This book has H.G Wells as the main character, talking in first person, so instead I will talk about The Curate, a significant character in this book.
The Curate is first mentioned in the start of the separation of the narrator and his wife, and he is a generally insane man who was stranded with the narrator on the side of the river. He believes that the Martians coming means the Apocalypse and the return of Jesus.
This a deep more classic book, and this set the foundations for Science Fiction, influencing countless books and movies.
At the start of the book, the narrator mets Ogilvy who takes him to the observatory to see strange green flashes from Mars. Later while walking with his wife, he sees red flashes coming from Mars. The next day he sees a very large cylinder fall from Mars to a few miles from his house. Inside are the Martians.
People crowd around it and see blob like things come out, carrying and metal box with them. The Martians then use their Heat-Ray to Vaporize everyone, killed almost the entire crowd. The Narrator then runs back home to tell his wife of what happened. The two decide to go to Leather Head where their cousins live. On the way they part and the Narrator sees a large tripod like machine heading toward him. he manages to escape but heads back to his house.
Then, a Artilleryman goes to the Narrator and they talk for a while about the recent news. They both decide to go London ward for the artilleryman’s battery, and when they make it they both convince the general that the Martians are coming. When they make it to the Thames, 4 Martians attack and nearly kill the surrounding people using the deadly Heat Ray, but they survive by jumping into the water. The Narrator, scalded, floats down the river until he meets the Curate.
After this section, the main character switches to the Narrator’s brother and his story:
At first the brother only hears of rumours of the Martians, and the people scoff at such ludicrous tales, but a few days later, Martians were spotted in London. The Brother collects his money and goes to a train station, but the trains had a accident and the Brother had to go on foot. On the way he finds 2 women being robbed by ,well, robbers.
Being a good guy, he helps the women and they head together on a carriage, and they eventually get to a lake, where they get on a ferry. But the Martians attack the ferry and a ironclad called “Thunder Child” kills 2 Martians freeing the ferry.
Now, something interesting you can take from this is that no one believed that the Martians were there, they were too complacent and something like that is so unordinary, that the people could not believe such a thing. You will see later this recurring over again in Part 2.
Stay Reading!
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