Mars in science-fiction - best example?

Cafe Society
1

If I think of Mars and Fiction I first think of John Carter of Mars

For me the list would be:

  1. John Carter series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  2. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
  3. Stranger in a Stranger Land by Heinlein
  4. The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
  5. Marvin the Martian
  6. Out of the Silent Planet and the rest of the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis*
  7. The Red Planet by Heinlein again.
  8. The Rolling Stones by Heinlein again.
  9. The Martian Bug Farms of Futurama

What works of fiction do you think of?

  • This thread inspired by Malacandra.
2

“Lt. Gulliver Jones,” by Edwin Lester Arnold (which might have actually inspired ERB)

3

[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]
“Lt. Gulliver Jones,” by Edwin Lester Arnold (which might have actually inspired ERB)
[/QUOTE]

I’ve heard of it, but I have never read it. Was it any good? It is probably in public domain by now.

4

If you want something scientifically realistic yet still keeping some of that ol’ sensawunda, try Mars and Return to Mars, by Ben Bova.

5

A novella and a short story:

A Martian Oddysey by Stanley Weinbaum.

The Holes Around Mars by Jerome Bixby

6

Total Recall - Dick (We Can Dream it For You Wholesale)

The Martian Chronicles - Bradbury

7

S.M. Stirling’s In the Court of the Crimson Kings just came out – scientifically sophisticated (plus some heavy and shameless blackboxing), yet still your classic planetary Space Opera!

8

[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
If you want something scientifically realistic yet still keeping some of that ol’ sensawunda, try Mars and Return to Mars, by Ben Bova.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Greg Bear’s Moving Mars is also pretty good, vaguely reminiscent of Heinlein’s Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Any time I think about what life on Mars would be like, this comes pretty readily to mind.

I wouldn’t suggest Robinson’s <Colored> Mars trilogy for a list of “best” Mars works. They have some things to recommend them, and they definitely have their defenders, but they’re also seriously flawed.

For completeness, I’m about halfway through Pohl’s Man Plus right now. They haven’t gotten to Mars yet. So far, pretty decent read, if a bit dated (and not just in the technology).

9

The first novel in the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series was titled “Stand By For Mars” and published in 1952. I have or had a copy kicking around.

There’s canals in it.

10

I’m in Marsport Without Hilda – Asimov.

11

[QUOTE=What Exit?]
I’ve heard of it, but I have never read it. Was it any good? It is probably in public domain by now.
[/QUOTE]

No. It’s only a little over 100 pages, and here’s pretty much what happens: Little green man from Mars (well, actually, they look just like us) crash lands his flying carpet. Jones hops on the flying carpet which whisks him away to Mars. Meets a few people, travels down the River of Death, does some more traveling, then the magic carpet whisks him back to Earth.

Marvel Comics did a treatment of this story back in the early 1970s. IMO, their version was much better than the book, fleshing out more of a story from an original in which very little actually happens–and a subtle acknowledgement to the man who rediscovered the book after half a century out of print: Richard Lupov.

12

[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]
“Lt. Gulliver Jones,” by Edwin Lester Arnold (which might have actually inspired ERB)
[/QUOTE]
That’s Gullivar Jones, BTW.

13

[QUOTE=jali]
Total Recall - Dick (We Can Dream it For You Wholesale)
[/QUOTE]
We Can Remember it For You Wholesale.

14

“The Holes Around Mars” by Jerome Bixby. It concerns a crew of astronauts who are a little too fond of puns, and their exploration of an astronomical oddity about Mars, and its third moon.

15

Interesting; no mention of Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. Practically zero real science, but gobs of dreamlike, poetic sense-of-wonder stuff.

16

psst, post 6

17

[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
S.M. Stirling’s In the Court of the Crimson Kings just came out – scientifically sophisticated (plus some heavy and shameless blackboxing), yet still your classic planetary Space Opera!
[/QUOTE]

I was pleasantly surprised by that book. The preview I read online made it sound way too dry and esoteric, but it turned out to be a rip-roaring adventure in the ERB tradition.

18

“In the Hall of the Martian Kings” by John Varley, a superb short story.

“The Man Who Lost the Sea” by Theodore Sturgeon

It’s not set on Mars, but Fredric Brown’s Martians Go Home is a great one.

19

[QUOTE=Cervaise]
I wouldn’t suggest Robinson’s <Colored> Mars trilogy for a list of “best” Mars works. They have some things to recommend them, and they definitely have their defenders, but they’re also seriously flawed.
[/QUOTE]

They might be flawed and a little slow, but they were pretty good stories and interesting.

Flawed in what way? The science or the writing?

20

I’ll third Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles. I really need to reread them.

I know we hardly (not at all?) see Mars in it, but how about A Stranger in a Strange Land?