# Help Track Down 1950s Sci Fi Story

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-track-down-1950s-sci-fi-story/730676>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 11, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-track-down-1950s-sci-fi-story/730676 "2015-09-11T15:05:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-track-down-1950s-sci-fi-story/730676/1 "2015-09-11T15:05:37Z")

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I cannot remember anything about the story, but it was most likely from an anthology. Google has been of no help-anyway, I think it concerned a group of astronauts who land on Mars…and find an ancient abandoned city (the “City of Time”). In one of the buildings, they find a green flame…called the “Iesis flame”-which relates to another dimension…that is it. Anybody ever heard of this.

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**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-track-down-1950s-sci-fi-story/730676/2 "2015-09-11T15:50:45Z")

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> **[Mars in fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_in_fiction)**
>
> Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s when it became clear that there was no life on the Moon. The predominant genre depicting Mars at the time was utopian fiction. Around the same time, the mistaken belief that there are canals on Mars emerged and made...

Anything ring a bell?

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-track-down-1950s-sci-fi-story/730676/3 "2015-09-12T13:43:30Z")

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“The City of the Singing Flame” by Clark Ashton Smith, perhaps?