H.G. Wells' The War of The Worldswas an engaging, if not a bit dark, novel of experimental, fresh, and futuristic ideas. An unthinkable epic of his time, The War of The Worlds was revolutionary in the way even I think about literature. The problem is, however, that while the ideas presented in the book are completely new, they're not exactly plausible. And I'll tell you why.
First, martian invasion in itself doesn't seem all that possible. Sure, if another species of sentient creatures possessed the technology, they could definitely travel to a neighboring fertile planet. The problem is, even if said race was more evolved than humans, the idea that another "country" on planet Mars wouldn't stop them from decimating the human race is farfetched.
You see, in writing his novel, Wells was making the assumption that the planet Mars would house a one-nation race, a unified species that evolved to understand that in order to succeed, they must coalesce.
If there had been multiple Martian countries on Mars, and one decided to attack and conquer Earth, another, more docile Martian nation would have eventually swooped down to stop them; this idea is much like when the United States attacked Iraq for invading Kuwait.
Secondly, if the Martians who attacked us were so evolved and genius, why didn't they survey the planet first? Fly down, take some samples of the air, and think "hey, we need to wear special suits when we go down there; that bacteria will kill us!" It doesn't make sense that a race, who in the beginning of Wells' novel were cited to have been observing earthlings like earthlings observe water molecules through microscopes, wouldn't ensure complete safety of their troops before attacking.
To support my previous idea, maybe the Martian country who was invading hadn't the money to support a sufficient science program? Maybe a little market recession was too much for them? I am joking, of course.
The final implausibility within the premise of the Martian invasion is their inconsistent invincibility. During their raid across a river toward the opening of their invasion, a large gun hidden behind a city killed a single Martian with one shot to its body. While the conditions were set up from there on in the story so that a shot that accurate was not to be fired again (i.e., the inexperienced gunmen manning weaponry in the forests, the black smoke killing soldiers, etc.), I see it very possible that with the right strategies, those attacks could be replicated and seen through.
H.G. Wells was a visionary, yes, but after studying the facets of his novel, there are too many impossibilities for the Martians to have ever logically attacked England.
I am happy to say that you, reader, can sleep soundly knowing that we're safe...at least for now.
