The War of the Worlds is a military science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. Its first appearance in book form was published by William Heinemann of London in 1898. It tells of the adventures of an unnamed protagonist and his brother in Surrey and London as Earth is invaded by Martians.

Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories that detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction genre.