Science fiction · Classics
The War of the Worlds
A narrator in Victorian England watches cylinders fall from Mars and unleash towering war machines on the countryside. He tries to survive and find his wife as the army fails and society falls apart.
- First published
- 1898
- Pace
- fast
- Length
- short
- Format
- Standalone
Read this if you want the original alien-invasion story, told with a grim, documentary calm.
Skip this if you want a heroic resistance, since the narrator mostly hides, watches and endures.
The feel
Content warnings
Where to get it
| Store | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Borrow free | ||
| Libby / OverDrive | Free with a library card | Borrow free with Libby from Libby / OverDrive |
| Print, new | ||
| Bookshop.org | Check price | Buy new from Bookshop.org |
| Amazon | Check price | Buy new from Amazon |
| Barnes & Noble | Check price | Buy new from Barnes & Noble |
| Print, used | ||
| AbeBooks | Check price | Buy used from AbeBooks |
| ThriftBooks | Check price | Buy used from ThriftBooks |
| Ebook | ||
| Kobo | Check price | Buy ebook from Kobo |
| Google Play Books | Check price | Buy ebook from Google Play Books |
| Audiobook | ||
| Libro.fm | Check price | Buy audiobook from Libro.fm |
| Audible | Check price | Buy audiobook from Audible |
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If you loved The War of the Worlds
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The Time Machine
The same author's other short classic, with a similar mix of ideas and quiet dread.
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The Andromeda Strain
A scientific, procedural take on a threat from space that spreads before anyone understands it.
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The Three-Body Problem
A modern, far larger story about the dread of knowing something is coming from the stars.
Science fiction
