The War of the Worlds
Penguin Classics
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The War of the Worlds
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Narrated by:
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David Harewood
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By:
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H. G. Wells
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Shortlisted for the Best Solo Narration Award at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2020.
This Penguin Classic is performed by the critically acclaimed actor David Harewood, one of the stars of the television series Homeland. Harewood is also known for his roles in award-winning productions The Night Manager and Blood Diamond. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Brian Aldiss' read by Roy McMillan.
The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. At first, naïve locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag - only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat-ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilisation is under threat, as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays, and feast on the warm blood of trapped, still-living human prey. The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear.
The War of the Worlds has been the subject of countless adaptations, including an Orson Welles radio drama which caused mass panic when it was broadcast, with listeners confusing it for a news broadcast heralding alien invasion; a musical version by Jeff Wayne; and, most recently, Steven Spielberg's 2005 film version, starring Tom Cruise.
H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was a professional writer and journalist. Among his most popular works are The Time Machine (1895); The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), filmed with Bela Lugosi in 1932, and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando; The Invisible Man (1897); The War of the Worlds (1898); and The First Men in the Moon (1901), which predicted the first lunar landings.
What listeners say about The War of the Worlds
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steve
- 20-02-2020
Riveting classic well read
I've always found the adaptations of this novel enchanting, especially Jeff Wayne's album, but hadn't read the original. I found this really compelling, vivid and evocative. Some of the action scenes are written like a really good film treatment. The narrator is excellent.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- blake stubbo
- 09-06-2021
Nail biting intensity mixed with a iconic story.
I would recommend this to any whom enjoy Sci-Fi, thrills and a sense of curiosity.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ian Andrew Mulcahy
- 02-02-2022
Outstanding story
Still one of the very best Sci-Fi stories ever written, it brings a detail and tense story to life.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 28-07-2021
terrible voice .
terrible voice . could hardly understand or keep interested. boring. slow . bad mixing maybe
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-05-2023
Yawn
I think we can appreciate that the book is over 100 years old and that the style of literature was written differently back in the day. However, I found that everything is over-described in ways that didn't need to be and under described when it's important to do so, for example... I have no idea what the martians look like, I just know that they are in the book. * just get to the damn point*
I personally am not sure if I struggled with the story or the narrator. Either way, I found it really frustrating to listen to because I just couldn't be engaged at all and quit half way though.
My partner said that they used to play this on the radio, and had paid voice actors. Naturally it makes everything more interesting and I would recommend that over this.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marija Radovska
- 13-08-2021
Thoroughly frustrating narration.
Lovely voice, but utterly disjointed performance. Excessive breaks in the normal flow of speech; you think a sentence has finished, then he keeps going. Thoroughly frustrating and difficult to listen to, to the point that it detracted so much from the experience of the story, that I had to stop. Couldn't finish it. if there is another version of this available, opt for that one.
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1 person found this helpful