Edison's Conquest of Mars

by Garrett P. Serviss

HardPress Classic Books Series

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Steampunk, Adventure, Novels, Science Fiction Fantasy

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 10, 1898

About the author

Garrett Putman Serviss was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. He majored in science at Cornell and in 1876 joined the staff of the The New York Sun newspaper, working as a journalist until 1892. Serviss showed a talent for explaining scientific details in a way that made them clear to the ordinary reader, leading Andrew Carnegie to invite him to deliver The Urania Lectures in 1894 on astronomy, cosmology, geology, and related matters. Serviss toured the United States for over two years delivering these lectures. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column devoted to astronomy and other sciences.

Eight of his books are devoted to astronomy. He also wrote six works of fiction in his lifetime, all of which would today be classified as science fiction.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_...]

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked the story's gung ho spirit.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of the great books of science fiction history, this is arguably War of the Worlds and Thomas Edison fan fiction. Nevertheless, it introduced such science fictional concepts as space suits, asteroid mining, disintegrator pistols, and alien abduction (yes, Mars does need women!) Serviss presents a very lush and wet version of Mars, where the canals exist primarily to direct the waters where they want them -- an idea which didn't really have any scientific support even at the time. The language reminded me of other dime novels and penny dreadfuls of the period. It's worth checking out if you're interested in science fiction history, but there's a reason this one doesn't go down in the annals of great science fiction literature.

[James Hold · Rating 1 out of 5]

To begin with, Serviss can't write worth a hoot. His prose is awful. Second, the idea that Edison would invent anything on his own to thwart a Martian invasion, or any other kind, is PATENTLY ridiculous. (See what I did there?) The man is on record as a thief who stole and cheated others constantly by taking credit for others ideas and work (You might call him a modern-day Steve Jobs). I might buy into this if it had been called 'Tesla's Conquest' since he would have more credibility. Sadly though, the winners write the history (or pay others to do it) and you end up with crap like this singing praises for a complete jerk.

[Niko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read along with the podcast 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back. This is the sixth book I've read with this podcast, but it's the first that had a premise that I would have enjoyed if it had been in the hands of a more competent author.

Still, this isn't the worst self-insert fanfiction I've ever read.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a purported sequel to H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, this book is a head scratcher. Though recounting events at the beginning that broadly fit right in with Wells' novel (and adding an interesting coda to set the stage for a follow-up), it goes on to give us Martians and a version of Mars that are nothing like Wells described.
If the reader can shrug off those details and simply try to enjoy the book on its own merits, there is still more to wince at. The very title of the book, and the narrative that follows, lionizes Thomas Edison to a ludicrous degree. Even though written at a time when most were still thinking of Edison as the "Wizard of Menlo Park" before so much of his scientific and creative thievery was brought to light (quite a long time, to be fair), this level of aggrandizement should have been embarrassing.
The writer's style is uneven and gives me mixed feelings. At the start it's quite matter-of-fact which I really appreciate. When dwelling upon technical aspects, it can be quite bland. As the narrative progresses, he attempts to be more poetic, which leads to more qualms I have with the book.
Despite some nice statements early on that the Martian invasion had eroded many social barriers, the overall perspective is still very white male elitist. There is an overtly jingoistic tone throughout that makes the whole novel feel like an account by an overzealous wartime journalist.
At its best, the book brings to mind schlocky space flight movies of the past where escapist adventure was more important than genuine scientific speculation (and scientific accuracy).
These moments are not handled very well, though. There is some potential here for a truly enjoyable read, but sadly it mostly goes to waste.

[meghann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of the 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back podcast/book club. Well this was something. Sort of a War of the Worlds bootleg sequel and Thomas Edison fanboy fanfic mashup. This was published serially in the paper as a firsthand account as the author included himself in the story as Edison's bestie/random person included on the expedition who was somehow smarter than all the experts who were supposed to be there. This was published in the late 1800s and white people around the world were praised while any people of color were described in racist and derogatory terms. Also, lots of pre-Nazi use of the term Aryan. Different context but still jarring after all the racism. It was interesting to read pre-space exploration theories on what the composition of the moon was like, the experience of traveling in space, spacecraft, alien life, etc. The illustrations alone were the stuff of nightmares. This was a quick read, awkward at times with the serial format, and engaging if you just accepted it for what it was and embraced the cringe. The eurocentrism is heavier in the beginning, so it does get a bit easier to read as you progress. Honestly though, the audacity of this man. I wonder if he every ran into Edison after this was published. So awkward.

[Bjorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing but disappointing. Serviss does come up with a lot of concepts that are, if not entirely brand-new to SF, then at least new enough to feel really innovative. And the sheer lunacy of the plot paired with the dry journalistic I-swear-I'm-an-actual-scientist prose does lead to some chuckles. But the complete lack of any characters whatsoever, the tendency to solve any problem by simply having Edison magically invent something like he's Dr Snuggles, and the... shall we say less-than-well-aged discourse on the supremacy of the Aryan race really drag it down.

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Estupenda novela! Como fan de La Guerra de los Mundos de H. G. Wells, siempre tuve ganas de leer esta historia, segunda parte no autorizada, de la novela. Y me voy dando cuenta de que en realidad es una segunda parte de una adaptación pirata que se hizo del libro, pero ambientada en Estados Unidos titulada Fighters from Mars.
Esta novela, escrita por Garret P. Serviss, un autor prácticamente desconocido en español, se lanzó en 1898, inmediatamente después de terminar Fighters from Mars, y me imagino que el lector común se espera una obra pulp (que si lo es) escrita de manera pesada, afectada y con una historia barata llena de clichés.
Olvídenlo. Edison conquista Marte es una novela de verdad apasionante y Serviss un escritor muy hábil que tiene el don de sacar cada rato nuevas ideas que convierten a la historia en un viaje lleno de sorpresas. Muchas de esas ideas ya son parte indiscutible de la ciencia ficción, pero fue Serviss quien las expone por primera vez en esta historia; rayos desintegradores, guerra en el espacio, caminatas espaciales, megadesastres, secuestros extraterrestres… y la hipótesis de los Antiguos Astronautas que después volverá tan famosa Erich Von Däniken.
Eso sí, hay muchos elementos que reconoceremos de La Guerra de los Mundos, pero muchos otros han sido cambiados. Por ejemplo, los marcianos son humanoides gigantes de gran cabeza, en lugar del marciano “pulpo” de la novela original; sin embargo, estos siguen teniendo sus rayos de calor, su vegetación rojo sangre, sus capsulas espaciales, y el humo negro que les sirve para ocultarse pero que no es venenoso, como el que los humanos sufrimos en el planeta.
Finalmente, tenemos que tomar en cuenta que uno de los personajes más relevantes es, por supuesto Tomás Alba Edison (por cierto, ¿sabían que nació en México, en el estado de Zacatecas?), quien inventa el sistema de propulsión de las naves humanas que ahora, invadirá Marte para impedir una nueva incursión marciana en nuestro planeta. Pero Edison no es el único científico en aparecer en la novela, sino una cantidad de famosos más, como Lord Kelvin.
Esta edición contiene además muchas cosas más: comentarios que apoyan la mejor comprensión de la historia y nos da interesantes datos que nos sirven para navegar mejor por la novela; un ensayo sobre Garret P. Serviss que nos habla sobre la interesante vida del autor, un Carl Sagan de su tiempo; un ensayo sobre la novela y otras historias del autor y las 40 ilustraciones originales del relato, que son muy atractivas e interesantes.
El editor y traductor de este libro, Rubene Guirauta ha hecho un magnífico trabajo para dar a conocer a Serviss en español y en mi humilde opinión, esta obra merece estar nominado al Ignotus. Solo un punto. El mismo editor señala que las escenas de acción no son muy buenas. No le hagan caso. Está totalmente equivocado. Son buenísimas y hay las suficientes para mantenernos enganchados.
No se pierdan Edison Conquista Marte, sin duda una de las mejores novelas de ciencia ficción que leeremos este año.

