If you like HG Wells, The Invisible Man is great sci fi horror. That movie from the 30’s does not do Griffin justice. He is a MANIAC in the book. Plus, it’s short.
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It's certainly not as classic as War, but it's a hell of a good time, despite also being a bit out of date in many regards.
This is a wonderful classic to review, and when you factor in the book is 125 years old and still holds up to modern scifi books it really makes you appreciate the ideas presented within it and how much they influenced science fiction going forward
I actually live in Woking, where the book is set. I walk past HG Wells' house all the time, the same house the main character lives in the book, to go to the station. The same route the main character goes on to get his paper. We have a HG Wells conference centre, an enormous tripod statue in a square, and a bronze statue of HG Wells sitting in the time machine!
My dad made me listen to the 1978 musical adaptation of the story when I was 10 years old and I war traumatized. Didn't dare to go to bed by myself for a year at least. Never read the original book though, might check it out now
My buddy had the record and it used to scare the shit out of me as a kid. I recently found the vinyl at a used record shop and it still scares me. It's sooooo creepy!
I was so traumatised by the novel and the musical when I was about ten that when planes went overhead I would go running for cover just in case it was one of the cylinders falling to earth
Huh. I always thought Wells's 'blank' protagonists were much more the 'anonymous reporter' type of protagonist than self-inserts - made to give the illusion that the story was being relayed to the audience via newspaper or radio broadcast, or one of those longer-form periodicals that you'd used to get. Verne did similar.
it even says in the book a few times "i write these things, not concealing anything, even if in this scene there was no witness to judge me" or "i write it as it was" or something like that. In a sense that it was written all by some eyewitness. H.G.Wells himself or someone like him. Basically as if it was real and you tried to give as precise account as possible.
For lots of people in my gen. War of the Worlds meant Jeff Wayne's musical adaption of 1977. Well worth a listen for this classic album. The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to 1 that's what he said.
Talking about this book is like talking about the scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn kicks the helmet. Basically a mad dash to who can say the fun bit of well known trivia about it. In this case, the myth about the panic caused by the radio show.
If we want to point at a literary work that could count as the first SCI-FI book, I would say that is "A True Story" by Lucian Samosata written in 2nd century... It is about visiting the moon and different planets inhabeted by aliens and fighting in an intergalactic war...
I don't think it has enough science to be science-fiction. I do wonder if it inspired Pinocchio though. From Wikipedia> After returning to Earth, the adventurers are swallowed by a 200-mile-long (320 km) whale,[19][20] in whose belly they discover a variety of fish people, against whom they wage war and triumph.[20][21] They kill the whale by starting a bonfire and escape by propping its mouth open.
I remember reading this book as a kid and genuinely being afraid and scared that this would happen and I had a nightmare about it! It wasn't until I kept reading where I saw the book had an illustration on what the aliens looked like (after they perished) where my fear went out the window because I laughed so hard at how stupid they looked. Still an interesting and fun book though
It was actually part of a staged musical play. Richard Burton recorded the narrator part, and after he died, a projection of his face would sometimes appear above the stage as Burton's words rolled over the audience. Weird, but also weirdly effective.
Funny you say that about the prose here with runoff sentences. Felt similarly about Green Bone Saga at times, and that was largely my only issue with that trilogy. Excited to check this one out next year once I get your Kickstarter edition!
I was surprised by how excellent The Time Machine was when compared to other HG Wells' work. The ending especially I feel like was way ahead of it's time.
I won't say it's a masterpiece because I think that's a more subjective term than most people will admit, but you should give Nnedi Okorafor's "Lagoon" a try. It's an alien invasion story told from a very non-western point of view while also shedding light on Nigerian people and culture. I was surprised how much I loved it!
I just want to point out that... being shy about sentence length is a _very_ modern convention. People didn't used to expect sentences to reduce themselves for ease of digestibility. People were expected to raise their intellect to meet whatever a sentence presented to them. As long as it was structured properly, grammatically-sound, and with appropriate punctuation[ not only full-stops or commas] to guide the proper understanding of it and/or pauses for breath &/or absorption of the information as it was presented: What a sentence was or wasn't actually saying-and how exactly whatever each thing it said was and wasn't saying did or didn't correlate to every other thing that it did or didn't say-mattered far more than just how many words were or weren't used to say it. 🙂 It was kind of a marvelous thing, honestly; And I truly wish more people could still appreciate that these days. Assembling a lengthy sentence doesn't automatically mean its point is meandering or careless at all, there can in fact be quite an art-nearly a science, even-behind the careful and deliberate structuring of a lengthy yet intentional sentence. If there is something to criticize about this book's sentences _other_ than just the sheer LENGTH of them, I would myself find that far more essential and helpful information to know! ^--^
Good review! It’s always good seeing people review classic science fiction. I would say that I don’t think it should be updated by a modern writer. It’s a classic for a reason. It also shows how much language and writing has evolved since then.
I have a printed version at home of The Battle of Dorking - because I met a 1-man hobbyist publisher who prints tiny (20-50) batches of old, kind of forgotten literature and then sells them at fairs. That book is kind of the beginning of the Invasion Literature in britain which paved the way for war of the worlds. Wouldn't write home about it, but it is kind of interesting. I think the history and lasting legacy of War of the Worlds is more interesting than the actual book, though I have to say that some chapters are absolutely visceral page-turners.
Mexican singer Tatiana wrote an entire song about this book. "Los marcianos llegaron ya, y llegaron bailando ricachá". "Ricachá" is the way the most popular public domain translation dubbed the heat ray.
I just did the audiobook of this (ran out of free credits and had to find something in the Audible plus catalog). I personally didn't have any problems with the long sentences, even just hearing it, but I also live in Germany and read a lot of Latin, so can understand that mileage will vary there.
This story was first published in a magazine as a serial in 1897. Imagine the suspense waiting for the next episode! Still worth reading today. The 1954 film version was excellent. The more recent Steven Spielberg film was also good. Interesting to see how the films dealt with changes to the technology from the 1897original.
THe film versions are interesting,espec. the 1954 Oscar-winning one,but overall offset by being too 'Americanised' ;as touched on by Daniel,the noted socialist [and early Fabian Soc.member] Wells set the book as a 'socio-poltical' critique of his own time,namely the late Victorian-Edwardian height of the British Empire's overseas colonisation,which is generally only touched on,by some recent UK radio and TV adaptations.
Spoilers!: The scene were the MC is watching the Martians and figuring out how their biology works is definitely a highlight of the book for me. It was just so well thought out and logical, absolutely amazing innovation of Wells’ part.
I would be interested to see more videos on classic lit. I myself have been slowly working through the classics and it's interesting to see the influences that books like these have had on the media.
I think one of my favorite details about War of the Worlds is that it's also a critique of the "Invasion" literary genre. Yeah, Brits used to love books about being invaded by other European powers (usually a disguised Germany or ACTUALLY Germany), only to throw them off with grit, determination, superior tactics, and just blatant deus ex machinas. Some invasion stories did have bad ends, but a lot of the more popular ones had happy, "yay for England, we won and we're taking the fight to them" endings. H.G. Wells thought those sorts of stories were stupid and believed that, even IF there was a miraculous saving grace, and England were to be able to rebuild with resources from around the empire, PEOPLE would still be shattered and uncertain about the future. He also, in letters to friends, said how much he loved destroying Surrey and Woking (where he lived) and killing of his neighbors in increasingly gruesome ways. He did not like Surrey and Woking, nor anybody that he lived near. So, cool details to keep in mind.
If it counts as 'alien invasion', then one classic from the sub-genre that should be considered a masterpiece is the 'Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood' trilogy by Octavia E. Butler. Absolutely phenomenal sci-fi, and a very unique take on alien invasion
So far I've read the Strange Orchid (my favourite so far), the Invisible Man and The First Men on the Moon but I hope to read the War of the Worlds soon!
Two words..Stephen Baxter... One of Britain's leading hard SF authors wrote the official sequel to the classic, authorised by the Wells Estate.. 'The Massacre of Mankind' which does just what you suggest for it.
The first Sci-fi work ever written is actually probably A True Story by the Roman satirist Lucian of Samosata. It depicts travel to outer space, alien life, interplanetary warfare, societies existing inside of a giant whale, and more!
Great choice of classic! War of the worlds is a good book that holds up pretty well, even if I feel the middle third of the book kind of feels a bit boring. Love the idea of a recurring series of classic reviews!
After hearing you talk about this (which suprised me, but also..... I want more of this), I want to see how you would reveiew other Classics of the Sci-fi and Fantasy Genre (hell, even the horror like Dracula and Phantom of the Opera). You keep it very fair for the fact that it's an older work, you also understand that there are flaws in works no matter what centrey/decade, but you talk about the good they did still and I think there would be more of a talk about it. (then again I shouldn't be suprised because you love Dune as a Series xD;; which is a Classic within itself). But I want to see you read things now like The Daughter of the King of Elfland; Dying Earth; Empire of the East; some of the Conan short stories; While not "classics" but also more other sci-fi I would like to see you do stuff like the Crystal Singer trilogy; The Rowan (it is part of the Hive and the Tower series, and the Pegaus series is it's prequel for that world, but you can read it alone as the prequel series follows a different group of people that starts the creation of the group the Rowan follows.); Cat Scratch Fever.... This kinda opens up a whole new world for me to watch and I want more of it. I am craving this as we have a huge ability to do compare and contrast in this case. (Sorry for geeking, I just love talking about books in general and going into classics territory kinda has me excited for these types of discussions. >_> Don't get me wrong, I do love some of the modern fantasies such as Lies of Locke Lamora, but I grew up on the classics, and some other stuff that have that "classic" feel to them or Fairy Tale so to have people talk about them more has me thrilled and happy to hear what others have to say. even if they agree to disagree about weather or not they like it.)
You know how old you are, apparently, when people mention things like The Rowan in same sentence as things that came out in the 50s. I wasn't even a kid when the Rowan came out. :(
@@Aldric524 I'm actually reading it now. I was actually born in 1990. xD so I don't think what age have to do with reading a book written at an older time. A lot of classics is written far earlier than when most people read them. I just grew up with reading a lot of older books and I'm just getting back to reading again.
the First Sci-fi book was written back in Ancient Greece in the 2nd century and it's a crazy adventure, I suggest you guys search for it, you won't be disappointed lol it's from Lucian of Samosata
I agree that you can trace sci-fi back far earlier than Frankenstein BUT modern sci-fi I would maintain giving MS credit due to how many modern authors after her credited her.
WotW still contains one of the most chilling phrases where Wells describes the martian invasion plans : "and slowly and surely drew their plans against us". Considering he wrote this in the 19th C. it's a scathing critique of Imperialism. Not only did he codify the "alien invasion" story - he invented the modern hobby of wargaming thanks to his book "little wars".
4:45 Yes. I know what you are talking about, the only 2 books I'd read of Wells are the Time Machine and The Invisible Man as a 2 in 1 book, and yeah I do remember some parts that felt drag. And for what you are saying this appears to be a constant in Wells works. And I though it was just me that I'm still an unexperienced reader.
My favorite part of War of the Worlds is when the narrator is with the clergy in the house that becomes a part of a crash site and they have to be quiet as they observe the Martians In the pit literally next to the half of the house that is still standing. All the while the clergy is losing his sanity and starts becoming a risk that can blow their cover! It is easily one of the most suspenseful and tense moments in the book that when the Martians finally find the narrator after the clergy made way too much noise, it makes your stomach drop for him because he might become food for them!
My favourite Sci-Fi classic is NieR:Automata. It's also my favourite video game. And my favourite story ever told. And my favourite philosophy essay I've ever read, uh played ?
