It's also very cool to show although Martians are very inhumane they can be like humans in many ways. I also loved the build up to the Martians arrival and attack as it felt generally horrific to read. For what it is, it's pretty good.
Finally the philosophy. Having been someone who witnessed a pandemic in their lifetime the most interesting aspect of this novel was seeing Wells break apart the definition of survival and what it means to be a Survivor of Humanity. There's huge character moments based solely on this premise and we see what the main characters and others do to survive the carnage of the Martians. There's also the fact that the Martians can be seen as parallels to other humans through colonialism and how we act, destroy and steal the land of others. Not only that but there's also the aspect of hope and how much humanity can push through.
Other than that though this is a very underwhelming where I expected more and better. Not me for me but I recommend you make up your own mind.
Considering this was the basis of alien invasions stories I was really excited to pick up this story but ended feeling immensely disappointed and let down. For a supposed basis of science fiction it was very bland and boring. I did appreciate the creativity and philosophical elements but other than I found myself bored and almost in a reading slump. I was barley hooked. Perhaps I needed to consume it in another format but either way it wasn't for me.
Okay so let's get into why this novel felt so dry before I try give at least a few positives about this mystical alien invasion story.
First the writing style. After how many science fiction I've consumed I can whole heatedly declare that a tell not show writing style does not suit the premise of this story. This is suppose to be a spectacular early period alien invasion story but instead feels dull and anti climatic due to all of it being narrated in a diary like style. It takes all of the excitement and enjoyment of what a good science fiction story should be. I also feel like it takes away the threat of the Martians and the proper world building of the story. We are only told the scale of the Martians destruction we don't get to witness the full invasion. I would have rather had multi povs then a memoir from a nameless underdeveloped main character.
The poor writing style links into my second and third point. The side characters are very poorly fleshed out due to being in a diary like format so it just leaves you feeling numb and apathetic for any characters that die. No backstory or proper motivations there just there to briefly interact with the main character and his brother before leaving. It also seems to go discarding characters left and right as if there nothing but puppets to fill in plot. Although the main characters Brother felt like he was there to tell the story of the destruction of London his story is immediately discarded as if we didn't just spend several chapters with him.
Again it all links but the ambiguity of the main character. It's bad enough having boring pointless side characters but having a main character with no name and proper backstory makes it hard for me to sympathise with the character. I only understand his need to survive but not who he is as a person. In a story with such a spectical of an idea it feels really insulting to follow a character recounting alien invasion when we barley know anything about him including his family. The main character narrating in past tense also foreshadows the happy ending of the story making everything feel pointless. A story with an ambigous identity does not work at all and distracts from the Martians.
Okay with all the main negatives out of the way I'll get into the very positives of this novel in my opinion.
First the creativity. As much as I don't understand the hype, you can clearly tell in Wells writing that he layed the brick works for much science fiction to come. It was very bold risk to have the story told first person in a memoir like format and as a result allowed for very cool ideas. I loved the idea of the Martians pods and lazerbeams they used to act as it was especially a good contrast to such an industrial time period. It's also very cool to show although Martians are very inhumane they can be like humans in many ways. I also loved the build up to the Martians arrival and attack as it felt generally horrific to read. For what it is, it's pretty good.
Finally the philosophy. Having been someone who witnessed a pandemic in their lifetime the most interesting aspect of this novel was seeing Wells break apart the definition of survival and what it means to be a Survivor of Humanity. There's huge character moments based solely on this premise and we see what the main characters and others do to survive the carnage of the Martians. There's also the fact that the Martians can be seen as parallels to other humans through colonialism and how we act, destroy and steal the land of others. Not only that but there's also the aspect of hope and how much humanity can push through.
Other than that though this is a very underwhelming where I expected more and better. Not me for me but I recommend you make up your own mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Cannibalism
pholcidae's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
A very slow story with an anticlimactic conclusion but some ‘fun’ niches to appeal to the reader (at the time of writing, mind!).
Wells clearly did his work in familiarising himself with the suburbs of London to create a sense of familiarity with the intended audience when he wrote this. I only recognised a few places since I am not familiar with the city and its surroundings, but I certainly got my own tour of them all in this story(!)
I did enjoy the pseudoscientific approach to the narrator’s telling of his story - if only the science wasn’t outdated by this time it might’ve been more convincing.
Whilst I enjoyed the use of language and literary devices, I found it hard to feel immersed in the story by way of it feeling like listening to someone who is overly fond of their own voice ranting at me about aliens and society.
The plot was so diluted by Wells’ insistence on dictating directions around the general geography of London, that by the end I felt the climax was not all too climactic. Also, character development was non-existence so there’s not much to comment there.
Overall, an unfortunate low scoring for a book I was very excited to read.
Wells clearly did his work in familiarising himself with the suburbs of London to create a sense of familiarity with the intended audience when he wrote this. I only recognised a few places since I am not familiar with the city and its surroundings, but I certainly got my own tour of them all in this story(!)
I did enjoy the pseudoscientific approach to the narrator’s telling of his story - if only the science wasn’t outdated by this time it might’ve been more convincing.
Whilst I enjoyed the use of language and literary devices, I found it hard to feel immersed in the story by way of it feeling like listening to someone who is overly fond of their own voice ranting at me about aliens and society.
The plot was so diluted by Wells’ insistence on dictating directions around the general geography of London, that by the end I felt the climax was not all too climactic. Also, character development was non-existence so there’s not much to comment there.
Overall, an unfortunate low scoring for a book I was very excited to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny
bearystarry's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This felt very… meandering? Feels like 80% of the book was just descriptions of people running away and/or travelling to other places and how starving or mean or “silly” they are. Pretty sexist and racist; making reference to indigenous american people when talking about violent invading aliens was certainly A Choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lorraine19's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The pace kinda goes back and forth between fast and slow paced, but the imagery and descriptions in some of the scenes is really good. You have to keep in mind how old this book is when reading some of the more "scientific" parts. Wells did try to incorporate some actual science explanations which unfortunately are a bit outdated. So if that is something that really bothers you this book might not be for you. But if you don't mind more fiction in your scifi, it's a classic for a reason.
<SPOILERS> I did find the ending to be disappointing but this is more of a personal preference. It just felt like it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book with it being all "oh everything turned out okay". I really wish he kept the tone dark or even left it more open ended. <SPOILERS>
<SPOILERS> I did find the ending to be disappointing but this is more of a personal preference. It just felt like it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book with it being all "oh everything turned out okay". I really wish he kept the tone dark or even left it more open ended. <SPOILERS>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Police brutality
Starvation, survival, cannibalismbookishchef's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Probably very impressive for its time, but nothing special now. The story meanders and sometimes manages to be boring (which is almost an achievement for a book so short). Over all, I thought it was okay although the blatant sexism did take me out of the story many times over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, and Cannibalism
greyreadseverything's review against another edition
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism
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