[Erik Owomoyela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up for two reasons: The novelty that came with learning of a contemporary sequel to The War of the Worlds that I'd never heard of, and the idea of an 1890s story depicting interplanetary warfare with, as the book jacket promised me, "a cornucopia of technical ingenuity."

As a sequel to The War of the Worlds, the book doesn't hold up very well. Not only is it a totally different kind of story, but it ignores virtually all the commentary on humanity that made Wells' book a classic. The plot hangs on a woefully implausible flash of genius that reads a bit like Thomas Edison writing his own fan fiction — the idea of Edison leading an invasion fleet is so silly that even Serviss seems to back away from it in the later chapters — and the Martians lose all their mystery and are portrayed, both in appearance and behavior, as larger-than-life versions of humanity.

At the same time, it really is a prescient example of storytelling. Serviss' amazing electrical comet aside, it's easy to forget that the story was written when our understanding of the solar system was limited to theories and blurry sketches of Mars through a telescope. It's easier to remember when the author spends any time describing women or foreigners — even the German language expert can't seem to use proper grammar — but at the same time Serviss presents the expedition as a truly international venture, and lets Aina wittingly provide them with the key to the Martians' destruction.

Where The War of the Worlds was a story about society and psychology, the sequel is a showcase of physics and technology, combining the best of what the nineteenth century's speculative minds could produce. It's a fascinating look at how well our great-grandparents predicted the future. And if the story is unremarkable now, that's at least partly because it's been copied so many times. Doing it first isn't the same as doing it best, but, hey, it's a quick read too.

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1898 there was no copyright for foreign publishers in the U.S., so this was an unauthorized but legal sequel to War of the Worlds-- fanfiction, essentially, and it reads like it. It is a breathless description of events, without any real characters or dialogue worth mentioning, but fun in an over-the-top steampunk adventure kind of way.
After the events of War of the Worlds, the surviving Martians leave for Mars on a rocket whose launch blast completely destroys New York City. While the world unites to rebuild, telescopic observation of further launches from Mars makes many feel hopeless about the future. But then, Thomas Edison announces that he has discovered how the alien technology works by studying their equipment, and can turn it against them! So the humans build a fleet of space ships and go invade Mars. After some archaeology on the moon and some trouble with comets and asteroids, they arrive at Mars and attack, but the Martians have heat-ray defenses and they are not especially successful. But they discover a human slave girl whose ancestors were kidnapped when the Martians built the pyramids, and she tells them how they can use the canals to flood the planet. This they do, and kill 9/10 of the Martian population. Hooray! After some further treachery on the part of the Martians at the parley, the humans eventually prevail and mercifully allow the remaining Martians to live. How noble of them!
The illustrations were great, though the reproductions were low quality. The storytelling is uneven, focusing on whatever has the most spectacle. It would have been better if it had had some characters, and people who at least thought about whether it was right to completely destroy the entire alien civilization without any attempt at diplomacy first. For special-effects though, this should have won a prize.

[Rubene Guirauta · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.P. Serviss es un autor de final del siglo XIX y primeros del XX, muy opacado por las más brillantes estrellas del momento, que eran H.G.Wells y Jules Verne. Sin llegar, a la altura de ellos, produjo una ciencia ficción de calidad, que había quedado inédita en español.

Esta es el segundo número de la Biblioteca Serviss, que se propone traducir sus principales obras de ficción.

Tras el fracaso de la invasión marciana a la Tierra narrada por H.G. Wells en La Guerra de los Mundos, la Humanidad decide que la mejor estrategia para evitar otro ataque en el futuro es golpear antes. Así, las naciones encargan a Edison que encabece la misión de invadir Marte. Edison diseñará desintegradores y naves espaciales, reclutará un ejército de sabios y aventureros y cruzará el espacio interplanetario hasta Marte. Allí se encontrará con una sorpresa tan otra. ¿Será capaz de cumplir su objetivo?

La edición está cuidada y anotada. Además, a cargo de Rubene Guirauta, se incluye una biografía del autor que nos encuadra en su época.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say about a 125 year old science fiction story? What standards do you hold such a thing to? It's a stone cold racist book by today's standards and I had to keep reminding myself that speaking of the 'Aryan race' was different then.

