The War of the Worlds

By: H. G. Wells

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

First published by H. G. Wells in 1898, The War of the Worlds is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator intones, "No one would have believed in the last years of the 19th century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's."

Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first, the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity, even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100 feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat.

With horror, the narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much as corralled.

Public Domain (P)2009 Tantor

Completely enthralling!

This book was amazing and is super accurate to how I think humans would react to such a horrible calamity. HG Wells is a great author and does an incredible job of making you feel inside this world. Simon Vance is also an awesome narrator.

Highly recommended

The narration is great. The book is very unique. Rarely do you find an science fiction story set in the 1890’s, and this unique time period enhances the story greatly. It is much better than the movie, and I recommend it.

A classic for a reason

War of the Worlds is a classic for a reason and met all my expectations. Well-written, well-read, suspenseful and nervy, yet full of human emotion and hope.

kept me enthralled till the end

Loved it, the amazing descriptions of everything, right down to mechanisms was totally different and really enjoyable

Two Movies

Two movies and the famous Orson Wells broad set me up with some different expectations, but it was well worth the read if only for local and era.

riveting in every way

story and performance draw you along with the narrative, you can feel the tension and the emotions, so much better than any movie drawn from this source

"Excellent."

Thought provoking and wonderful!, an amazing story, decent read and good fun dreaming, nice.

A Tale Well Told.

Absolutely terrifying. H.G. Wells' tale of Empire told from the point of view of the conquered is frightening, convincing, and well-crafted. You will not forget it.

The story was okay

I liked the suspense of the aliens. I kept listening because I was curious about what they was going to do about the problem. I did not like how flat the narrator’s voice was.

Fantastic

It was like I heard it in my mind when I read it so long ago.