Saturday, July 23, 2005

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Aliens crash-land in England and wreak havoc on the countryside, leaving the citizens scurrying for their lives, until a common virus sabotages the aliens' immune system and obliterates them.

War of the Worlds was not incredible. The narrative was rather detached, and lacking in scope. I did not get the impression the aliens attacked anything outside of England, so it was not really a "world" war. Even though the story was told in the first person, it felt entirely impersonal. I was frustrated. The Time Machine was enjoyable, original, and thought-provoking, but War of the Worlds just seemed like a prolonged drama with a convenient little plot twist at the end.

Overall, I was quite bored with the whole thing. It took some stamina for me to get through it. Wells should have embellished the story, fleshed it out into something more substantial. As it is, it was a great concept, but a disappointing execution.

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