This is said to have the first space suits in sf. But the writing is pretty bad. The narrator is a character who is present for all of the action everywhere, but we don't get his name let alone his qualifications. The story was published serialized in a magazine and was obviously not written all at once. The mysterious narrator quite often had to insert events that happened previously for the current action to make sense.

This is an unofficial sequel to War of the Worlds and I'm sure Wells would not approve. I felt like I was reading CS Lewis' Space Trilogy with all the religious stuff inserted in.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing 1889 Thomas Edison sci fi fanfic, written by an American, as a sequel to Orwell's War of the Worlds. All kinds of name dropping of 19th century world leaders, scholars and scientists who band together to launch an Earth invasion of the red planet, with a side trip to the moon. Fun, diverting read that made me chuckle, even if it wasn't intended to.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vale a pena ler este livro para ter uma ideia do que foram as edisonades, um sub-género literário inspirado na fama do inventor Edison que o colocava como personagem de mirabolantes aventuras em que as suas invenções eram determinantes para o final feliz. Talvez uma comparação actual possa ser feita com obras que colocam personagens históricos reais em aventuras ficcionais de género fantástico. O termo edisonade foi criado por John Clute e Peter Nicholls precisamente para designar este género de literatura de aventuras.

O livro chegou-me à atenção graças a um artigo do io9 que referia que seria um percursor dos principais elementos narrativos da FC contemporânea. E, realmente, esta sequela ao clássico Guerra dos Mundos de H. G. Wells conta com elementos surpreendentes que incluem batalhas entre frotas de naves aero-espaciais, guerras interplanetárias, armas de raios, fatos espaciais e até um aceno ao que hoje apelidamos de ancient astronauts com uma sub-narrativa em que os horrendos marcianos se estabelecem no antigo Egipto e raptam uma tribo semítica para a escravatura nos mares marcianos. Estas histórias de visitantes alienígenas civilizacionais tiveram recentemente um regresso à ribalta, cortesia do desastroso filme Prometheus.

A prosa não é de todo ilegível para uma obra escrita a metro no estilo de série do século XIX. Se descontarmos as tiradas épico-nacionalistas e os discursos inflados dos personagens, ficamos com um livro de aventuras inverosímeis. Datado, claro, porque tendo mais de cem anos passado sobre a sua escrita já sabemos que Marte não tem canais por onde murmura a água, já não soa bem representar diferentes etnias através de estereótipos ridicularizantes, anti-gravidade eléctrica é algo de impossível ou os fios telefónicos não são apropriados como meio de comunicação no espaço. Visto desta distância temporal, um pormenor curioso: os marcianos descritos por Serviss assemelham-se a uma má caricatura de Winston Churchill. Podem satisfazer a curiosidade sobre a obra e apreciar as suas ilustrações - algumas simplesmente fabulosas, com representações de verdadeiros dirigíveis espaciais em combate, no Projecto Gutenberg.

[Neal Groothuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to believe that this was written at the end of the 19th century, decades before mankind had any first- or second-hand knowledge of what lay beyond the earth; in fact, in an era when controlled flight of aircraft beyond gliders didn't exist. Serviss describes spacesuits, the effects of weightlessness, the makeup of comets, etc. to an eerie degree of accuracy.

If the afterword is to be believed, this was seminal in other ways as well: among other tropes, this may have been the first popular portrayal of both the "ray gun", alien abduction, and the hypothesis that aliens built the pyramids.

[Israel Laureano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realmente una curiosidad cienciaficcioñera; escrita y publicada en 1898 como una secuela del "La guerra de los mundos" de H.G. Wells, está llena de ideas y conceptos que eran totalmente científicos, lógicos y hasta recomendables en su época, apoyarse en los descubrimientos de la frenología, por ejemplo, y pensar que cultivar algún conocimiento específico haría crecer el área del cerebro dedicada a esa función. No son aventuras tan descabellada y divertidas como las de Edgar Rice Burroughs y su serie de libros de Barsoom, pero sigue siendo una curiosidad interesante.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering that this was written in 1898, it was years ahead of its time. I found it very entertaining.