I really liked, that we get the perspective of civilian, scared, confused and just trying to get by. The begining (and even some parts later) is so calm, so mundane. Living through 2020 indeed gives even more respect for that. That being said, I wasn't that impressed by the martians, and the plot, I thought it wasn't that imaginative. And then I learn it was written in 1903, so the world with barely any cars, no to mention planes and plans to colonise space. Chepeux bas, mr. Wells! And I know it's fantasy, not sci-fi, but Conan the Barbarian is so beautifully bad, that I think you might enjoy it :)
What you have to get about this book that is different is that while it is not the first book of science fiction, it is the first written from a planetary point of view. This goes along with his perspective of a global consciousness which is why he was the first one to propose a world government, etc.
this is so true! we need the war of the worlds movie that really base on novel that have setting like in the book, have story like in the book with huge budget that has elements of making a quality movie such as choosing actors, Character design, character script, directing camera angles, Designing a scene atmosphere that matches the event or situation, have Scene arrangement, the situation in the story Good soundtrack and spectacular cgi Using the good elements that the novel has and developing it further and the compatibility of it all when put together and most importantly is respecting the original book. The BBC has an opportunity to do something like that. But they were disappointed and disappointed even though there were many good elements in the novel that could be used in the series with real quality.
Love hearing your thoughts about a true sci-fi classic! I don’t know if it qualifies as an “invasion” story, but “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang is another (more recent) great.
War of the Worlds is a stone cold classic but… nothing compares to the brilliant escalation of events that happen to humanity in Childhoods End. I don’t think I’ve ever read a sci-fi book faster or have felt greater chills than the crushing helplessness of being under the thumb of such a dominant species. I feel it is also the most realistic, if you personally buy into the more esoteric nature of humanity. That sentence is strange, but so is the book and I highly highly recommend it ✨
I have read War of the Worlds over and over again, it's wonderful and so influential. Look up 'Celebratewoking'-The Martian. The town has several sculptures relate to Wells's book. The place they land are to the bottom left (East) outside London and its suburbs.
I highly recommend the Orson Welles radio show to anyone who hasn’t heard it. Also holds up extremely well. Especially the first half of the show where it’s imitating news broadcasts. I listened to it last Halloween while delivering pizzas. It sounds like real news broadcasts from the 30s. But it was less of a commentary on imperialism and more tapping into fears around the global tensions of the late-30s. There’s a mention of “war scare” that summer (May Crisis, I think). Btw, don’t want to toot my own horn but I, a white kid from east Alabama, noticed the anti imperialist stuff back in High School.
Have you read Blindsight by Peter Watts? I adore the book and while not an "alien invasion", it takes a cool, unique, and mostly well crafted concept on alien life that you might appreciate
I am curious about your bookshelf. I have seen a book professional (Dr. Lori) giving estimates on books. She kept saying that you should not put books standing up on a shelf. It keeps pressure on the spine leading to damage. It should be flat not standing up. So, I was curious about your thoughts on that? 😊
you should read War of the Worlds plus Blood, Guts and Zombies. it had interesting little changes. did feel a bit much though. fave sci-fi classic? anything by Jules Verne. Journey to the Centre of the Earth is gold
I was surprised by your comment that the sentences in the second half were too long, maybe I've just acclimatized myself to long sentences. They may be slightly longer than what popular authors nowadays usually reach for, but I enjoy reading a lot of nineteenth century fiction (and a LOT of H. G. Wells, I'm currently marathoning his books), and I guess my benchmark has been moved somewhat. I would say people like James Joyce and Marcel Proust have long sentences, H. G. Wells seems remarkably short and punchy to me, so when you said you thought the back end of the book was too long in its sentence structure it served as a reminder to me that different styles of writing exist, and the type of prose I've been reading of late isn't the only kind of writing in the world. I've found I'm less inclined to call a book "dated" because the style and prolixity that the author uses has gone out of favour, I usually just try to recontextualise for myself whom the original audience would have been and what their diction would have been like. I often find that fantasy books like LOTR and WoT try to recapture that prolixity that nineteenth century novelists like Walter Scott and Charles Dickens had because it acts as a kind of upholstery to the world that they've created; it's just that the vocabulary is more modern and as a result it's easier for us to get into - the tastes for long sentences haven't really changed at all. You're completely right about the various expressions that would make a twenty-first century person go "YIKES", but looking back on it in retrospect it is very clear it's just the terminology that's fallen out of favour rather than what Wells is actually trying to say. Nowadays we all view race as a social construct, but in the Victorian era it was basically applied to mean anyone from a certain area of the globe, which is why the terminology raises eyebrows for us now I think. Looking into Wells himself he was one of the most remarkably progressive human beings of his time, and he must have done so much to get young minds thinking. He was George Orwell's favourite author as a kid, and there's a wonderful passage from Orwell that I just can't resist quoting: "Thinking people who were born about the beginning of this century are in some sense Wells's own creation. How much influence any mere writer has, and especially a ‘popular’ writer whose work takes effect quickly, is questionable, but I doubt whether anyone who was writing books between 1900 and 1920, at any rate in the English language, influenced the young so much. The minds of all of us, and therefore the physical world, would be perceptibly different if Wells had never existed.... Society was ruled by narrow-minded, profoundly incurious people, predatory business men, dull squires, bishops, politicians who could quote Horace but had never heard of algebra. Science was faintly disreputable and religious belief obligatory. Traditionalism, stupidity, snobbishness, patriotism, superstition and love of war seemed to be all on the same side; there was need of someone who could state the opposite point of view. Back in the nineteen-hundreds it was a wonderful experience for a boy to discover H. G. Wells. There you were, in a world of pedants, clergymen and golfers, with your future employers exhorting you to ‘get on or get out,’ your parents systematically warping your sexual life, and your dull-witted schoolmasters sniggering over their Latin tags; and here was this wonderful man who could tell you about the inhabitants of the planets and the bottom of the sea, and who knew that the future was not going to be what respectable people imagined. A decade or so before aeroplanes were technically feasible Wells knew that within a little while men would be able to fly. He knew that because he himself wanted to be able to fly, and therefore felt sure that research in that direction would continue. On the other hand, even when I was a little boy, at a time when the Wright brothers had actually lifted their machine off the ground for fifty-nine seconds, the generally accepted opinion was that if God had meant us to fly He would have given us wings. Up to 1914 Wells was in the main a true prophet. In physical details his vision of the new world has been fulfilled to a surprising extent." All of this is a very roundabout way of saying "great review Daniel, really enjoyed it." more classics reviews pls, luv you
Perfectly good well structured prose, written at a time when people did not expect everything sppon fed to them in bite sized chunks. Nothing abnormal or difficult about it. Surprisingly easy to read for its age.
What happens to the brother of the narrator? The brother has even some chapters but at the end we do not learnt what happens to him. Or did I miss something?
If you want to see what is probably the closest to the first ever sci-fi novel you should read the translation of a true story by Lucian. It's from the 2nd century and is a wild tale of space empires and alien races.
Something I realized. Since we're following a first person narrator from the time period the series is set, all the outdated technology the aliens use could just be his interpretation of the technology actually at play
Hey Daniel, I'm new to your channel and so far, for my money, you have to be the best fantasy reviewer I've come across so far. Very fair and level-headed reviews 👏 There are a few series which I'd be really interested to hear your takes on some time, those are 'The Empire Trilogy' by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist, 'A Land Fit For Heroes Trilogy' by Richard K Morgan, and 'The Acacia Trilogy' by David Anthony Durham. And in answer to your question, if it counts as classic, my favorite would be 'More Than Human' by Theodore Sturgeon.
I had always assumed that his word choice at the beginning was taken from the perspective of a narrator who actually has (at least on a subconscious level) the attitudes of being a citizen raised to believe he was a part of a "superior civilisation". And that has deep down been convinced of other people in the world being inferior by comparison... even if (as the narrator is obviously highly educated) he is uncomfortable with how his country has behaved when dealing with them. Hence the word usage. And while I also agree that the first section of the story is pretty darn epic, the middle "post-conquered" section is slower and more contemplative, and the last sections just can't hold up to either... but I liked that even the writing style of the weary and traumatised narrator after seeing too many "highs" of there being some possible hope being dashed repeatedly afterwards walking through an apocalyptic landscape is less sharp and coherent. In the beginning he was noticing everything as if he was collecting as much data as he could like he was planning to write a story about it later... but as he continues on, such ideas of their being "an after" are gradually worn down into meaninglessness. At a certain point in the story it shows that even in his mind he is broken and scattered, his journalistic way of perceiving these events has broken down to being less anatomical and more emotional and messy. Until near the end he finally breaks and becomes suicidal. The extreme details seen in the very beginning are gradually broken down more and more throughout until they are scarce and finally lost altogether, because only the emotion of how he feels is left. I might be reading too much into it, but that is how I always saw it. Admittedly I have not read it in about 20 years. Perhaps I should give it another look. Perhaps my opinion will change.
As a kid, I was completely fixated on War of the Worlds. The book, the musical, the radio drama (which we had the record of), and later on even the Spielberg movie. It is a flawed masterpiece, but it is fun. I remember rereading it last year and putting myself as the narrator (and it's funny that the narrator is looking for his wife because I am admittedly bi. Sooooo accidental LGBTQ representation? Haha kidding kidding!) and noticing the things as well as you said. But also noticed the things that didn't age well.
What’s your favorite sci-fi classic? I want some recs :)
If you like HG Wells, The Invisible Man is great sci fi horror. That movie from the 30’s does not do Griffin justice. He is a MANIAC in the book. Plus, it’s short.
I didn't like War of the Worlds, but I LOVED the time machine
The Time Machine
Day of the Triffids is really cool.
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It's certainly not as classic as War, but it's a hell of a good time, despite also being a bit out of date in many regards.
This is a wonderful classic to review, and when you factor in the book is 125 years old and still holds up to modern scifi books it really makes you appreciate the ideas presented within it and how much they influenced science fiction going forward
Maybe if this book came with a map Daniel could learn UK geography.
Boy loves his maps.
If you google the area as you are reading, you can follow it exactly.
I actually live in Woking, where the book is set. I walk past HG Wells' house all the time, the same house the main character lives in the book, to go to the station. The same route the main character goes on to get his paper. We have a HG Wells conference centre, an enormous tripod statue in a square, and a bronze statue of HG Wells sitting in the time machine!
My dad made me listen to the 1978 musical adaptation of the story when I was 10 years old and I war traumatized. Didn't dare to go to bed by myself for a year at least. Never read the original book though, might check it out now
that was my first intro to War of the Worlds, the sound the aliens made used to scare me as a kid. :D
My buddy had the record and it used to scare the shit out of me as a kid. I recently found the vinyl at a used record shop and it still scares me. It's sooooo creepy!
One of the very best albums ever made.
Still listen to it once in a while now.
Uuullllaaaa
The unscrewing of the cylinder still makes me goosebump up, every single time I listen to it. Even now when I'm close to 40 years old.
I was so traumatised by the novel and the musical when I was about ten that when planes went overhead I would go running for cover just in case it was one of the cylinders falling to earth
Huh. I always thought Wells's 'blank' protagonists were much more the 'anonymous reporter' type of protagonist than self-inserts - made to give the illusion that the story was being relayed to the audience via newspaper or radio broadcast, or one of those longer-form periodicals that you'd used to get. Verne did similar.
Big YESSS
it even says in the book a few times "i write these things, not concealing anything, even if in this scene there was no witness to judge me" or "i write it as it was" or something like that. In a sense that it was written all by some eyewitness. H.G.Wells himself or someone like him. Basically as if it was real and you tried to give as precise account as possible.
For lots of people in my gen. War of the Worlds meant Jeff Wayne's musical adaption of 1977. Well worth a listen for this classic album. The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to 1 that's what he said.
But still they come
The musical version is amazing!
Yes the album is absolutely amazing, I've seen the on stage musical and the VR experience, and it was 1978 the year lol.
Talking about this book is like talking about the scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn kicks the helmet.
Basically a mad dash to who can say the fun bit of well known trivia about it. In this case, the myth about the panic caused by the radio show.
If we want to point at a literary work that could count as the first SCI-FI book, I would say that is "A True Story" by Lucian Samosata written in 2nd century...
It is about visiting the moon and different planets inhabeted by aliens and fighting in an intergalactic war...
someones scene a certain YT vid
The first space story maybe, but definitely not Sci Fi.
But it is pretty dang great.
@@jamessloven2204 I mean it depends on the definition but I would argue it is...
But we definitely agree on the second part...it is great
I don't think it has enough science to be science-fiction. I do wonder if it inspired Pinocchio though.
From Wikipedia> After returning to Earth, the adventurers are swallowed by a 200-mile-long (320 km) whale,[19][20] in whose belly they discover a variety of fish people, against whom they wage war and triumph.[20][21] They kill the whale by starting a bonfire and escape by propping its mouth open.
@@Eas697 I have but I read the book as well and found it pretty amusing and at times very philosophical, too.
Love that you’re covering Wells’ work! He’s my absolute favorite author.
I remember reading this book as a kid and genuinely being afraid and scared that this would happen and I had a nightmare about it! It wasn't until I kept reading where I saw the book had an illustration on what the aliens looked like (after they perished) where my fear went out the window because I laughed so hard at how stupid they looked.
Still an interesting and fun book though
The disco-opera of the war of the worlds is brilliant and funny and made me cry like a little bitch with the song Farewell Thunderchild 😅😂
It was actually part of a staged musical play. Richard Burton recorded the narrator part, and after he died, a projection of his face would sometimes appear above the stage as Burton's words rolled over the audience. Weird, but also weirdly effective.
Imagine if it was goblins instead of puny aliens
10/10 better book then. /s
Yeah, they wouldn't let something silly like germs get in their way
That happened in Hopkinsville
As a non-Manga reader, I have missed this kind of review. Loved this!
The Time Machine is my favorite HG Wells' story you should do it next!
Great review. I like looking at the classics. I read 20,000 leagues a few months ago and enjoyed way more than I ever thought.
20,000 Leagues is a great book if you can make it past that one chapter that's literally just pages and pages of descriptions of fish haha
I love that you are doing some of the classics!
H.G. wells is probably my most read sci Fi author. And yeah, he's funny. I laughed out loud several times reading the Invisible Man. Great writer.
Funny you say that about the prose here with runoff sentences. Felt similarly about Green Bone Saga at times, and that was largely my only issue with that trilogy. Excited to check this one out next year once I get your Kickstarter edition!
I love that he is going back and reviewing the classics, potentially introducing new people to them
I was surprised by how excellent The Time Machine was when compared to other HG Wells' work. The ending especially I feel like was way ahead of it's time.
It's nice to see you giving us your thoughts on the classics. It's good to look back on classics some times.
I won't say it's a masterpiece because I think that's a more subjective term than most people will admit, but you should give Nnedi Okorafor's "Lagoon" a try. It's an alien invasion story told from a very non-western point of view while also shedding light on Nigerian people and culture. I was surprised how much I loved it!
"that's a racism" i laughed REALLY hard at that.
I just want to point out that... being shy about sentence length is a _very_ modern convention.
People didn't used to expect sentences to reduce themselves for ease of digestibility.
People were expected to raise their intellect to meet whatever a sentence presented to them.
As long as it was structured properly, grammatically-sound, and with appropriate punctuation[ not only full-stops or commas] to guide the proper understanding of it and/or pauses for breath &/or absorption of the information as it was presented: What a sentence was or wasn't actually saying-and how exactly whatever each thing it said was and wasn't saying did or didn't correlate to every other thing that it did or didn't say-mattered far more than just how many words were or weren't used to say it. 🙂
It was kind of a marvelous thing, honestly; And I truly wish more people could still appreciate that these days. Assembling a lengthy sentence doesn't automatically mean its point is meandering or careless at all, there can in fact be quite an art-nearly a science, even-behind the careful and deliberate structuring of a lengthy yet intentional sentence.
If there is something to criticize about this book's sentences _other_ than just the sheer LENGTH of them, I would myself find that far more essential and helpful information to know! ^--^
Good review! It’s always good seeing people review classic science fiction. I would say that I don’t think it should be updated by a modern writer. It’s a classic for a reason. It also shows how much language and writing has evolved since then.
I have a printed version at home of The Battle of Dorking - because I met a 1-man hobbyist publisher who prints tiny (20-50) batches of old, kind of forgotten literature and then sells them at fairs. That book is kind of the beginning of the Invasion Literature in britain which paved the way for war of the worlds. Wouldn't write home about it, but it is kind of interesting.
I think the history and lasting legacy of War of the Worlds is more interesting than the actual book, though I have to say that some chapters are absolutely visceral page-turners.
Mexican singer Tatiana wrote an entire song about this book.
"Los marcianos llegaron ya, y llegaron bailando ricachá".
"Ricachá" is the way the most popular public domain translation dubbed the heat ray.
I just did the audiobook of this (ran out of free credits and had to find something in the Audible plus catalog). I personally didn't have any problems with the long sentences, even just hearing it, but I also live in Germany and read a lot of Latin, so can understand that mileage will vary there.
Nice one! I love this story!!
This story was first published in a magazine as a serial in 1897. Imagine the suspense waiting for the next episode! Still worth reading today. The 1954 film version was excellent. The more recent Steven Spielberg film was also good. Interesting to see how the films dealt with changes to the technology from the 1897original.
THe film versions are interesting,espec. the 1954 Oscar-winning one,but overall offset by being too 'Americanised' ;as touched on by Daniel,the noted socialist [and early Fabian Soc.member] Wells set the book as a 'socio-poltical' critique of his own time,namely the late Victorian-Edwardian height of the British Empire's overseas colonisation,which is generally only touched on,by some recent UK radio and TV adaptations.
The 1978 album is my favorite rendition
The Forever War next? Kind of a classic but certainly excellent and with reading.
Glad you're digging into the classics, can't wait to see more of this!
Spoilers!:
The scene were the MC is watching the Martians and figuring out how their biology works is definitely a highlight of the book for me. It was just so well thought out and logical, absolutely amazing innovation of Wells’ part.
We love a book review
I would be interested to see more videos on classic lit. I myself have been slowly working through the classics and it's interesting to see the influences that books like these have had on the media.
I think one of my favorite details about War of the Worlds is that it's also a critique of the "Invasion" literary genre. Yeah, Brits used to love books about being invaded by other European powers (usually a disguised Germany or ACTUALLY Germany), only to throw them off with grit, determination, superior tactics, and just blatant deus ex machinas. Some invasion stories did have bad ends, but a lot of the more popular ones had happy, "yay for England, we won and we're taking the fight to them" endings. H.G. Wells thought those sorts of stories were stupid and believed that, even IF there was a miraculous saving grace, and England were to be able to rebuild with resources from around the empire, PEOPLE would still be shattered and uncertain about the future. He also, in letters to friends, said how much he loved destroying Surrey and Woking (where he lived) and killing of his neighbors in increasingly gruesome ways. He did not like Surrey and Woking, nor anybody that he lived near. So, cool details to keep in mind.
Also, there is a rock-opera concept album for War of the Worlds, by Jeff Wayne. Check it out.
Thanks for reviewing classics!
It’s always interesting to hear modern perspectives with the pop culture lens.
If it counts as 'alien invasion', then one classic from the sub-genre that should be considered a masterpiece is the 'Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood' trilogy by Octavia E. Butler. Absolutely phenomenal sci-fi, and a very unique take on alien invasion
I think H. G. Wells should have just used your eggs as the protagonists
Commenting for the algorithm because I miss book reviews and want these videos to do well enough to justify more
So far I've read the Strange Orchid (my favourite so far), the Invisible Man and The First Men on the Moon but I hope to read the War of the Worlds soon!
Thanks for the review Daniel!
Two words..Stephen Baxter...
One of Britain's leading hard SF authors wrote the official sequel to the classic, authorised by the Wells Estate..
'The Massacre of Mankind' which does just what you suggest for it.
Frankenstein next please 🙏
When I read Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shards Of Earth, the peak action sequence gave me Thunder Child vibes.
The best kind of vibes!
Love this idea of classic reviews
War of the worlds movie is one of my all time favorites movies and i didnt even know it had a book.
The first Sci-fi work ever written is actually probably A True Story by the Roman satirist Lucian of Samosata. It depicts travel to outer space, alien life, interplanetary warfare, societies existing inside of a giant whale, and more!
Great choice of classic! War of the worlds is a good book that holds up pretty well, even if I feel the middle third of the book kind of feels a bit boring.
Love the idea of a recurring series of classic reviews!
One of my absolute favorites! Read it many times over the years. Time for another go, methinks!
you sir are incredible. never tread the book myself but hearing you talk about it makes me want to more than ever 😎
After hearing you talk about this (which suprised me, but also..... I want more of this), I want to see how you would reveiew other Classics of the Sci-fi and Fantasy Genre (hell, even the horror like Dracula and Phantom of the Opera). You keep it very fair for the fact that it's an older work, you also understand that there are flaws in works no matter what centrey/decade, but you talk about the good they did still and I think there would be more of a talk about it. (then again I shouldn't be suprised because you love Dune as a Series xD;; which is a Classic within itself). But I want to see you read things now like The Daughter of the King of Elfland; Dying Earth; Empire of the East; some of the Conan short stories; While not "classics" but also more other sci-fi I would like to see you do stuff like the Crystal Singer trilogy; The Rowan (it is part of the Hive and the Tower series, and the Pegaus series is it's prequel for that world, but you can read it alone as the prequel series follows a different group of people that starts the creation of the group the Rowan follows.); Cat Scratch Fever.... This kinda opens up a whole new world for me to watch and I want more of it. I am craving this as we have a huge ability to do compare and contrast in this case.
(Sorry for geeking, I just love talking about books in general and going into classics territory kinda has me excited for these types of discussions. >_> Don't get me wrong, I do love some of the modern fantasies such as Lies of Locke Lamora, but I grew up on the classics, and some other stuff that have that "classic" feel to them or Fairy Tale so to have people talk about them more has me thrilled and happy to hear what others have to say. even if they agree to disagree about weather or not they like it.)
You know how old you are, apparently, when people mention things like The Rowan in same sentence as things that came out in the 50s. I wasn't even a kid when the Rowan came out. :(
@@Aldric524 I'm actually reading it now. I was actually born in 1990. xD so I don't think what age have to do with reading a book written at an older time. A lot of classics is written far earlier than when most people read them. I just grew up with reading a lot of older books and I'm just getting back to reading again.
It was published in 1898 and it’s Still Holds up as Scary Now as When it was published
Holy shit, this is my favorite book. Indeed, it was the first book I read of my own volition as a little kid.
The best H.G.Wells book in my opinion. Better than The Time Machine if you ask me.
the First Sci-fi book was written back in Ancient Greece in the 2nd century and it's a crazy adventure, I suggest you guys search for it, you won't be disappointed lol
it's from Lucian of Samosata
I agree that you can trace sci-fi back far earlier than Frankenstein BUT modern sci-fi I would maintain giving MS credit due to how many modern authors after her credited her.
@@DanielGreeneReviews true enough you're not wrong
WotW still contains one of the most chilling phrases where Wells describes the martian invasion plans : "and slowly and surely drew their plans against us". Considering he wrote this in the 19th C. it's a scathing critique of Imperialism. Not only did he codify the "alien invasion" story - he invented the modern hobby of wargaming thanks to his book "little wars".
Funny, I just picked this up from my local used bookstore a couple hours ago.
Are you gonna review Jeff Wayne's Musical War of the Worlds now?
4:45 Yes. I know what you are talking about, the only 2 books I'd read of Wells are the Time Machine and The Invisible Man as a 2 in 1 book, and yeah I do remember some parts that felt drag. And for what you are saying this appears to be a constant in Wells works. And I though it was just me that I'm still an unexperienced reader.
You think The Time Machine drags? It's barely 100 pages long!
My favorite part of War of the Worlds is when the narrator is with the clergy in the house that becomes a part of a crash site and they have to be quiet as they observe the Martians In the pit literally next to the half of the house that is still standing. All the while the clergy is losing his sanity and starts becoming a risk that can blow their cover! It is easily one of the most suspenseful and tense moments in the book that when the Martians finally find the narrator after the clergy made way too much noise, it makes your stomach drop for him because he might become food for them!
Definitely sounds like a classic worth reading. I’m not as versed on classics as I’d like.
the space odyssey series is a classic I wanna read
Nice. Are you also familiar with The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter? It's the official sequel to HGW's WOTW. Cheers!
I’d love to hear more about the Orson Wells radio adaptation
My favourite Sci-Fi classic is NieR:Automata.
It's also my favourite video game.
And my favourite story ever told.
And my favourite philosophy essay I've ever read, uh played ?
I really liked, that we get the perspective of civilian, scared, confused and just trying to get by. The begining (and even some parts later) is so calm, so mundane. Living through 2020 indeed gives even more respect for that.
That being said, I wasn't that impressed by the martians, and the plot, I thought it wasn't that imaginative. And then I learn it was written in 1903, so the world with barely any cars, no to mention planes and plans to colonise space. Chepeux bas, mr. Wells!
And I know it's fantasy, not sci-fi, but Conan the Barbarian is so beautifully bad, that I think you might enjoy it :)
My personal Wells favourite is the First Men In The Moon!!! You should totes 👜 review it
Having lived through my own existential threat to humanity... strange that we can say that now
Oh hell yeah, Neil Gaiman's take on _The War of the Worlds_ would be frickin' awesome!
What you have to get about this book that is different is that while it is not the first book of science fiction, it is the first written from a planetary point of view. This goes along with his perspective of a global consciousness which is why he was the first one to propose a world government, etc.
Childhoods end could technically be considered an alien invasion book if so thats my favourite.
It is especially interesting to compare the two
Read it together with my book club, we enjoyed quite a lot
They should do a movie that's worthy of the book like dune...
this is so true! we need the war of the worlds movie that really base on novel that have setting like in the book, have story like in the book with huge budget that has elements of making a quality movie such as choosing actors, Character design, character script, directing camera angles, Designing a scene atmosphere that matches the event or situation, have Scene arrangement, the situation in the story Good soundtrack and spectacular cgi Using the good elements that the novel has and developing it further and the compatibility of it all when put together and most importantly is respecting the original book. The BBC has an opportunity to do something like that. But they were disappointed and disappointed even though there were many good elements in the novel that could be used in the series with real quality.
Love hearing your thoughts about a true sci-fi classic! I don’t know if it qualifies as an “invasion” story, but “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang is another (more recent) great.
War of the Worlds is a stone cold classic but… nothing compares to the brilliant escalation of events that happen to humanity in Childhoods End. I don’t think I’ve ever read a sci-fi book faster or have felt greater chills than the crushing helplessness of being under the thumb of such a dominant species. I feel it is also the most realistic, if you personally buy into the more esoteric nature of humanity. That sentence is strange, but so is the book and I highly highly recommend it ✨
WHOA, WHOA. MIDDLE EARTH DIDN'T EXIST? WTF, DANIEL???
🤣
I have read War of the Worlds over and over again, it's wonderful and so influential. Look up 'Celebratewoking'-The Martian. The town has several sculptures relate to Wells's book. The place they land are to the bottom left (East) outside London and its suburbs.
thats west
I highly recommend the Orson Welles radio show to anyone who hasn’t heard it. Also holds up extremely well. Especially the first half of the show where it’s imitating news broadcasts. I listened to it last Halloween while delivering pizzas. It sounds like real news broadcasts from the 30s.
But it was less of a commentary on imperialism and more tapping into fears around the global tensions of the late-30s. There’s a mention of “war scare” that summer (May Crisis, I think).
Btw, don’t want to toot my own horn but I, a white kid from east Alabama, noticed the anti imperialist stuff back in High School.
Daniel saying cool around the two minute mark sounds like Steve from Minecraft
I need to actually get around to reading this someday
Mars brags they could conquer "earth" by radio or by long 3 legged barely ballanced craftsz ... they know the disease defence too
Have you read Blindsight by Peter Watts? I adore the book and while not an "alien invasion", it takes a cool, unique, and mostly well crafted concept on alien life that you might appreciate
I am curious about your bookshelf. I have seen a book professional (Dr. Lori) giving estimates on books. She kept saying that you should not put books standing up on a shelf. It keeps pressure on the spine leading to damage. It should be flat not standing up. So, I was curious about your thoughts on that? 😊
I've seen a few adaptations of this and have had the book on my shelf for a while. I haven't read it yet though, maybe soon.
you should read War of the Worlds plus Blood, Guts and Zombies. it had interesting little changes. did feel a bit much though.
fave sci-fi classic? anything by Jules Verne. Journey to the Centre of the Earth is gold
I was surprised by your comment that the sentences in the second half were too long, maybe I've just acclimatized myself to long sentences. They may be slightly longer than what popular authors nowadays usually reach for, but I enjoy reading a lot of nineteenth century fiction (and a LOT of H. G. Wells, I'm currently marathoning his books), and I guess my benchmark has been moved somewhat. I would say people like James Joyce and Marcel Proust have long sentences, H. G. Wells seems remarkably short and punchy to me, so when you said you thought the back end of the book was too long in its sentence structure it served as a reminder to me that different styles of writing exist, and the type of prose I've been reading of late isn't the only kind of writing in the world. I've found I'm less inclined to call a book "dated" because the style and prolixity that the author uses has gone out of favour, I usually just try to recontextualise for myself whom the original audience would have been and what their diction would have been like. I often find that fantasy books like LOTR and WoT try to recapture that prolixity that nineteenth century novelists like Walter Scott and Charles Dickens had because it acts as a kind of upholstery to the world that they've created; it's just that the vocabulary is more modern and as a result it's easier for us to get into - the tastes for long sentences haven't really changed at all.
You're completely right about the various expressions that would make a twenty-first century person go "YIKES", but looking back on it in retrospect it is very clear it's just the terminology that's fallen out of favour rather than what Wells is actually trying to say. Nowadays we all view race as a social construct, but in the Victorian era it was basically applied to mean anyone from a certain area of the globe, which is why the terminology raises eyebrows for us now I think. Looking into Wells himself he was one of the most remarkably progressive human beings of his time, and he must have done so much to get young minds thinking. He was George Orwell's favourite author as a kid, and there's a wonderful passage from Orwell that I just can't resist quoting:
"Thinking people who were born about the beginning of this century are in some sense Wells's own creation. How much influence any mere writer has, and especially a ‘popular’ writer whose work takes effect quickly, is questionable, but I doubt whether anyone who was writing books between 1900 and 1920, at any rate in the English language, influenced the young so much. The minds of all of us, and therefore the physical world, would be perceptibly different if Wells had never existed.... Society was ruled by narrow-minded, profoundly incurious people, predatory business men, dull squires, bishops, politicians who could quote Horace but had never heard of algebra. Science was faintly disreputable and religious belief obligatory. Traditionalism, stupidity, snobbishness, patriotism, superstition and love of war seemed to be all on the same side; there was need of someone who could state the opposite point of view. Back in the nineteen-hundreds it was a wonderful experience for a boy to discover H. G. Wells. There you were, in a world of pedants, clergymen and golfers, with your future employers exhorting you to ‘get on or get out,’ your parents systematically warping your sexual life, and your dull-witted schoolmasters sniggering over their Latin tags; and here was this wonderful man who could tell you about the inhabitants of the planets and the bottom of the sea, and who knew that the future was not going to be what respectable people imagined. A decade or so before aeroplanes were technically feasible Wells knew that within a little while men would be able to fly. He knew that because he himself wanted to be able to fly, and therefore felt sure that research in that direction would continue. On the other hand, even when I was a little boy, at a time when the Wright brothers had actually lifted their machine off the ground for fifty-nine seconds, the generally accepted opinion was that if God had meant us to fly He would have given us wings. Up to 1914 Wells was in the main a true prophet. In physical details his vision of the new world has been fulfilled to a surprising extent."
All of this is a very roundabout way of saying "great review Daniel, really enjoyed it." more classics reviews pls, luv you
Perfectly good well structured prose, written at a time when people did not expect everything sppon fed to them in bite sized chunks. Nothing abnormal or difficult about it. Surprisingly easy to read for its age.
Actually, this novel was written in a naturalistic and journalistic style, remarkably modern for the time.
What happens to the brother of the narrator? The brother has even some chapters but at the end we do not learnt what happens to him. Or did I miss something?
If you want to see what is probably the closest to the first ever sci-fi novel you should read the translation of a true story by Lucian. It's from the 2nd century and is a wild tale of space empires and alien races.
imagine seeds that bloom every thousand years .. is that what ended mars and venus before usz ?
I remember laughing out loud when the narrator throws rocks at children. Imagining that scene always makes me laugh
Something I realized. Since we're following a first person narrator from the time period the series is set, all the outdated technology the aliens use could just be his interpretation of the technology actually at play
Was expecting Chainsaw Man lol but love this! Also first?! I must beeee!
That’s tomorrow :)
Hey Daniel, I'm new to your channel and so far, for my money, you have to be the best fantasy reviewer I've come across so far. Very fair and level-headed reviews 👏
There are a few series which I'd be really interested to hear your takes on some time, those are 'The Empire Trilogy' by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist, 'A Land Fit For Heroes Trilogy' by Richard K Morgan, and 'The Acacia Trilogy' by David Anthony Durham. And in answer to your question, if it counts as classic, my favorite would be 'More Than Human' by Theodore Sturgeon.
2:03
I don't know homofloriensis is a hobbit if I've ever seen one
I had always assumed that his word choice at the beginning was taken from the perspective of a narrator who actually has (at least on a subconscious level) the attitudes of being a citizen raised to believe he was a part of a "superior civilisation". And that has deep down been convinced of other people in the world being inferior by comparison... even if (as the narrator is obviously highly educated) he is uncomfortable with how his country has behaved when dealing with them. Hence the word usage.
And while I also agree that the first section of the story is pretty darn epic, the middle "post-conquered" section is slower and more contemplative, and the last sections just can't hold up to either... but I liked that even the writing style of the weary and traumatised narrator after seeing too many "highs" of there being some possible hope being dashed repeatedly afterwards walking through an apocalyptic landscape is less sharp and coherent. In the beginning he was noticing everything as if he was collecting as much data as he could like he was planning to write a story about it later... but as he continues on, such ideas of their being "an after" are gradually worn down into meaninglessness.
At a certain point in the story it shows that even in his mind he is broken and scattered, his journalistic way of perceiving these events has broken down to being less anatomical and more emotional and messy. Until near the end he finally breaks and becomes suicidal. The extreme details seen in the very beginning are gradually broken down more and more throughout until they are scarce and finally lost altogether, because only the emotion of how he feels is left.
I might be reading too much into it, but that is how I always saw it. Admittedly I have not read it in about 20 years. Perhaps I should give it another look. Perhaps my opinion will change.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the achilliad and the oddysey one day!
The story starts just a little to the west of London.
As a kid, I was completely fixated on War of the Worlds. The book, the musical, the radio drama (which we had the record of), and later on even the Spielberg movie.
It is a flawed masterpiece, but it is fun.
I remember rereading it last year and putting myself as the narrator (and it's funny that the narrator is looking for his wife because I am admittedly bi. Sooooo accidental LGBTQ representation? Haha kidding kidding!) and noticing the things as well as you said. But also noticed the things that didn't age well.