The War of the Worlds

In the early twentieth century, Mars has been all but destroyed by intense global cooling, and so the Martians set their sights on conquering the lush greenery of Earth. Faced with the Martians’ superior weaponry and bloodthirsty nature, all seems lost for humanity . . .

The daring portrayal of aliens landing on Earth, with its themes of interplanetary imperialism, technological holocaust, and chaos, is central to the career of H. G. Wells, who died at the dawn of the atomic age. The survival of mankind in the face of “vast and cool and unsympathetic” scientific powers spinning out of control was a crucial theme throughout his work.