A Verdadeira Invasão dos Marcianos, a 2004 novel by Portuguese writer João Barreiros

At the recent Euroconference Odyssey 2010 held in London over the long Easter weekend, award-winning British science fiction author Ian McDonald moderated a fascinating panel discussion called “Best Unread (in English) European SF Books.” Among the panel's recommendations: A Verdadeira Invasão dos Marcianos [The Real Martian Invasion] (2004), by Portuguese science fiction writer and editor João Barreiros. “This is a dark comedy and the story of a punitive human expedition to Mars, led by Wells and Verne, and also several other characters from literature around that time. There they find the actual truth behind the War of the Worlds. The Real Martian Invasion […] was actually the title of the second (1992) of a trilogy of novellas each published a few years apart that made up this book. The trilogy has also been published in Spain as The True War of the Worlds [La Verdadera Guerra de los Mundos].”

[via The Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation]