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In THE MARTIAN WAR, Gabriel Mesta writes the true story behind HG Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS. Mesta takes the premise that Wells did in fact see the invasion of a world by Martians and uses this idea to tell the story of how Wells and his friends prevent the destruction of Earth. When the book opens, Wells is living with his girlfriend, Jane. Jane is in fact not her real name but the name he feels is most appropriate for her. They are not married to each other - Wells is still married to his first wife - but they are attempting to live in Victorian society as man and wife. His old school teacher Dr TH Huxley calls upon Wells for assistance. Huxley is working on a secret committee trying to protect England from a war with Germany. He believes that Wells could be of use to the cause. At the long-awaited symposium, Dr Moreau interrupts the proceedings with a strange announcement. He believes that England's biggest threat is not the Germans but in fact the Martians. To back up his claims, he has an alien corpse to display! This changes the situation radically. While some doubt Dr Moreau's claim, Huxley, Wells and Jane fear that his claim is true. The three of them must race to find a way to prevent the upcoming invasion and the destruction of their home. While I have read WAR OF THE WORLDS, I do not remember that much about the various situations and descriptions. The Martian attack is, obviously, the one element that remains clear in my mind. For this reason, it is difficult for me to tell which elements of THE MARTIAN WAR Mesta created and which elements he took from Wells. Obviously the use of Dr Moreau, the Men in the Moon and the Invisible Man, to name but a few, are characters that appear in other Wells stories. Nevertheless, there are other characters, ideas and descriptions that I am not sure if they are appropriated or if they are from Mesta's own imagination. Regardless of which elements Mesta created on his own and which plot devices he 'borrowed' from Wells' works, Mesta does a good job of interweaving these various elements into one cohesive and interesting story. This ability to combine pre-existing characters and descriptions into a single narrative is admirable and takes real talent. For this reason alone, all science fiction and thriller fans should read THE MARTIAN WAR. Gabriel Mesta is the nom de plume of Kevin J Anderson. He has published numerous books including Star Wars and X-Files books, but this is the first book published under this pen name.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, June 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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