I would love to find reviews of his book published at the end of the 19th century to see if his readers significantly pondered Wells’ ideas. Reading The War of the Worlds this time made me noticed just how much Wells thought about it. What if beings from other worlds were more advanced than us? Science fiction has explored that question over and other, but I’m not sure we’ve ever psychologically accepted any being could be superior to ourselves. Once he proposed that one question, it generated all kinds of possible SF speculation. Instead of worrying about invaders from Germany or France, Wells asked, “What if invaders didn’t come from Earth?” We credit Wells for starting the space alien invasion theme, but Wells only took invasion literature that began in 1871 with The Battle of Dorking in a new direction. I do feel Wells brought new speculations and what ifs to the genre. The trouble is, I haven’t read widely enough in earlier literature to know how much Wells borrowed and how much he created. Wells covered many of the main science fictional themes that writers are still tilling today.

In one sense, the novels he published from 1895 to 1900 can almost be considered the foundation of the genre. Wells for his contributions to science fiction. I’m not sure young readers know how much credit we should be giving H. The War of the Worlds is truly a five-star classic. There were three in 2005 and two in 2019. Reading it again this week, after rewatching the 1953 film, and seeing the 2019 British TV miniseries, I understand why we’re still reading this 1898 novel, and why people keep making filmed versions of it. I realized then that The War of the Worlds was far better than what I remembered, or any film or TV version I had seen over my lifetime. Back in 2005 I listened to an audiobook edition.

I was too young to understand the novel and read too fast to really appreciate anything other than the basic plot.

The first time I was in the seventh grade. This is the third time I’ve read The War of the Worlds by H. Wells covered in the 19th century? Has any novel or film ever gone any deeper into the idea of invaders from outer space than The War of the Worlds? Haven’t we been recycling the same speculations that H. Has any science fiction writer from the 20th or 21st centuries ever done a better job exploring the science fictional themes than H.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells