novels of the second period Wells combines the criticism o f soci
ety as a whole with the life o f an individual. Thus Wells keeps up
the traditions o f the Critical Realism in the English novel.
“The War ofthe World’s” is H.G. Wells’ fourth science fiction
novel. It was published in 1897. The events in the novel
supposedly take place at the beginning o f the 20th century in
London and its suburbs. The story of the war is told by a professor.
He says that he was writing an article, when the first cylinder
from Mars came down like a falling star onto the southern part of
Britain. The inhabitants of the place were attracted by the unusual
phenomena and watched the cylinder open. They saw a Martian
came out, then another and another. Their bulky bodies, the size
o f a bear, moved very clumsily, because the gravity of the Earth
had increased their weight three times. The public did not
understand the danger until the Martians used their heat-ray,
killing many people and burning down houses and woods.
The government decided to fight the Martians. When the
second cylinder landed, government troops arrived. They hoped
to destroy it by gun-fire before it opened. But the gun-fire was
nothing for Martians. Eight more cylinders came down from Mars
one after another. The Martians had monstrous fighting machines.
These machines moved over the ground smashing everything on
their way.
When the fifth cylinder landed, the people were already in a
state o f panic. The Martian fighting machines advanced on
London, and in a few days Society, the State and Civilization
disappeared. The people were frightened and became violent.
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