Books - The War of the Worlds

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The War of the Worlds (1898) by H. G. Wells, is an early science fiction novel (or novella) which describes an invasion of Earth by aliens from Mars.

Plot summary

The story is told by an unnamed narrator who witnesses a meteor landing on Horsell Common, near London. The meteor is soon revealed to be a space-going cylinder launched from the planet Mars. Attempts to communicate with the octupus-like inhabitants of the ship prove fruitless and even fatal, as the would-be communicators are incinerated by a laser-like Heat-Ray projected from the ship's impact crater. The Martians then assemble enormous three-legged "fighting machines" which go forth to attack the surrounding human communities, armed with both the heat-ray and a chemical weapon: "the Black Smoke". The humans manage to destroy one of the tripods with a battery of artillery, at Shepperton and two more are brought down in the Tillingham Bay by the ironclad HMS Thunder Child before it is sunk. Other spacecraft land across the English countryside, and the invasion spreads. After beating down all organized resistance, the Martians hold sway over much of southern England, The Narrator however is trapped in a building overlooking the crater of one of the Martian landing sites and witnesses the Martians close at hand including their use of captured humans as a food supply. The Martians eventually abandon their encampment, and the Narrator travels into London where he discovers that the invaders have abruptly succumbed to terrestrial diseases, to which they have no immunity.

The alternate ending

The book contains a thoroughly worked-out alternative ending, presented through the vision of an artilleryman which the hero meets in his wanderings: The Martians would rule Earth for generations to come; most humans (especially the "soft" middle classes towards whom complete contempt is shown) would soon get used to being domestic animals; a nucleus of daring humans would hide out in tunnels and sewers, and would have approximately the same place in the Martian-dominated ecology as rats in the previous human one; but after the passage of generations, these defiant humans would learn to duplicate the Martian weapons and proceed to destroy the invaders. The vivid and detailed description suggests that Wells seriously considered using this ending.

John Christopher's acclaimed trilogy The Tripods is obviously an attempt to write in full this alternate ending. Many of the details are different - Christopher's invaders come from another solar system rather than Mars, and they do not use humans as food, but intend to eventually eliminate humanity altogether; still, Wells' basic scheme - a successful alien invasion, the conquerors striding over the Earth for many generations in huge tripedal machines, and a daring small band of humans hiding in caves and tunnels eventually defeating them against all odds - is faithfully followed by Christopher.

Robert A. Heinlein took up the same theme, in a bit more humorous way, in his The Number of the Beast
where the heroes visit several different versions of Mars. One of them is the home planet of Martians who managed to hold on to the conquered Earth. The heroes encounter tribes of humans living in the Martian wilds, descendants of captive humans who had been transported to Mars by the conquerors and there managed to escape. Also on Mars, the wild humans still speak cockney English - while the Martians' obedient slaves seem descended mainly from upper-class Englishmen.

Sequence of events

Ten Martian landings are mentioned in the novel commencing just after midnight in June during "the first years of the twentieth century":

First Martian Landing (Day 1): Horsell Common.
Second Martian Landing (Day 2): Addlestone Golf links.
Third Martian Landing (Day 3): Pyrford.
Fourth Martian Landing (Day 4): Bushey Heath.
Fifth Martian Landing (Day 5): Sheen.
Sixth Martian Landing (Day 6): Wimbledon.
Seventh Martian Landing (Day 7): Primrose Hill, London.
8th, 9th, 10th Landings (Days 8, 9, 10): landing sites not mentioned in the book - presumably within London.

The duration of the war is three weeks:

On Days 1 and 2, the Martians secure their initial bridgehead around Woking.
On Day 3, they begin first major offensives of the invasion (the Battle of Weybridge/Shepperton and begin the attack on London).
Day 4 sees the great panic and exodus from London.
On Day 5, the narrator is imprisoned by the fifth Martian landing.
On Day 6, the city of London is entirely occupied by the Martians.
Day 7 sees the Battle of Southend and the sacrifice of the Thunder Child.
During Days 8 to 18, the narrator watches the Martians while still trapped.
Day 10 is the approximate date on which Leatherhead (the town to which the narrator had sent his wife for safety) is destroyed by a Martian, killing everyone. Fortunately, his wife escapes before the attack and they are reunited after the Martians' destruction.
On days 19 and 20, the narrator makes his way to London.
In the early morning of day 21, the Martians are found dead.

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Books - The War of the Worlds

Plot summary

The alternate ending

Sequence of events

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