Book Review: "The Martian War" by Kevin J. Anderson

- by Señor Editor, 13 October 2012

What if H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" wasn't just something the author made up? What if the Martian invasion was a real threat and Wells found out about it? If you're looking for an answer for these questions then fear not. Kevin J. Anderson's "The Martian War" (published by Titan Books this September) is a book that explores that exact "what if...?" scenario. Is the author's interesting take on Wells' classic story worth picking up? Enough with the questions already, let's check it out!

First off, let me just say that I'm not exactly a big fan of "The War of the Worlds." I'm well aware of it's influence on literature and popculture, of the Orson Welles radio drama and the mass hysteria it caused, the movies... all of that. It's a work that everybody knows, but I don't count it among my favorite stories of all time. So when I received a review copy of "Martian War", I was hoping Anderson offers a fresh enough take on the subject to keep me interested regardless of my feelings on Wells' classic.

What's present from Wells' book is the XIX century, early sci-fi atmosphere and the Martians' plans of invading Earth. The protagonist of the "The Martian War" is Wells himself, and he's joined by both historical figures, and characters from his other books.

So we got Wells, his fiancee  Jane, the famous English biologist and darwinist Thomas Henry Huxley, the astronomer Percival Lowell aaaaand... Dr. Moreau and Hawley Griffin - The Invisible Man! Now that's pretty cool, isn't it? Here, I made a graphic of the main characters so you can just take it all in:

Go Team Earth! Go Marlon Brando! Ok, maybe that's not exactly how they're all portrayed in the book, but you get the point. (from left: Wells, Huxley, Lowell, Moreau & the Invisible Man)

Sorry, didn't have a photo of Jane.

So that's pretty cool, and very much in a Wold Newton vein (that's a plus). Wells is the main character, but the book also has chapters where Moreau is our narrator (excerpts from his journal). I'd hate to reveal what each of these characters' role in the story is, so I just won't. It's better to keep it a surprise, but I'll let you know that Anderson really does a great job of integrating all those fictional & real life characters into his story. Because it really is HIS story.

Anderson may take a lot from H.G. Wells' work, but he takes it all into a completely new direction. Gone is the philosophical message that Wells' book featured, but we get a lot of really good, early science-fiction & pulp style action. And it makes sense because the events of "The Martian War" were supposed to inspire Wells to write his book as a warning of the threats that lurk in space.

And we do get to see a lot of space in this novel. It's not just all happening on Earth. We see Mars and we see the Moon, and Anderson (probably because he has a lot of experience with writing fiction set in space) really shines in those parts. His descriptions of alien cities, flora and fauna, and especially the Martians themselves, are among the most interesting things in this book. There's a lot of... interaction between Moreau and a Martian, and those chapters are actually far more interesting than the ones about Wells. Moreau is cool as usual!

This brings me to one thing I didn't enjoy about the book - some of the characters seem quite flat. Granted, this happens a lot in pulp fiction, and it's not always a bad thing there, but I had the feeling that H.G. Wells is often a pretty boring protagonist. Almost everybody else is more interesting (especially Moreau, Huxley and Jane), and that can be a problem sometimes, because I'd like to root for the main character. As it is, the only reason I rooted for Wells, was because the Martians are really well written as antagonists. They're as alien as can be, more evolved and powerful than the Earthmen, and they'll stop at nothing to show the humans how inferior we are.

If you're a fan of Wells' prose, you'll probably be in heaven, seeing how his work and characters are used in "The Martian War". It's obvious Kevin Anderson has a lot of respect for H.G. Wells, and while his book takes things in a different direction entirely, it's makes good use of the themes and atmosphere of Wells' body of work. If you're not really a "War of the Worlds" fan, you still might find this book quite entertaining. It's a well-written, fast-paced adventure. It has it's roots in early (and very well known) sci-fi stories, but Anderson manages to turn that into a real asset and keep things fresh and enjoyable.

Tagged: books, Reviews.

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