Saturday, October 6, 2007

Invasion! Earth vs. the Aliens

Invasion! Earth vs. the Aliens: a Trilogy of Tales Inspired by H.G. Wells’s Classic SF Novel, War of the Worlds, by Robert Reginald, a pseudonym of Prof. Michael Burgess (2007)

Recently published by Underwood Books, this soft-cover volume binds Reginald’s new novel, The Martians Strike Back!, with the two previous novels in his War of the Worlds series. Here’s a description of the new single-volume trilogy, which is an adaptation and expansion of H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds (1898):

“In this sweeping saga set on Earth and intergalactic space, Robert Reginald envisions a detailed future world of Martians versus humans. In the first novel, War of Two Worlds, they attack without warning or mercy, slaughtering and harvesting humankind. An intrepid band of ordinary people refuse to accept what seems inevitable, vowing to fight to the death. The second novel, Operation: Crimson Storm, spreads the conflict to space as Earth goes on the offensive. Deep within the bowels of their own Red Planet, the aliens use many different weapons, not all of them military, to fight the human foes. In the final book, The Martians Strike Back!, war rages deeper into the solar system, with savage battles fought on land and sea. The planetoid Ceres holds the key – but will both races die before they can unlock it? Reginald’s gripping prose and rich narrative make these books worthy successors to Wells’ cosmic vision.”

The first two novels of Reginald's trilogy were originally published by Underwood Books as War of the Worlds I: Invasion! A Modern Version of the Classic Novel by H.G. Wells (2005) and War of the Worlds II: Operation Crimson Storm: a Sequel to the Classic by H.G. Wells (2005). Surprisingly, Underwood’s website contains information only on Reginald's first novel; there is no mention of the second novel or the new single-volume trilogy.

Millefleurs, the website of Robert Reginald / Prof. Michael Burgess, has considerably more information, including an interview, excerpts from the first novel, and the table of contents from the new single-volume trilogy. A librarian, prolific writer, and former publisher, Prof. Burgess’ interests include “genealogy, history, literature, plus collecting books, ancient coins, fossils, and elden artifacts.” A detailed biography is available on his website.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually, Invasion! is the first publication of these three books. The 2005 versions of the first two volumes were written and announced, but never appeared.

Robert Reginald