[gawain · Rating 2 out of 5]

What.

[Urstoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

somewhat quaint, but mostly just sucks

[Duncan (Backawayfromthedonkey) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898)

Well that felt long, sometimes you read long books and they fly by, other times short books feel like you’ve read the length of Don Quixote even though what you've read is less than a quarter the length, 'Conquest of Mars' is the latter.

There are a lot of unofficial sequels to H.G. Wells The ‘War of the Worlds’, which is telling of how good the book was both in ideas and writing. I have recently headed down that sequel rabbit hole and found kittens (yes that’s what baby rabbits are called) in various degrees of health. Edison’s Conquest of Mars was the first in that line.

The book as much as it is a sequel to ‘War of the Worlds’ is a more direct sequel of ‘Fighters from Mars’ which were two unauthorised versions of War of the worlds published in the New York Evening Journal and the Boston Post, these versions were heavily edited and took out the Science, actions by the narrator they deemed inappropriate and also set them in their respective areas of New York and Boston. It’s weird how we’ve seen the same thing happen to many European films as well.

I’ll start by saying that the writing and prose in ‘Conquest of Mars’ is in my opinion poor, however it is stacked full of ideas and the first time many of these ideas appeared in Science Fiction. There are Space Suits, asteroid Mining, Alien civilisations, Alien Abductions, Airlocks and many more. The author Garrett P Serviss was an astronomer so had a good handle on Science. As implied in the title Thomas Edison is the protagonist and the narrative involves a conglomerate of Earth nations attacking Mars before the Martians return, after being defeated in their first attempt. The setting up of this involves Edison and inventions such as spaceships that used electric repulsion. We follow the group as they first head to Mars (via the Moon) in order to defeat Mars.

Well’s story was an anti-imperialist tale, Conquest though embraces all that Wells pushed back against in his story. In order to attack Mars, gathered together are the heads of most states including Queen Victoria, Kaiser Willhelm and the Emperor Mutsuhito. This book may actually be the first case of American Exceptionalism, it really is quite unbelievable that the likes of the leaders of the British Empire, The Austro-Hungarian Empire would happily sit back and let the young nation of America lead the way.

Knowledge after the fact knowing that Edison was one of the greatest self-publicists ever make his appearance interesting after the fact. To use modern terminology, it felt like the author was fanboying Edison. I personally would have had more belief in the story if he'd used another figure. This is probably my modern eyes and attitude looking back at this work. When this was written Tesla (the obvious choice) would not have been well known and interestingly was working for the Edison company in Paris at the time. Edison's fame and self publicity does make him an obvious choice for the author at the time.

Overall this is an interesting read for those of us who love to explore the history of Science Fiction but as a good read to recommend, I personally wouldn’t. The Stars I have rated this at are more for the ideas rather than the execution. If you are interested enough to read this it is available through the wonderful Project Gutenberg.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Donald and I read this together for the 372 Pages We Won't Get Back podcast/book club.

I haven't read much (any?) "space-themed" science fiction, though I've watched my share of TV shows and movies set in space. Serviss apparently was the first or one of the first authors to write about... space suits, I think it was. He also has a few other ideas that will be familiar to anyone who reads, views, or otherwise consumes space-y sci-fi.

I give him credit for his creativity, but sadly, he wasn't much of a fiction-writer. He had terrible pacing, practically no attempt at characterization, only the most barebone plot, and zero flair for storytelling. Just awful, really. Maybe a child without any expectations or experience of quality writing might enjoy this. For everyone else, it's a curiosity, at best. The occasional moments of unintended humor are the best thing this has going for it.

One thing that particularly annoyed me about this book:
On the one hand, Serviss' version of Edison is an unapparelled genius, in this tale. He reverse engineers alien technology (only his version is even better, don'tchaknow), conceptualizes and whips up new inventions and improvements on the fly (all behind the scenes, of course), and basically has the most amazing brain God has ever given a man.

