The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

So we had a very tight poll this month. Only on the last day was there a winner, War of the Worlds pulled ahead by one vote. Tied with it until the last day was The Time Machine and a collection of short stories. A lot of people here have already ready some works of Wells recently and I invite any of you whom have read the War of the Worlds to pick up one of Mr. Wells other works and discuss it here.

Nice! I haven't read this one yet, am looking forward to it.

I read this a long time ago; must be time for a re-read. I think I'll also listen to the Orson Welles radio performance, that's such fun! I noticed there is a new one with Leonard Nimoy that I haven't heard, too ... should be a fun listen as well. :)

I'm really looking forward to starting this book up as well. I've been wanting to read this book for a while. A personal favourite adaptation is Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. It's an amazing concept album made in the late 70's featuring a fusion of funk, rock, disco, electronica and spoken word.

Dan ~ Omgosh, I hadn't heard of that! I just looked it up and am planning a listen later, thank you so much for mentioning it! :)

Definitely sounds like a cool one Dan.

And the first october right??? I'M READY!!!
It's on top of my next to bed book shelf. :D

I'm listening to "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" right now.

I first read War of the Worlds in junior high, and a few times since. I first came across the Jeff Wayne while going through radio stations on a 5 hour long night drive. It's an experience listening to it in the dark in the middle of nowhere. I've heard it a few times since.

I will hopefully by cracking into this book when I get home from work today.

I am really enjoying this book, I've read the first ten chapters now. I really like the way it is written so as to bring a tension to the story. The narration really helps this especially as everything is described in such a dispassionate/factual way, it's very British. Prefer this to Jules Verne last month and am eager to continue.

I am nearing the end of the book. Partway through it occurred to me that modern chemical warfare began in the First World War. I wondered how much inspiration for that was derived from reading H.G. Wells' description of the "black cloud"?

I do see that it wasn't invented during WWI (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/na...) but it was either revived or put to large scale use during that war.

We read this a couple of months ago in the Classic Trash group I moderate, and I loved it. I really appreciated the use of what was - at the time - the most current science. (view spoiler)[ The fact that germs are what destroy the aliens was cutting edge at the time. (hide spoiler)] I also really enjoyed that the protagonist was not a "hero" battling single-handedly to destroy the alien horde. He's just a guy trying to survive and the events take shape around him.

I agree with Jo this was much more enjoyable than Verne's. So much so that I have read through some of his short stories and I have to say that some of the non-fiction short stories are excellent. (The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories, If you're interested)
While not as technical as Verne I find Wells' stories more engaging and exhibiting a human element that I find to be lacking in Verne. The travels, trials and experiences of our narrator is what really makes this story shine.

I had always more or less equated Jules Verne and H. G. Wells and even had some confusion as to which book had been written by whom. I read Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and more recently our group read of Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. I read H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds in October last year.

The nineteenth century phrasing of the the two authors is somewhat similar, though I found Verne to be more formal sounding and stilted. The War of the Worlds is quite readable and enjoyable. I found Wells to be by far the more engaging author. Since I read The War of the Worlds a year ago, I elected to read The Time Machine to satisfy our group read this month, but I have just now cracked it open while I am in the midst of reading two other books. It's doubtful I'll finish it before the end of the month.

The comparison of Wells and Verne is interesting to me, since until recently their personae had hardly been distinguishable to me. So far, I think I like Wells' writing style better than Verne's, although I liked From the Earth to the Moon much better than Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Soon I'll see how the two Wells books compare.

So now, I have finished The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, my substitute for our October Group read. I found it every bit as good as The War of the Worlds. It is a fantasy adventure, really. In the beginning there is a discussion of time, our concept of time, and the idea of time being the fourth dimension, and whether we can move in the four dimension as we do in the other three. Beyond that, there is little science, but the time traveler's adventure 800,000 years in the future and his return to tell his tale to non-believers.