New Mars

Ryder W. Miller surveys over a hundred years of Martian science fiction, from War of the Worlds to The Martians. Part of the Mars Tales issue.

Mars has been, second to Earth, the most popular planet in science fiction. There are pearls to be harvested in these murky waters…

The famous science fiction works about Mars – Welles’ The War of the Worlds, Burroughs’ fantastical tales of Barsoom, Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and works by numerous other authors – are but a smattering of tales afloat in a sea of Martian science fiction, the depths of which are hidden by history and literary ghettoization. Exploring this sea, one can dive beneath the surface of remembrance to search out the unknown and unrecognized – the ‘B’ side of Martian SF comprised of the many Martian stories that have disappeared from the public’s memory, many if not most relegated to the bins of second-hand book stores. I’ve spent a large amount of time plunging into this sea of obscure stories and have surfaced appreciating the fact that Mars has been, second to Earth, the most popular planet in science fiction and that there are pearls to be harvested in these murky waters.

Many of the works fit broad patterns or schemes. Foremost, “Mars” was tacked onto the titles of many of these works as a selling point – many of these stories could have taken place on a fantasy world. There was no specific ‘need’ to have the action take place on Mars. Rather, Mars serves as an adventure landscape where humans battle barbarians and wild aliens. There has also been a school of realistic tales exploring Mars, some of which have become dated due to actual exploration. In more recent years Mars has become a place for human dramas. Besides the rugged Mars that has been dangerous to explorers there has been the imaginary terraformed Mars of the future, populated by scientists and explorers, and sometimes even cowboys.

Perhaps it is better to say that some of the works had recognizable relatives. There is the realistic school that focuses on exploring dangerous terrain or changing the planet. Arthur C. Clarke’s The Red Sands of Mars has a lot in common with Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars trilogy, but Robinson focuses more on the early chapters of the story, a free-for-all where the fate of Mars is battled over by the human settlers and multinational corporation, whereas Clarke’s visitor comes along after much of the planetary engineering has been completed. Beachhead by Jack Williamson is a brother of Mars by Ben Bova, both books about the ruggedness and dangerousness of missions to the Red Planet. In a different vein there are semi-realistic books that depend upon super advanced physics to drive the story. Frontera by Lewis Shiner is a sister to Moving Mars by Greg Bear, wherein settlers dissatisfied with the encroachment of Earth’s government move the entire planet..

Many of the B’s share a common character type or story line. There are a surprising number of books that focus on journalists bound for Mars. Clarke’s The Red Sands of Mars features a writer who considers pursuing something more “worthwhile,” after his visit to Mars. Mars Prime by William Dietz, Mars Underground by William K. Hartmann, and Mars The Red Planet by Mick Farren all feature journalists as central characters. These men and woman are willing to risk their necks on rugged assignments to uncover secrets hidden by the human settlers on the Red Planet. A strange assignment at the times these works were written – in the 1960s and 70s, but a plum assignment for someone in the future. Often there are also psychotics along for the trip.

Best of the B’s Though not as good as many of the classics in the field, each of these “less important” works in the history of Martian science fiction had its strengths. And many of these lost gems are more enjoyable to read than some of their more famed counterparts. Most unusual: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich by Philip K. Dick, not really about Mars, but a fabulous tale that partly takes place on the planet. Best book about working class colonizers on Mars: The Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick. Most original: Red Dust by Paul J. McAuley, a tale told on a terraformed Mars of the future from an Asian perspective. Most realistic: Beachhead by Jack Williamson, which reminds how dangerous it may be for the first expeditions. Realistic speculation from science fiction: Mars by Ben Bova. Most fully realized and respectable protector of Mars: Jamie Waterman from Ben Bova’s Return to Mars. Most famous Martian: Michael Valentine Smith from Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Cutest Martian: Podykane, from Podykane of Mars by Robert Heinlein. Most impressive female character: Casseia Majumdar from Moving Mars by Greg Bear, inspired by Podykane. Most profound: The Day After the Martians Came by Frederik Pohl, which explores how extraterrestrial visitors will influence Earth culture. Best noirish Mars book: Mar, The Red Planet by Mick Farren. You want more when your finished with this one. Second best ending (next to The Martian Chronicles): Mars Plus by Frederick Pohl. If little green men are bothering you and you want company: Martians Go Home by Fredric Brown.- RM

The biggest category in the B’s, though, is the fantastical battle book set on Mars, with the aliens coming from underground to disturb the balance. One finds this in some of the works of Leigh Bracket’s Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars, Sterling Lanier’s Menace Under Marswood, The Man Who Loved Mars by Lin Carter, and Red Planet by Robert Heinlein. In these works there is war among the humans on Mars. On this Mars, which features an imagined atmosphere or a terraformed atmosphere, the battling human forces come in contact with subterranean Martians. While perhaps long on imagination, this genre of Mars book had no literary longevity.

It is difficult to explain why one book would remain famous or become a classic, i.e. why something is still read or esteemed. There are differing opinions on the subject, as there are differing opinions on which books are indeed famous. Can something really be classified as ‘B’ science fiction? Martian science fiction is an interesting case, because science has dated many of its most famous and important works into the ‘B’ category, arguably including Welles, Burroughs and Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. And there are no clear differences or competing visions between the famous and obscure works about the Red Planet. If one is to try to understand the difference between the famous and the obscure, it is easier to compare and contrast similar works to see why some were successful and some were less or not successful. Robert Heinlein wrote at least four books about Mars, but how many are still read by people under thirty?

