Nineteen Eighty-Four vs The War of the Worlds: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Science Fiction, Fiction

Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell · 1949 ★★★★☆ 4.2 244 pages · ≈ 4 h 31 m · Challenging

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker…

1 film adaptationBanned book

Surveillance Censorship Essays Classics

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The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells ★★★★☆ 3.8 239 pages · ≈ 4 h 26 m · Moderate

The ultimate science fiction classic: for more than one hundred years, this compelling tale of the Martian invasion of Earth has enthralled readers with a combination of imagination and incisive commentary on the…

1 film adaptation

Martians Diseases English Science fiction Space Warfare

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate Nineteen Eighty-Four highest: Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2 · The War of the Worlds 3.8.
Nineteen Eighty-Four has the widest readership — 5733183 ratings behind its score.

How to choose

Want the crowd-tested pick? Nineteen Eighty-Four 5733183 ratings vs 360569 for The War of the Worlds Just want the better-reviewed one? Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2 vs 3.8 from readers New to the genre? The War of the Worlds Moderate vs Challenging for Nineteen Eighty-Four

Scores by source

	Nineteen Eighty-Four	The War of the Worlds
Goodreads	4.2 (5733183)	3.8 (360569)
Hardcover	5.0 (1)	3.7 (987)
Apple Books	—	4.5 (502)

Reception

	Nineteen Eighty-Four	The War of the Worlds
Ratings	5733183	360569
Editions	536	457
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	3170038	285018
Reading it now	—	19184
Written reviews	171557	16588
Wikipedia attention	140637	41845
Pages	244	239

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The War of the Worlds?

Nineteen Eighty-Four has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2/5, The War of the Worlds 3.8/5).

Which is shorter to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The War of the Worlds?

The War of the Worlds is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The War of the Worlds (239 pages, ≈ 4 h 26 m); Nineteen Eighty-Four (244 pages, ≈ 4 h 31 m).

Which is harder to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The War of the Worlds?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Nineteen Eighty-Four: Challenging; The War of the Worlds: Moderate.

Have both books been made into films?

Nineteen Eighty-Four: 5 film adaptations; The War of the Worlds: 5 film adaptations.