Matthew's Reviews > The War of the Worlds

I swear that I read this when I was younger, but when I went to add this to Goodreads as a re-read (it was the January selection for my Completist Book Club), I did not find it in my list. And, because this is one of those books that has a plot people tend to know because of movies and/or its general pop culture relevance, it is difficult for me to know which parts of my memories of this are from the book and which are from other places. But, re-read or not, I am glad I read it in January 2022.

This is classic sci fi. It is easy to see how many parts of this led to the tropes we see in literary and cinematic sci-fi today. And it is pretty amazing the creativity Wells had for coming up with such vivid and scientifically based alien technology and biology. This book was way ahead of its time!

While the setting is late 1800s England (horse carriages, telegrams, etc.), it is not hard to picture this in a modern setting. Wells did a great job making the story timeless. Often when I read books set in this era, they may be good, but they can also feel dated – not a bad thing, it is just that time moves on. But, with this one, society may have advanced, but it did not feel like time had moved on.

If you love the classics and/or love sci-fi and you have not read this book, I feel like it is a must for you to get it on your list right away. I was leaning toward 4 stars on this book, but the classic status and the effect it has had on sci fi over the years push that up to 5 stars!