Synopsis
In an anthology of tales inspired by Wells's The War of the Worlds, notable science fiction authors--such as Connie Willis, Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg, and Gregory Benford--imagine the Martian invasion seen through the eyes of his contemporaries in other locations throughout the world.
Reviews
Martians! Percival Lowell may have been responsible for bringing them to Earth; Teddy Roosevelt evidently bagged one in Cuba; H.P. Lovecraft may have been one; and both Albert Einstein and Emily Dickinson seem to have played a role in defeating them. In this collection of stories that complement H.G. Wells's classic novel, these and other speculations are entertained by such well-known SF writers as Mike Resnick, Walter Jon Williams, Robert Silverberg, Connie Willis, Barbara Hambly, Gregory Benford and David Brin. One entry, Howard Waldrop's "Night of the Cooters," which concerns Martians and Texas Rangers, is a reprint. The 18 originals center on the reactions of various historical personages to the advent of Wells's invaders, including Picasso, Henry James, Winston Churchill, H. Rider Haggard, China's Dowager Empress, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Leo Tolstoy, Jules Verne, Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad. Anderson (Climbing Olympus, 1994) has brought together some solid stories here. But since the overarching plot line apes the Wells, variety and suspense take a back seat. The more successful pieces, then, are those like Waldrop's, or Willis's tale of Emily Dickinson's posthumous heroics, which parody the Wellsian universe. Overall, however, this is a far more literate and imaginative tracing of a Martian invasion than the one offered in Martian Deathtrap, reviewed below.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Leading sf authors Roert Silverberg, Barbara Hambly, Allen Steele, Gergory Benford, Connie Willis, and 14 others imagine H.G. Wells's Martian invasion from points around the world as written by notable 19th-century authors and personages such as Teddy Roosevelt, Picasso, Einstein, Tolstoy, Verne, and Mark Twain. The pieces were all commissioned for this anthology except Howard Waldrop's Night of the Cooters, in which the Martians face the formidable Texas Rangers. A rollicking good compilation, especially Willis's hilarious Emily Dickinson. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Editor Anderson has written several battle-driven Star Wars novels and seems ideally suited to oversee this unusual collection. With H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds as a point of departure, 19 stories commissioned for this volume report on the turn-of-the-century Martian invasion of Wells' tale as it is observed by famous persons throughout the world. Here is Teddy Roosevelt's journal recounting his hunting prowess against the alien invaders. A very young Pablo Picasso discovers singular artistic inspiration from witnessing the Martian menace in Paris. Jules Verne gives his own account of the invaders' final demise in his native France. Even Albert Einstein has a close encounter, using mathematical guile to foil one Martian's plans. The authors impersonating figures as diverse as Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, and even Emily Dickinson (despite the fact that she died 11 years before the Martians landed) include some of sf's best, from Robert Silverberg and Allen Steele to Gregory Benford and David Brin. A delightful, entertaining companion to Wells' classic. Carl Hays
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