Heinlein, who has penned some of the most memorable titles, starts telling stories on the Red Planet and then sends his Martians, as ambassadors to new places. Heinlein is more famous for his Martian visitors rather than his speculation about the Mars. The Red Planet is an adventure story set on a Mars inhabited by colonists and alien creatures. Later came a child tourist from Mars in Podakayne of Mars, but despite her cuteness, or perhaps because of it, she is a flawed character. It is not until Michael Valentine Smith, a Martian guru on Earth that starts a religious movement and the central character of Stranger in a Strange Land, that Heinlein realizes his most famous Martian. Smith, besides some of Burroughs’s princesses of Mars, is the most famous Martian ever. Stranger in a Strange Land makes an interesting point, that rather than humans imposing their cultural heritage on Mars and other planets, Martians or extraterrestrials could have an important impact on our culture. But Double Star, about an actor that has to assume the role of a famous personage on Mars, does not have anything that interesting to say about the Red Planet.

It is also possible to compare C.S. Lewis’ space series (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength) with the more successful The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, a slimmer work, but without the religious trappings. It is more memorable, more poetic, and more enjoyable. Bradbury succeeds with succinct and well-told stories.

Leigh Brackett’s character Eric John Stark, though intended to, never really eclipsed Burroughs’s John Carter, because his were first and already a part of popular culture when she started her series. Brackett – along with anyone else who has tried – failed to completely erase Barsoom from our psyche.

Though sometimes prophetic, these works only offer suggestions for a future we will have to write on the Red Planet. It is flawed to think science fiction can be a reliable guide to our future. It can explore possibilities, it can be prophetic, it can make important points, but because of the need for it to be exciting – to have protagonists and dangers – it loses its predictive power. Then too, authors concerns reflect the concerns of their times. Welles focused on the potential dangers from other planets and criticized British imperialism; Bradbury focused on our destructiveness, reacting to the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Robinson on environmentalism and the dangers of multinational capitalism. Most of the lesser works seem to have less of a direct connection to their times.

There is a final, common lesson to be gained from all these books, both the famed and the unknown. In nearly all of these works, characters encounter troubles that they are not prepared for. In many of these scenarios the protagonists encounter troubles contending with the alien environment, or even aliens. Often, though, it is human nature that presents the greatest obstacle. In many cases, the central characters of these tales face the enemy and, in Pogo’s words, “He is Us.”

The Best of the Best For this author The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury contains some of the best tales ever written about Mars (as well as a few of the strangest). Some may categorize the Chronicles as ‘B’ or as fantasy by some because it is dated. But science fiction is different than an article about Mars in an astronomy magazine or a chapter about Mars in a text book. It has different requirements and different potentials. Therefore, I choose The Martian Chronicles not because it is the most instructive, but because it is the most beautiful and condemning. The realistic school has not produced and maybe cannot produce an equal. I will never forget one of the collection’s stories, “And the Moon be Still as Bright,” where the fate of Mars rests on the shoulders of Jeffry Spender, who had to battle to protect the planet from a group of jingoistic colonizers, the kind of people who would throw beer bottles into the Martian Canals and rocks at ancient and fragile Martian structures they have discovered. The story examines one of the most important human endeavors. Exploration, research and expression are key to our development, but how we encounter the “different” or “the other” or “the potentially different” is at the core of our experience. Spender, influenced by the Martian culture, argues to the leader of the expedition, ultimately forcing him to kill Spender, thus making Spender’s point: “What could I do? Argue with you? It’s simply me against the whole crooked grinding greedy setup on Earth. They’ll be flopping their filthy atom bombs up here, fighting for bases to have wars. Isn’t it enough they’ve ruined one planet, without ruining another; do they have to foul someone else’s manger? …” He had learned a message from Bradbury’s Martians: “… They quit trying too hard to destroy everything, to humble everything. They blended religion and art and science because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle. They never let science crush the aesthetic and the beautiful.” Spender’s message was one of respect, respect for an alien culture which predated ours. But Spender’s message can also be applied to protect a desolate world which has no protection against colonizers and exploiters who will need to make a lot of money to continue their efforts, and may not care about what they will need to do. Spender’s message can also be easily adapted to the protection of the Martian topography. If we look at Mars also as a wilderness rather than just as a frontier, we will want to protect it. Mars could use its Jeffry Spenders. Spender, despite seeming deranged in the story, reminds us of the best of our humanness: our ability to respect something different. – RM

Bibliography

Kevin J. Anderson War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches

Isaac Asimov The Martian Way, Isaac Asimov’s Mars

Stephen Baxter Voyage

Greg Bear Moving Mars

Terry Bisson Voyage to the Red Planet

Ben Bova Mars, Return to Mars

Leigh Brackett The Nemesis From Terra, Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars

Ray Bradbury The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles

Fredric Brown Martians Go Home

John Brunner Born Under Mars

Lin Carter The Man Who Loved Mars

Arthur Clarke The Red Sands of Mars

Philip K. Dick The Martian Time Slip, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich

William C. Dietz Mars Prime

Mick Farren Mars The Red Planet

Elizabeth Hand Last Summer At Mars Hill

William Hartman Mars Underground

Editors Jane Hipolito and Willis E. McNelly Mars We Love You

Robert Heinlein Red Planet, Podakayne of Mars, Stranger in a Strange Land , Double Star

Eric Idle The Road to Mars

Sterling E. Lanier Menace Under Marswood

C.S. Lewis Out of the Silent Planet

Frank Belknap Long Mars is My Destination

Paul J. McAuley Red Dust

Ian McDonald Desolation Road

Larry Niven Rainbow Mars

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes The Barsoom Project

Edited by William F. Nolan and Martin H. Greenberg The Bradbury Chronicles

Frederik Pohl The Day After the Martians Came, Mars Plus with Thomas T. Thomas

Kim Stanley Robinson Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, The Martians

Lewis Shiner Frontera

H.G. Wells War of the Worlds

Jack Williamson Beachhead

Filed under: Articles on August 7th, 2001