Book
Written in first person from the viewpoint of an unspecified character, the book has a slow pace, with little action, and is far more focused on details. The beginning of the book focuses on how all the inhabitants of Earth unite against a common foe (the martians).
Rich with technical details, at the same time trying to keep it understandable. There are some few action events through the story. The book was richly illustrated compared to many books of the time. This was a result of that it was written in as a series of episodes, each one for a newspaper article, often leaving the characters on a cliffhanger, trying to get the reader back for each new chapter.
The world decided to go attack the Martian before they attack us. Without debate or explanation the story places America as the natural leader for this operation. The monarchs and public figures of the time are described, though presidents are not named but simply added as "president of...". Kaiser Wilhelm II is mentioned several times and is used as comic relief in the book. Queen Victoria is described as a sensible leader. The other monarchs are simply mentioned.
The Martians are described as very smart; however, they are not much more than arrogant cynical humans. In H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds the Martians are distinctly non-human, and their invasion is due to survival; the humans are no more than animals to them. However the Martians in this book are more humanlike, just thinking a bit faster.
Read more about this topic: Edison's Conquest Of Mars
Famous quotes containing the word book:
“I have observed, that a Reader seldom peruses a Book with Pleasure, ‘till he knows whether the Writer of it be a black or a fair Man, of a mild or cholerick Disposition, Married or a Batchelor, with other Particulars of the like nature, that conduce very much to the right understanding of an Author.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book! The book exists for us, perchance, that will explain our miracles and reveal new ones. The at present unutterable things we may find somewhere uttered.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Adam sat like a lawyer
and read the book of life.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)