On the other hand, he continually makes idiotic strategic mistakes, at the cost of the other men's lives!

"Hey! There are some Martians coming! Mr. Edison, should we use our powerful weapons to safely destroy them before they get too close, seeing as how they tried to annihilate us all on Earth just a while ago?"

Edison says no. Let's just wait and see what happens, first.

Shocking surprise: The Martians attack. Many men are killed.

Edison: "Oopsie! Well, okay... Yeah, let's use our death ray... I guess..."

And he never learns! Some variation on this happens at least a few different times. When you're on a mission to Mars to avenge Earth and protect it from further harm, you don't dilly-dally and pussyfoot, man! You kill-kill-kill until every last Martian is dead. (Or at least that's what I'd do, probably. Hey, they started it with an unprovoked attack, and for all Edison's genius, it was only by a stroke of fortune that Earth's heroes were able to achieve the "conquest". The Martians would be very lucky if I left any of them alive.)

Conclusion: Glad to leave this one behind!

[ياسر · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lately, I found myself in a place where getting a printed book is harder than Egypt winning the World Cup. Having already finished all the books I brought with me, an e-book became a necessity.

I turned to Project Gutenberg—my savior in such situations, a free site for English books that have entered the public domain—and browsed here and there until I stumbled upon a very amusing novel: Edison’s Conquest of Mars.

In fact, I already knew the novel, at least its outlines, since I once wrote an article for Al-Qafila magazine about planetary mining in science fiction.

The novel was published in 1898, just one year after H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. Its events take place in the same universe and follow chronologically, serving as a sequel.

In The War of the Worlds, we learn that the Martians invaded Earth and caused massive destruction before eventually withdrawing—for reasons I won’t mention here to avoid spoilers.

At the beginning of Edison’s Conquest of Mars, humanity somehow learns that the Martians intend to strike again. This is where the United States (portrayed as the leader and savior of the world) steps in to unite Earth’s peoples against the threat, mobilizing them to assist the renowned scientist Thomas Edison in building ships and weapons—not only to defend the planet, but to invade Mars itself.

Among Edison’s team is Garrett Putnam Serviss (the author of the novel) along with several well-known scientists of the time: Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh, and Professor Wilhelm Röntgen.

What follows is a long journey—from the Moon, back to Earth, then to the Moon again, then to a golden asteroid orbiting Mars, then to Mars itself, onward to its moon Deimos, and finally back to Mars—filled with charming adventures and scientific speculation. Of course, many of the scientific details reflect the knowledge available at the time (over a century ago), so they are inaccurate in places.

The novel’s atmosphere is closer to Jules Verne’s exciting adventure style than to the deeper, more philosophical tone of Wells’s works.

And naturally, the author doesn’t forget to “discover” (within the story) that the builders of the pyramids and the Sphinx were originally Martians who descended to Earth thousands of years ago and even enslaved its inhabitants.

Overall, it was a delightful classic experience.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/edisons-conquest-of-mars-by-garrett-p-serviss/

This is a rollicking 1898 Edison fanfic sequel to The War of the Worlds, in which the nations of the earth, shocked by a Martian attack on New York, fund a retaliatory mission to Mars led by Thomas A. Edison and Lord Kelvin, with the author putting himself in first person in the middle of the fray. Edison has conveniently invented both a disintegration ray and an anti-gravity drive, so the large Earth expedition is ultimately successful despite tribulations along the way. (This is not a spoiler – the end of the story is given away by the title of the book.)

There’s an amusing fantasy diplomacy bit at the beginning with the rulers of the world converging on Washington and Queen Victoria dancing with President McKinley (she turned 79 that year). The cliches of space travel and war with other planets are explored here for the first time; the Martians are subhuman savages, with all that that implies; there is a beautiful human hostage, the last of her kind; and Thomas Edison wins the war, for humanity. (Apparently he was consulted about being made the hero of the book, and consented.)

