7 h 27 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 27 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Earth survives a Martian invasion. Now Thomas Edison must carry the fight across space.
The Martians have been beaten back, but Earth no longer feels safe. In Garrett Putman Serviss's Edison's Conquest of Mars, the inventor becomes humanity's great hope. Working quietly in his laboratory, Edison designs ships and weapons for a bold answer: a voyage to the enemy's world.
Scientists and leaders from many nations gather for the effort, with Lord Kelvin among them. A scientist who joins the fleet tells the story from inside the action. As Earth falls away against the stars, machines, invention and human resolve face a civilization whose skill makes it a dangerous enemy.
What you’ll discover
- An inventor at work Meet a calm, tireless Edison who turns a terrifying threat into a problem to solve.
- Earth against the stars Follow the fleet outward as its passengers see their home planet as a distant globe.
- A formidable Martian world Approach canals and vast works that reflect how people once imagined the surface of Mars.
- Nations joining forces Watch rulers and scientists work together when the danger reaches beyond any single country's borders.
- Science, power and progress Explore an early space adventure that places humanity's hopes in invention and scientific skill.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy early science fiction, adventure serials and the history of how people once imagined other planets.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Mars has attacked and Earth is shaken
- Edison takes up the challenge
- The nations of Earth join forces
- A fleet of spaceships is built
- The voyage through space begins
- Mars is a world of wonders and danger
- What the war says about science and empire
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Thomas EdisonThe real inventor, shown as a calm genius who designs the ships and weapons that take Earth's fight to Mars.
- The narratorA scientist who tells the story as an eyewitness and joins the fleet on its voyage to Mars.
- Lord KelvinThe real British physicist, who joins Edison and the other scientists in the effort to prepare Earth's defence.
- The MartiansThe enemy civilization, skilled in machines and weapons, who threaten Earth and must be answered on their own world.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 7 h 27 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Edison's Conquest of Mars
by Garrett Putman Serviss · 1898
Thomas Edison builds a fleet to carry Earth's fight to Mars after a Martian invasion.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Edison's Conquest of Mars is a short science fiction novel by the American astronomer and writer Garrett Putman Serviss. It first appeared as a newspaper serial in 1898, in the weeks after the New York Evening Journal and other papers had printed an unauthorized version of H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Mars has attacked and Earth is shaken
The story opens soon after the Martian invasion described by Wells. The Martians have been beaten off, but people on Earth know the danger has not gone. The narrator, a scientist who tells the story in the first person, shares the fear of his time.
He describes a world that has seen its cities damaged and its confidence broken. The old belief that Earth was safe in its quiet corner of the solar system is gone. Governments and ordinary people ask what could stop another attack.
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What is Edison's Conquest of Mars about?
It tells how Thomas Edison and scientists from many nations build a fleet of spaceships and a powerful weapon, then carry the war to Mars after the Martians have attacked Earth.
Is Edison's Conquest of Mars a sequel to The War of the Worlds?
Yes, in a loose sense. Serviss wrote it as an unofficial sequel to the story by H. G. Wells, and it began as a newspaper serial in 1898.
Is Edison's Conquest of Mars a true story?
No. It is a work of fiction. Thomas Edison and other real people appear as characters, but the war with Mars and the machines in the book are imagined.
The author
Garrett Putman Serviss
1851–1929 · American science fiction writer
Garrett Putman Serviss (1851–1929) was an American writer and journalist. He lived and worked in New York and wrote about astronomy for general readers. He also wrote science fiction. His novel Edison’s Conquest of Mars appeared in 1898. His book Astronomy with an Opera-Glass was published in 1888.
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