Edison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science
fiction novels published in the 19th century. Although science fiction was not
at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular
literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly publishing science
fiction stories and novels. "Edison's Conquest of Mars" was published in 1898
intended to be a sequel to "Fighters from Mars", an un-authorized and heavily
altered version of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, but did not achieve the
fame of its predecessor. Serviss wrote himself into the story as a professor
that Edison consults.
[…] After the first invasion, Earth is devastated. Many cities have been
destroyed. New York is destroyed as the last Martians lift off Earth. Most
Martians died from bacterial illness, but some few survived and left. The now
devastated but free Earth begins to rise from the ashes and rejoice as the
humans find themselves free again.
The joy quickly disappears as observations of Mars show new dust clouds
shooting out of the planet. All disputes are put aside and all nations decide
to work together against this common enemy. […]