The Project Gutenberg version is enlivened by the illustrations created by Bernard Manley, Jr, for the 1947 printing of the story.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d always heard that Edison’s Conquest of Mars was a sequel to H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, but that’s not exactly true. It’s apparently a sequel of something called “Fighters from Mars,” which was itself a blatant rip-off of Wells’ fine story. I haven’t read “Fighters” but it might explain why the Mars and the Martians that Serviss describes in his book are completely different than those featured in Wells. For example, Serviss describes the Martians as 12 to 15 foot tall giants who are very human-like in appearance (especially the women). His Mars is a much wetter and richer environment than Wells had described, which is strange considering that—as an astronomer—Serviss certainly knew better. This is Serviss’s first fictional work so maybe he got better, but the writing here is really atrocious. It’s bland to the point of sleep-inducing and totally lacks any suspense or emotion. It's interesting historically for introducing some early SF concepts like spacesuits and asteroid mining, but otherwise is very forgettable.

[Kent Archie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was published a year after The War of the Worlds. It is sort of a sequel.
Thomas Edison, the savior of humanity, quickly invents spaceships an disintegraters and and off go a fleet of about 100 shops. First stop is the moon and then to Mars.
At the moon and at Mars they make discoveries that would delight the hosts of Ancient Aliens.
A little attempted genocide and about half the ships get back to Earth.
We are safe from further Martian attack and also attacks from the people of Ceres.

It's kind of clumsy and too long in the way novels from that time are.
The only parts of Wells book that are used are that the aliens came from Mars and Earth biology did them in.
It is interesting as a very early example of space opera and super-science.
The author had some astronomy training so some a small part of the science is right.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Now We Will Finish the Crow"

Originally written as an unofficial sequel to H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, Serviss takes the battle to Mars, where Earthlings seek to destroy the would-be invaders on their own turf. This is a remarkable piece of early Science Fiction, as it contains many of the first imaginings of what life in the space age might look like. From Space suits, to landing on the moon and beyond, the unimaginable becomes a dream of the future.

Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park is the defacto hero of the story; a retro Elon Musk. He creates all the inventions that get us into space. This is an all-but forgotten piece of Sci-Fi. It is old enough (1898) to be in the public domain. The Kindle is available, but it is also available in etext and on Librivox audio online. It has likewise been recorded over onto Youtube, since it is so well loved.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This utterly absurd supposed sequel to War of the Worlds is pure jingoistic, imperialist triumphalism and American Destiny, almost the complete opposite of everything Wells attempted in the original. There is no literary merit to this, but it gets four stars from me for sheer entertainment value. It is pure SF pulp, from start to finish and is, according to the introduction, the first example of many classic hard SF tropes, from space battles, with disintegrator rays, to asteroid mining and space suits (or "air-tight suits" as they are called here), and the ancient aliens on Earth motif. Of historical interest, but also great fun.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really, really don't like this subgenre of really old fiction from the 19th century that the podcast covers.

This is infinitely better than Irene Iddesleigh or Lair of the White Worm, but that's a low bar to clear. My problem is the gimmick of laughing at old-timey words and phrases and the absurdities people believed back then runs out its welcome really early in the text. The rest is very much a slog for me to endure.

Honestly the facet of this being weird fanfic about a real person who was still very much alive and pissed off as it was being published is more interesting than the text itself.

[Maddison Stoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is such a weird book. It's basically self-insert fanfiction but it has some interesting ideas. The Martians are described as evil because they're colonialists but the book is celebratory of American exceptionalism, which is also a colonialist ideology? It's got some funny stuff about phrenology towards the end as well, and a woman who gets married to a soldier THREE DAYS after he gets her back to earth. Wouldn't she want to have at least some time to figure out what sort of person she would like to be after spending years as a slave to aliens and surviving the genocide of her country? No?

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather strange entry in the history of science fiction, in which Thomas Edison leads a group of earthlings in an attack on Mars in the wake of the events of HG Wells’s War of the Worlds.” Astronomer Garrett P. Serviss acts as the narrator, and the story of this book’s creation and writing is more interesting than the book itself.

However, it’s an interesting read, mixing 1898 contemporary hard science fact with flights of fanciful fiction. Serviss is by no means an exceptional writer, but for fans of literary oddities this story will certainly provide a unique experience.