Just re-read this for the first time in many years. I swear it gets better every time I read it.
To make a small quibble: I think Aldiss' decision to structure the story in an old-fashioned way hurts the story's impact a bit. Some of this might be due to the bucket of gore I have been exposed to in fiction and film over the last forty years, which dulls Aldiss' more lurid scenes, but it seems to me the almost surreal levels of stoicism, the pathological understatement and the conveniently-timed lapses of consciousness made the action hard to visualize, as it were.
Still, a terrific homage to Wells, though I thought the litany of Wells titles was a bit silly.
It's definitely one of my all-time favorite stories.
