This sequel to H.G. Wells’ 1897 classic The War of the Worlds will soon be released in the US by Crown, a division of Penguin Random House. I received a kindle format ebook at no cost, prior to release, in return for publishing an honest review.

I’ve previously read a great deal of Stephen Baxter’s work, and while I don’t love everything he writes, I do consider myself a fan of his hard-sf style. He has previously written a sequel to H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine entitled The Time Ships, that was very successful and that I recommend. The War of the Worlds was a very important book in the history of science fiction, and the fact that this sequel is authorized by the H.G. Wells Estate does speak highly.

One departure from H.G. Wells, is that Baxter names all the characters. Both the narrator and the narrator’s brother are unnamed in The War of the Worlds. But we now know they were Walter and Frank Jenkins. The POV character of The Massacre of Mankind is a minor figure in the original novel who was actually named (the young Miss Elphinstone). She is now Julie Jenkins (nee Elphinstone), aspiring journalist and ex-wife of Frank Jenkins. Apparently, the encounter between the two of them mentioned in The War of the Worlds, has led to a failed marriage. Likewise, Walter Jenkins is now divorced from the wife he essentially abandoned during the Martian invasion of SE England. These personal life developments, and a few others, are quite reasonable speculations based on what happened to the characters in the original novel.

The setting starts in the 1920 English countryside, not too far from the site of the earlier Martian landing. It is essentially an alternate history, in which the 1907 Martian invasion is popularly known through the published narrative of Walter Jenkins (which is of course, the text we know as H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds). That conflict is now known as The Martian War of 1907. Since there has been no First and Second World War as we know them, the term “first war” has become a reference to the Martian War. However, by 1920, Germany has come to dominate central Europe with the tacit consent of England, and a protracted German/Russian War is taking place. There are occasional references to other events from our own world, particularly concerning cultural events such as the 1938 radio broadcast version of The War of the Worlds, but they are incidental to the world-building, and I think a wink from Stephen Baxter for the amusement of the reader.

Also, the astrophysics of this universe is consistent with knowledge and theories of 1900, and not our current understandings. It is taken as real that planets further out from the sun are older, and have more advanced inhabitants. The conflict between Earth and Mars is therefore extended with consistent speculations regarding Jupiter and Venus.

The Martians have learned from their vulnerabilities of the first war, and seem far better prepared this time. From their perspective, the whole first war was merely a scouting expedition. Of course, the national leaders of Earth have become complacent with unreasonable faith in their ability to defeat the Martians in the same way. This invasion goes much faster, and is not limited to a single site. One complaint I have is that Baxter repetitively describes the same sequence of events through the eyes of new POV characters at each of the invasion sites. As you remember, the resolution of the first war was accomplished deus ex machina, by having all the Martian invaders die unexpectedly of an Earthly virus. This next resolution is also somewhat abrupt, but only after two full years of Martian occupation. During the occupation, Baxter draws parallels and makes commentary on British Imperialism, which is consistent with H.G. Wells’ own perspectives. And this resolution comes about through the insights of some main characters, rather than sheer accident, so is more satisfying – even while leaving new ambiguities for the future.

H.G. Wells himself is mentioned as the author of the “The Year Million Man”, a work which brought him some of his initial fame. In an afterward, Stephen Baxter identifies some of the scholarly works to which he referred, while creating this smart and authentic sequel. It is a major accomplishment which honors the original, and I highly recommend it.

I'm a fan of Stephen Baxter and Wells' 'War of the Worlds', and I'm glad to say this book does not disappoint. Continuing the story of England's recovery from the original Martian attack and preparation for another possible attack, 'Massacre of Mankind' follows a logical, thoughtful path. How would England and the world react to access to the advanced technology of the Martians? What effect would the first War have on England's identity and desire for self-preservation? Baxter deftly explores these ideas and maintains a thrilling story at the same time. Great addition to Baxter's works.

The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I felt trepidation before beginning this because I kept seeing unfavorable reviews, but fortunately, I thought it was pretty awesome after finishing. I might have a bit of an issue with the end, and I think that's where most people are complaining, but it wasn't as bad as all that.

I remembered that the original The War of the Worlds was written as an account, a narrative, and as such, there's generally no good wrap-ups unless forced... and that's true for reality, too.

That's the bad... but Now for the great!

The World-building is very, very neat, as is the sheer amount of research and history and tactics carefully laid out.

There's a comprehensive account of a much longer war that comes in several waves and with much greater numbers, and we get to see the horrible effects of the invasion and colonization of Earth from Martians across continents and over a good deal of time.

In a lot of ways, this reads as a pure and horrific tragedy where we know what's coming but we have no way to stop it. It keeps the blood pumping, that's for sure. The first invasion was just a scouting mission and they fixed the little issue with the pathogens, which is very reasonable considering just how much tech and implied tech these aliens have.

This is also set in an alternate timeline that takes into account exploited tech after the first war, and even though WWI happened again, the outcome was very different with a victorious Kaiser and an occupied England. It's little details like this that keep popping up that made this novel really delicious, but that's not to say the characters weren't fun as well. :)

This novel is a fully-authorized sequel from the Well's estate, and Baxter put a lot of time and research into making this one of the most thoughtful world-building exercises out there.

I'm a Baxter-phile. I remember the fantastic job he'd done on his direct-sequel to The Time Machine back in the nineties. I also remember enjoying his sequel more than the original, too, making things much bigger, broad-scale, and utterly fascinating. He does the same here, with this, turning it truly into a war of worlds, including the entire Earth and it's population, and this is what makes this novel fantastic. Horrifying, but also fantastic.

Goodbye, humanity!