''Fighters from Mars'' is the name of two unauthorized, edited versions of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' original ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'' serial. The first version appeared in the ''

New York Evening Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

'' between December 5, 1897 and January 11, 1898, and was entitled ''Fighters from Mars, or The War of the Worlds''. The second version appeared in ''

The Boston Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before its final shutdown in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Groz ...

'' between January 8, 1898 and February 1898, and was entitled ''Fighters from Mars, or The War of the Worlds in and near Boston.'' The editor(s) of these versions changed the setting to the local area where the newspapers were on sale, and also edited out most of the passages containing science, science details pertaining to ordinary people, and problematic actions by the narrator. Even though they are considered unauthorized, it does seem that Wells may have inadvertently given the go ahead to the versions, as can be seen from a letter that was published in the magazine ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as w ...

'' in March 1898, where Wells states: "Yet it is possible that this affair is not so much downright wickedness as a terrible mistake." In each paper, Garrett P. Serviss' sequel, ''

Edison's Conquest of Mars ''Edison's Conquest of Mars'' is an 1898 science fiction novel by American astronomer and writer Garrett P. Serviss. It was written as a sequel to '' Fighters from Mars'', an unauthorized and heavily altered version of H. G. Wells's 1897 story ...

'', was published after ''Fighters from Mars'' had finished.

Legacy

Rocket scientist

Robert H. Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully lau ...

read both ''Fighters from Mars'' and ''Edison's Conquest of Mars'' and credited them with helping form his early interest in developing rockets for interplanetary exploration.

References

External links

First three chapters of The Boston Evening Post version

Sources

* *
''The Critic'', March 1898, Vol. 29, page 184

blog entry April 21, 2009.
H.G. Wells' Fighters from Mars?
LOC blog entry 8 December 2022
Review of sequel
(with reference to ''Fighters From Mars'') {{The War of the Worlds 1897 American novels Novels about ancient astronauts Novels set on Mars Novels first published in serial form American science fiction novels Cultural depictions of Thomas Edison War of the Worlds written fiction Sequel novels Works originally published in American newspapers 1897 science fiction novels Novels set in Boston Novels set in New York (state) Novels about alien invasions