Free public-domain audiobook
Listen to The War of the Worlds as a free audiobook on iPhone
You can listen to The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells as a free audiobook on your iPhone. Because the book is in the public domain, you can download a free EPUB edition and have it read aloud with natural on-device voices - privately, offline, and without buying an audiobook.
Martians land in the English countryside and methodically dismantle human civilisation while an ordinary narrator tries to survive and understand. Wells invented the alien-invasion story here, and its power is the matter-of-fact, eyewitness tone. That plain reportage makes it one of the most listenable early science-fiction novels.
Why The War of the Worlds is free to listen to
First serialised in 1897 and published as a book in 1898, The War of the Worlds is public domain. Free EPUB editions are widely available.
Length: A short novel in two books; a couple of sittings.
How to listen to The War of the Worlds on iPhone
- Download a free public-domain EPUB of The War of the Worlds (Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks both offer one).
- Move the EPUB to your iPhone via AirDrop, iCloud Drive, email, or a direct download into Files.
- Open the EPUB in a reader app that reads text aloud, or use Apple's built-in Speak Screen to hear the open page.
- Choose a voice and press play. A reader that generates the voice on the device works offline, with nothing uploaded.
Questions & answers
Is The War of the Worlds set in America?
The War of the Worlds is set in late-Victorian England, around Woking and London, not the United States - the American and radio adaptations relocated it. The original novel’s English setting and Edwardian narrator are part of its charm. The free public-domain EPUB is the unaltered original.
Does The War of the Worlds read well aloud?
The War of the Worlds reads very well aloud because Wells wrote it as a calm, first-person eyewitness account rather than dense description. The narrator reports the invasion plainly, which a synthetic voice handles cleanly. It is a strong choice for a first science-fiction listen.