Why am I passionate about this?
I’m a hard (plausible) science fiction author, born in New Zealand and currently living in Australia. Over the course of my career, I’ve written 26 novels in my First Contact series, looking at all the various different ways in which First Contact might unfold. If you enjoy stories that leave you thinking long after the final page, check out my First Contact series.
Peter's book list on classic science fiction on first contact
Why did Peter love this book?
Although it is well over a hundred years old, this book is well worth your time to read.
Its insights into the nature of hostile First Contact are far from fictional. H.G. Wells was inspired to write this book after hearing of the genocide of Aborigines in Tasmania, where bounties were put on the heads of natives ($5 for a man, $1 for a child, nothing for women). As Australia was still a British colony at the time, there was a public backlash against the atrocities of these settlers.
This left H.G. Wells wondering what it would be like if England were subject to the same kind of invasion, and he penned this book. The astute reader will pick up on references to the massacre in Tasmania as they read the very first page!
12 authors picked The War of the Worlds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
But planet Earth was not only being watched - soon it would be invaded by monstrous creatures from Mars who strode about the land in great mechanical tripods, bringing death and destruction with them. What can possibly stop an invading army equipped with heat-rays and poisonous black gas, intent on wiping out the human race? This is one man's story of that incredible invasion, from the time the first Martians land near his home town, to the destruction of London. Is this the end of human life on Earth?