The narrator of The War of the Worlds is quick to discover that what appeared to be a falling star was, in fact, a metallic cylinder landing from Mars. In The War in the Air, naive but resourceful Bert Smallways is thrilled by speed and fascinated by the new flying machines.

On one level this work is the story of an airman's discovery of a small boy from another planet in the desert and his stories of intergalactic travel, and on the other hand it is a thought-provoking allegory of the human condition.