The novel “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells was published for the first time in 1897 serialized in “Pearson’s Magazine” and in 1898 as a book. It’s freely available on Gutenberg Project’s website.

When explosions are observed on the planet Mars, they become a curiosity in the scientific community but the phenomenon doesn’t seem to go beyond that. However, months later an object crashes near London and people in the area who go to investigate in the crater area realize that it’s some kind of machine that carries beings that resembles giant octopuses who soon kill one of the people who came near with a heat-ray.

The British army reaches the area while another alien machine lands and a battle begins fought by the Martians using the heat-ray and a black smoke. It’s only the beginning of an alien advance towards London, supported also by other machines that in the meantime have been assembled into huge tripods while civilians try to escape.