This was an American sequel to H G Wells' War of the Worlds, or to be more precise a sequel to an unauthorised American version of the novel, with the action transferred from suburban London to Boston, Massachusetts. This sequel was also published in 1898 soon after Wells' novel. In fear of a second Martian invasion, and having studied Martian technology from the wreckage of the first invasion, the nations of the world come together under US leadership (with scarcely any objections!) to send an expedition to Mars to stop a recurrence. The mission is led by none other than the inventor Thomas Edison, with participation of other scientists such as Lord Kelvin. So far, this description comes across as more Jules Verne than H G Wells. The author was a journalist with scientific training, so the science in it is, for the most part, very accurate, at least according to the state of knowledge of the time, and this is also apparently the first SF novel to depict men in space suits and an interplanetary battle between fleets of spaceships. Mars here, though, possesses the watery canals that it was believed to possess at the time, and the Martians themselves are giant humanoids whose appearance, according to the illustrations, owe more to fantasy than Wells' vision. Serviss is quite a good descriptive writer, though there is far too much showing rather than telling of the most potentially dramatic action. He is no H G Wells. So overall 3/5 ( )

Red-blooded Victorian pulp sci-fi — that's how I would label this 1898 tale of interplanetary imperialism that sought to capitalize on the popularity of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds by imagining a Yankee-led counterstroke against the wicked Martians. Electricity is the do-it-all technology in this scenario, and Thomas Edison is the can-do wizard who dominates the story. In a matter of weeks Edison perfects electric spaceships and disintegrator guns that can outdo anything the Martians have, and soon the cream of the world's scientists are off on a combined scientific expedition and war to annihilate alien savages. (Edward Said fans, take note.) Serviss, an astronomer and science popularizer who came of age just after the American Civil War, combines his optimistic scientism with pseudo-science (alien pyramid builders, physiognomy as a guide to psychology), sentimentality (an earthling damsel in Martian distress), and white supremacy (inviting the reader to celebrate the "Aryan" racial qualities of a happy couple formed by the adventure). Since the author's death in 1929 the story has been anthologized and reprinted, usually after heavy abridgement of some of the more self-indulgent or embarrassingly racist passages.

A historical curiousity, that ought to be read on that basis. It was influential in the genre, even more so when you consider that a young Robert Goddard was inspired by both War of the Worlds and its 'sequel', reading a copy of the latter as late as 1929. Not a great book, certainly; but read and taken in context, one that has some merits. ( )

Despite the subtitle 'the sequel to H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds' the two novels couldn't be more different! While Wells's martians were mere round bodies with no arms or legs-quite repulsive, Serviss describes them as giant humanoids with larger heads. Also his Mars is a watery place not much different to Earth rather than the dry barren world of the former book. Despite such differences and a certain naivete it made for a good read with decent science (Serviss was a renowed astronomer and scientist). ( )

When you consider when this was written it is just incredible. Spaceships, spacesuits, lasers etc. Great fun, if not a little tub-thumping. No relation to the War of the Worlds, mind, but a fantastically readable adventure all the same. ( )