H. G. Wells’ classic alien invasion tale, The War of the Worlds, is one of science fiction’s most important novels. 

When massive, intelligent aliens from Mars touch down in England and threaten to destroy the civilized world, humanity’s vaunted knowledge proves to be of little use. Humans are unprepared when an armada of warring Martians land in southeast England, close to London. The Martians use huge three-legged fighting machines armed with deadly heat rays. Humans eventually mount a jumbled defense against what appears to be an implacable and unbeatable enemy.

The narrative opens by stating that as humans on Earth busied themselves with their own endeavours during the mid-1890s, aliens on Mars began plotting an invasion of Earth because their own resources are dwindling. The Narrator (who is unnamed throughout the novel) is invited to an astronomical observatory at Ottershaw where explosions are seen on the surface of the planet Mars, creating much interest in the scientific community.