War of the Worlds (New York Reveiw of Books, 2005)

The colourful cover of this book is deceptive. Inside the bright magenta and green cover crawling with spindly-legged aliens is H.G. Wells classic speculative invasion tale The War of the Worlds with drawings by Edward Gorey. In fact, Gorey is also responsible for the cover art -- but not the colour. Gorey created the pen and ink drawings to accompany Wells text in 1960 for the Looking Glass Library; the edition has been out of print for nearly 50 years and now reissued by the New York Review of Books.

War of the Worlds has been thrilling readers, listeners and audiences for over a hundred years (the first edition was published in 1898) and more than once has incited riots when mistaken for actual events. Whether or not you saw the Spielberg-Cruise summer blockbuster based on the book, if you haven't read Wells original text, you may be surprised by the suspense; Gorey's eerie organic drawings add a distinct otherworldly touch and the two combine for a very satisfying read.

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