Although other authors have written gripping stories of the invasion of Earth by military forces from
another world, none have done so as chillingly and
effectively as did H. G. WELLS. Wells is sometimes
credited as having invented the scenario, but in
fact the concept did not arise out of a complete
vacuum. Future war stories had been popular in
England for almost 30 years, pitting one combination of European powers against another, often employing then-futuristic weaponry such as aircraft.
Wells’s novel falls partly within that tradition. His
invaders were from Mars, not Germany or France,
and their technology was vastly superior to ours—
although oddly enough, it never occurred to him to
give his Martians the power of flight. Whereas most
future war novels focused on the course of battles
and the maneuverings of politicians, Wells chose to
narrate his story from the point of view of a civilian
bystander who desperately is trying to survive.
The actual plot is quite straightforward. Mysterious cylinders begin landing around the world, from
which emerge articulated, mechanical tripods that
are the Martian war machines. Using death rays and
other weaponry, they systematically begin to clear
the land of all human populations, destroying buildings, swatting aside every attempt to oppose them
militarily. Just when it appears that the end is near
and that humans will be driven to extinction, the
invaders begin to die, their demise caused by microorganisms to which they have no natural immunity. Most invasion stories that followed would give
humanity a less passive role in its own salvation.
Efforts have been made to continue the story
from time to time, but the results have usually been
less than satisfactory. Edison’s Conquest of Mars
(1898/1947, also published as Invasion of Mars) by
Garrett P. Serviss describes resurgent humanity’s
venture into space as they launch a counterattack
against the invaders. The Second War of the Worlds
(1976) by George H. Smith has the Martians
launching a second attack, this time into a parallel
universe where humans are even less technologically advanced. The Alternate Martians (1965) by A.
Bertram CHANDLER is a mildly amusing spoof set in
an alternate world where the Martian visions of
both Wells and Edgar Rice BURROUGHS are accurate. Most interesting are the Tripod series by John
CHRISTOPHER, four novels set on an Earth where
the Martians were successful, and The Space Machine (1976) by Christopher PRIEST, a highly literate
retelling of the story from an alternate point of view.