I find Wells' description of the Martians and their machines tremendously imaginative and evocative. The interesting thing is, had the Earthlings known the real danger at hand, they could have defeated and destroyed the Martians in the first cylinder at once, as soon as it opened, but instead people were initially just curious and confused, then frightened by the brief glimpse they got of the horrifying occupants of the cylinder, and it took some time to get the military and the government to react in an organized fashion. By the time they did, it was too late. These scenes are described in the book in a very convincing manner. The sense of growing fear and later blind panic is palpable. It's an amazingly effective story, specially considering the time in which it was written.