The War of the Worlds (Macmillan Collector's Library)

Great book! Fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was hard to put it down. So much better than the movies.

I can't describe how much I enjoyed this book, so beautifully written and a magnificent page turner. I thought I knew the story after seeing a couple of films, then the recent BBC series that so disappointed I thought I would finally read the original story, and it was thoroughly worth it. Why oh why has someone not made a faithful film or tv series ? The story stands on its own, full of suspense and horror, told just as it is.

The writing style will be unfashionable to some, but the narrative is racy. The reader barely has a chance to draw breath as our hero staggers through the storyline under attack by the invaders. So much detail from beginning to end, never a flat spot. Why the bbc had to make up a new, second class, story, I fail to understand.

I read this after watching the most recent bbc adaptation and feeling rather underwhelmed as it seemed very superficial. Reading the book was a creepy unnerving treat focussing more on how it felt at the time and real peoples stories - sublime!

I had read this classic 'science fiction' story years and years ago.*The Macmillan Collector's series of books are absolute gems, at a very reasonable price. Almost pocket sized, with beautiful binding. A really clever piece of marketing for book lovers.

I read this book again to remind me of its' excellence, having first read it about 50 years ago. I was prompted by the current BBC TV adaptation which bore little of the original.