126 pages
Spanish language
Published Nov. 19, 2012 by Ediciones MAAN S.A. de C.V..
La guerra de los mundos, publicada por primera vez en 1898, narra por primera vez en la historia de la literatura un tema que será recurrente desde entonces y originará todo un subgénero dentro de la ciencia ficción: la invasión hostil de la Tierra por extraterrestres procedentes de Marte, recibidos por una humanidad ingenua que tendrá que organizarse para impedir una destrucción masiva del planeta. A través de esta fábula en la que las descripciones científicas, las premoniciones sobre el futuro de la tecnología y los entresijos de la política ocupan un lugar central, H.G. Wells nos habla sobre la vanidad y la seguridad ficticia de una humanidad autosatifecha, y los peligros que acechan su supervivencia.
When a Martian spacecraft lands on Woking Common, mankind is terrorized by aliens in tall, armored capsules which stalk the countryside on three legs. The machines wreak havoc on London and the Southern Counties, …
La guerra de los mundos, publicada por primera vez en 1898, narra por primera vez en la historia de la literatura un tema que será recurrente desde entonces y originará todo un subgénero dentro de la ciencia ficción: la invasión hostil de la Tierra por extraterrestres procedentes de Marte, recibidos por una humanidad ingenua que tendrá que organizarse para impedir una destrucción masiva del planeta. A través de esta fábula en la que las descripciones científicas, las premoniciones sobre el futuro de la tecnología y los entresijos de la política ocupan un lugar central, H.G. Wells nos habla sobre la vanidad y la seguridad ficticia de una humanidad autosatifecha, y los peligros que acechan su supervivencia.
When a Martian spacecraft lands on Woking Common, mankind is terrorized by aliens in tall, armored capsules which stalk the countryside on three legs. The machines wreak havoc on London and the Southern Counties, and survivors are driven underground. Scientist John Nicholson tells how he was plunged into a paralyzing nightmare of stark terror, savage madness and utter destruction.
Starts well and the pacing is fine, then suddenly the plot is rapidly wound up in the last 10 pages with no proper explanation. Struggling to see how this is a classic for any reason other than the fact that it was an early SciFi novel - it is certainly not a literary masterpiece.
This is one of the few genuine classics of science fiction. (Classics are at least 100 years old in my view.) The earliest novel of extra-terrestrial invasion that I am aware of, and surely the most famous ever written, it has a high reputation to live up to.
1898 and missiles from Mars arrive - friendly overtures by humans are rebuffed with a Heat-Ray and war such as had never been seen before erupts.
The novel starts famously and brilliantly, "No-one would have believed in the last years of the Nineteenth Century...." Indeed the novel appears to be something of a warning against the sin of hubris. Humanity complacently assumes that nothing can threaten its dominance of the home planet; the Martians believe nothing can conquer their technological might.
Wells describes mechanised, industrial warfare before such a thing had been seen - chemical warfare, something akin to a maser (long …
This is one of the few genuine classics of science fiction. (Classics are at least 100 years old in my view.) The earliest novel of extra-terrestrial invasion that I am aware of, and surely the most famous ever written, it has a high reputation to live up to.
1898 and missiles from Mars arrive - friendly overtures by humans are rebuffed with a Heat-Ray and war such as had never been seen before erupts.
The novel starts famously and brilliantly, "No-one would have believed in the last years of the Nineteenth Century...." Indeed the novel appears to be something of a warning against the sin of hubris. Humanity complacently assumes that nothing can threaten its dominance of the home planet; the Martians believe nothing can conquer their technological might.
Wells describes mechanised, industrial warfare before such a thing had been seen - chemical warfare, something akin to a maser (long before the quantum mechanics has developed sufficiently to predict the phenomenon), mechanised flight and armoured personel carriers.
His descriptions of battle are vivid but even more impressive is his description of the consequences - mass panic and flight and associated horrors.
Being a genuine science fiction writer, Wells cannot help but to describe his Martians and the workings of their machines in great detail but these are in fact the weakest passages, being more or less bolted on rather than arising naturally from the narrative.
Certainly this book is worthy of its reputation and it deserves to be read by all who know the rough outline of the story from film, radio or record.
