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The Massacre of Mankind

Authorised Sequel to The War of the Worlds

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The Massacre of Mankind

By: Stephen Baxter
Narrated by: Nathalie Buscombe
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It has been 14 years since the Martians invaded England. The world has moved on, always watching the skies but content that we know how to defeat the Martian menace. Machinery looted from the abandoned capsules and war-machines has led to technological leaps forward. The Martians are vulnerable to earth germs. The Army is prepared.

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 Martians have learned, adapted, understood their defeat.

He is right.

Thrust into the chaos of a new invasion, a journalist - sister-in-law to Walter Jenkins - must survive, escape and report on the war.

The Massacre of Mankind has begun

Read by Nathalie Buscombe

(p) 2017 Orion Publishing Group©2017 Stephen Baxter First Contact Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Steampunk Fiction Solar System Mars War
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Critic reviews

Stephen Baxter is arguably Wells's current representative on Earth.
Stephen Baxter, a bright star in the British firmament of science fiction.
I can't think of another living writer more deserving of the "official heir of Wells" tag than Baxter.
Admirers of Wells will find much to like in this affectionate and entertaining tribute.
Baxter has cleverly extrapolated Wells' themes and incorporates scientific theories of the day.
An ingenious work by a perceptive admirer.
It's exciting, tense, and more than big and clever enough to be something of a triumph.
A welcome expansion of the War Of The Worlds story, and one that delights.
A novel that's both an audacious exercise in alternative history... and a hugely exciting adventure.
A Terrific, powerful, hugely-readable novel.
Massacre is a well thought out and worthy extension of War.
The Shade of Wells must be applauding.
An enjoyable novel which captures the style and flavour of the original.
All stars
Most relevant
a worthy sequel to the classic which expands brilliantly on its concepts and takes them to a logical conclusion. The story is only enhanced by the spot on narration by Nathalie Buscombe

cracking story with excellent narration

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I looked forward to a sequel to the original story for some time having also enjoyed the graphic novels. Unfortunately 20 chapters in and I am struggling to listen to the story due to the awful narration.
Fair enough the character of the narrator is female but given that a large portion of the story so far consists of male accounts it is difficult to take her seriously given her attempts at accents whether it is a cockney soldier an upper class officer or a German soldier (cringe worthy). I am struggling which is a shame as the story has been interesting although the Martians initial incapacitation of the army thanks to inept human planning placing most of army directly under landing cylinders and the fact that the government were able to predict the landing spots with such precision given lack of radar etc was laughable

Interesting story spoiled by the narration

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Amazing and a brilliant ending kept me thinking anything could happen just the like the first book to me ages to finish 😅!!!

Amazing audio book!!!

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A few interesting ideas on how the 1907 invasion would have changed the course of history, and some exciting set pieces. It retains the first person narrative for most of the book but then switches to third person when the action shifts from Britain to other landing sites across the world in the second invasion (from 1920), which is jarring.
There is a large cast of characters, and Nathalie Buscombe does an admirable job of trying to breathe life into them, employing an amazing array of different accents, but the variety is also a weakness. The power of the original, for me, came from the loneliness and desperation of Walter Jenkins as he struggled to survive the Martian holocaust.
The writer builds well on the original universe and retains the theories prevalent at the time (canals on Mars etc.) and imagines a much expanded War of the Worlds, taking in Venus and even Jupiter.
The story is very expansive, covering all parts of the earth with a steadily growing roster of characters and interconnections. It is quite a long listen- 15+ hours. I struggled to stick with it, but I had to know how it ended, which is a tribute of a kind. The author himself uses the phrase "deus ex machina" on no less than three occasions (meta!), so I'll say no more about that!
All in all, not a bad effort and I would recommend it to any fan of the original, though this is a very different book. The casual reader would perhaps not find it quite so interesting.

Interesting effort, but the sequel feels nothing like the original

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In enjoyed the narrative. Worked coming from a womens perspective. There is plenty detail in the events and the style fits well into the time period. I will probably read it again.

great sequel

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