3.0
The Massacre of Mankind
ByPublisher Description
A sequel to the H.G. Wells classic THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, brilliantly realized by award-winning SF author and Wells expert Stephen Baxter
It has been fourteen years since the Martian invasion. Humanity has moved on, always watching the skies but confident that we know how to defeat the alien menace. The Martians are vulnerable to Earth germs. The army is prepared. Our technology has taken great leaps forward, thanks to machinery looted from abandoned war-machines and capsules.
So when the signs of launches on Mars are seen, there seems little reason to worry. Unless you listen to one man, Walter Jenkins, the narrator of Wells’ book. He is sure that the first incursion was merely a scouting mission, a precursor to the true attack—and that the Martians have learned from their defeat, adapted their methods, and now pose a greater threat than ever before.
He is right.
Thrust into the chaos of a new worldwide invasion, journalist Julie Elphinstone—sister in law to Walter Jenkins—struggles to survive the war, report on it, and plan a desperate effort that will be humanity’s last chance at survival. Because the massacre of mankind has begun.
Echoing the style and form of the original while extrapolating from its events in ingenious, unexpected fashion again and again, The Massacre of Mankind is a labor of love from one of the genre’s most praised talents—at once a truly fitting tribute to a classic and brainy, page-turning fun for any science-fiction fan.
It has been fourteen years since the Martian invasion. Humanity has moved on, always watching the skies but confident that we know how to defeat the alien menace. The Martians are vulnerable to Earth germs. The army is prepared. Our technology has taken great leaps forward, thanks to machinery looted from abandoned war-machines and capsules.
So when the signs of launches on Mars are seen, there seems little reason to worry. Unless you listen to one man, Walter Jenkins, the narrator of Wells’ book. He is sure that the first incursion was merely a scouting mission, a precursor to the true attack—and that the Martians have learned from their defeat, adapted their methods, and now pose a greater threat than ever before.
He is right.
Thrust into the chaos of a new worldwide invasion, journalist Julie Elphinstone—sister in law to Walter Jenkins—struggles to survive the war, report on it, and plan a desperate effort that will be humanity’s last chance at survival. Because the massacre of mankind has begun.
Echoing the style and form of the original while extrapolating from its events in ingenious, unexpected fashion again and again, The Massacre of Mankind is a labor of love from one of the genre’s most praised talents—at once a truly fitting tribute to a classic and brainy, page-turning fun for any science-fiction fan.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Massacre of Mankind Reviews
3.0
Greg West
Created 2 days agoShare
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BelievableChange and growLikeableMemorableMorally ambiguousMultilayeredStrong relationshipsStrong villainAction-packedAddictiveEpic scopeFast-pacedGripping/excitingSlow start, strong finishAtmosphericBeautifulGrittyHistoricalImmersive world-buildingInnovativeBeautifully-writtenFunnyOriginalStraightforward
Strange Times
Created 3 months agoShare
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“Stephen Baxter - The Massacre of Mankind
Set 13 years after the original HG Wells brilliant novel ‘The War of the Worlds’ we have this really average but fully authorised sequel… in other words what happened next…
The history of the world has changed irrevocably… Germany wins the war… and the Martians are back and this time it is dull.
Baxter is a famous and very well renowned science fiction author… by some… but oh dear this is drab… filled with totally forgettable characters and set pieces that just aren’t interesting.
So so poor…”
sisi :)
Created 4 months agoShare
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“While the imagery and world-building in this novel were very much reminiscent of the original, The War of the Worlds, I found that the author often tied in real life historical figures for little reason, all the while including scenes that added little to the overall storyline (my biggest issue being with the extensive storyline in America, which I found largely an unnecessary addition, equipped with boring characters that readers are expected to care about hundreds of pages after their last mention. I found the short interlude into ‘Luke Smith’’s life in Australia enough to demonstrate how the Martians were invading the entire world. Additionally, it is Julie (in England) who ultimately signals to the Jovians, warding off the Martians. So ultimately, what did we gain from seeing the Americans in awe at the rubble of major cities in the U.S after lengthy descriptions of the same destruction befalling London?).
Still, I enjoyed the world building established, which I feel plausibly continued Wells’ original story well. In addition, I felt that Julie, the main character, was at times quite unlikeable. Though she, compared to the men around her, is portrayed as being mote sympathetic to those enslaved to people/aliens in power, many of her interactions with disadvantaged individuals are tinged with a real level of disdain (the most prominent example I can think of is when she mentally chastises a mother for wanting her child to be seen to by a medical professional. I don’t know whether it’s simply a function of the writing style, but her prioritisation of the war effort ultimately seems to condemn the women mentioned for wanting aid in times of war.)
Ultimately, while the core of the story is interesting. there are large sections of the book which are irrelevant.”
carlthulhu
Created 8 months agoShare
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About Stephen Baxter
STEPHEN BAXTER is one of the UK's most acclaimed writers of science fiction. His many books include the Long Earth novels (written with Terry Pratchett), the Time's Odyssey novels (written with Arthur C. Clarke), the epic, far-future novels Proxima and Ultima, and Time Ships, a sequel to H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. His work has received the Locus Award, the Philip K Dick Award, The British Science Fiction Award, and the John W. Campbell Award, and has been nominated numerous times for the Clarke and Hugo Awards. He lives in Northumberland.
Other books by Stephen Baxter
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