The War of the Worlds - HG Wells

The War of the Worlds is a turn-of-the-century (the LAST century) science fiction novel about an invasion of Earth by Mars because Mars had grown 'too cold' for the Martians. Considering the time it was written, the science is incredible, and could easily be modernized. Wells touched on Darwinian survival of the fittest (Martians seeing humans as mere animals), evolution (they lost their complex body parts because of their reliance on machines), and modern medicine (our bacteria were the final straw that take down the advanced alien species). I thought the novel was insightful, although it was mostly a vehicle for scientific postulation and supposition. Definitely worth reading.