Mars Bibliography

Allaby, Michael

The Greening of Mars / Michael Allaby and James Lovelock - New York: St Martin's Press, 1984. The settlement of Mars as described by a second generation Martian. Science fact thinly disguised as science fiction.

Anderson, Kevin J.

Climbing Olympus - New York: Warner Books, 1994. A small band of surgically adapted humans hide on Mars, resenting the terraforming process which is taking the planet away from them. The author acknowledges his debt to Frederik Pohl's Man Plus.

Arnold, Edwin Lester

Lieut. Gulliver Jones: His Vacation - London: Brown, Langham & Co., 1905. An American naval lieutenant is whisked off to Mars via a flying carpet. There he has adventures and rescues a princess. Not a very realistic novel, but lyrically written and with a sense of humour. Said to have influenced Burroughs' A Princess of Mars.

Asimov, Isaac

David Starr, Space Ranger - New York: Doubleday, 1952. All editions since 1971 contain introduction by Asimov. David Starr goes undercover and investigates a mystery on Mars. The first of Asimov's juvenile "Lucky Starr" novels.

Bear, Greg

Moving Mars - New York: Tor, 1993. When Martian scientists make a discovery which could be used as a superweapon, tensions between Earth and Mars escalate. Told from the point of view of a young Martian politician. One of the best Mars novels appearing in an era of very good Mars novels.

Bisson, Terry

Voyage to the Red Planet - New York: William Morrow & Co., 1990. In a fully privatised future, a movie studio decides to make a movie on Mars. A wildly funny satire.

Blish, James

Welcome to Mars - London: Faber & Faber, 1967. Two teenagers build an anti-gravity device and fly to Mars. A juvenile novel: not one of Blish's best.

Bova, Ben

Mars - New York: Bantam Books, 1992. An expedition to Mars is complicated by political wrangling, personality problems among the crew, and a mysterious illness. Good hard science fiction.

Brackett, Leigh

The Nemesis From Terra - New York: Ace, 1964. First published as "Shadow Over Mars" in Planet Stories in 1944. A vengeful outcast destroys the Terran empire on Mars. An action packed space opera.

Brackett, Leigh

The Sword Of Rhiannon - New York: Ace, 1953. First published as "The Sea Kings of Mars" in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1949. Matt Carse, a Terran adventurer, finds himself cast back through time to an ancient and magical Mars when he acquires a sorcerers sword.

Brackett, Leigh

The Secret of Sinharat - New York: Ace, 1964 First published as "Queen of the Martian Catacombs" in 1949. A half barbarian mercenary must protect some Martian villages from the city of Sinharat. The first of Eric John Stark's adventures.

Brackett, Leigh

People of the Talisman - New York: Ace, 1964. First Published as "Black Amazon of Mars " in Planet Stories 1950 Eric John Stark acquires a strange and significant talisman from a dying friend.

Brackett, Leigh

The Coming of the Terrans - New York: Ace, 1967. Stories about the Terran empire on Mars. Old fashioned adventures about the encounters between an ancient Martian civilisation and its crass conquerors. Includes: "Mars Minus Bisha" First published in Planet Stories in 1948; "The Beast Jewel of Mars" First published in Planet Stories 1954; "The Last Days of Shandakor" First published in Startling Stories 1952; "The Road to Sinharat" First published in Amazing Stories 1963; "Purple Princess of the Mad Moon" First published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 1964.

Bradbury, Ray

The Martian Chronicles - New York: Doubleday, 1950. British edition published in 1951 under the title of The Silver Locusts. Contents differ slightly in this and some subsequent editions. A history of Earth's contact with and colonisation of Mars as told in a series of short stories. Bradbury depicts Mars as being a cross between Fairyland and an idealised mid-west: Earthmen conquer and despoil this world, but fail to prevail in the end because of their lack of sensitivity. Scientifically, Bradbury's Mars was becoming out-of-date even as he was writing these stories: the poetry, however, remains. Includes: "Ylla" first published as "I'll not look for wine" in Mcleans, January 1, 1950 -- "The Earth Men" first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories August 1948 -- "The Third Expedition" first published as "Mars is Heaven!" in Planet Stories, Fall 1948 - "- And the Moon be Still as Bright" first published in Thrilling Wonder, June 1948 - "Usher II" first published as "Carnival of Madness" in Thrilling Wonder Stories in April 1950 - "The Off Season" first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1948 - "The Silent Towns" first published Charm, March 1949 - "The Long Years" first published in Mcleans, September 15, 1948 - "There Will Come Soft Rains" first published in CollierRs, May 6, 1950 - "Million Year Picnic" first published in Planet Stories, Summer 1946. Other stories and bridging episodes written for and first published in The Martian Chronicles.

Brunner, John

Born Under Mars - New York: Ace, 1967. A Martian pilot becomes emeshed in the plots of two galactic empires. A space opera uncharacteristic of the author, but still entertaining.

Budrys, Algis

The Amsirs and the Iron Thorn - New York: Gold Medal Books, 1967. Published in 1968 under the title The Iron Thorn. A shorter version first appeared in If magazine in 1960. A member of a now barbaric race living on covers that his ancestors were part of a genetic experiment and that the ships they travelled in are still viable.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

A Princess of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1917. First published in serial form as "Under the Moons of Mars" in All-Story in 1912. John Carter is transported to Mars, is captured by a tribe of Thark warriors and rescues the princess Dejah Thoris. More fantasy than science fiction, this book is filled with strange creatures and colourful scenery. An old-fashioned tale of derring-do which reads somewhat stiltedly today.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

The Gods of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1919. First published in All-Story Magazine January through May 1913. John Carter must rescue his princess once again, this time from the false gods of a sinister religion. More swordplay on Mars: ends on a cliffhanger.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

Warlord of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1919. First appeared in All-Story from December 1913 to March 1914. Sequel to The Gods of Mars and third in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series. John Carter rescues Dejah Thoris yet again.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

Thuvia, Maid of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1920. First appeared in All-Story Weekly from April 8 to 22 1916. John Carter's son Cathoris must rescue the eponymous heroine. Fourth in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

The Chessmen of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1922. First appeared in Argosy All-Story Weekly from February 18 to April 1 1922. Tara, daughter of John Carter, finds herself prisoner of the Mantorians and queen in a live game of Jetan (Martian Chess). Her only hope of rescue is Gahan, Jeddak of Gathol, who has followed her disguised as a humble soldier, Turan. Fifth in Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

The Master Mind of Mars - Chicago: McClurg, 1928. First appeared in Amazing Stories Annual, July 15 1927. Ulysses S. Paxton, an American infantry officer, finds himself whisked from the battlefields of the War to the laboratories of Ras Thavas, the Master Mind of Mars. There he meets and vows to rescue Valla Dia, a beautiful woman whose body has been sold to the disfigured Xaxa, Jeddara of Phudahl. John Carter makes a token appearance at the end of this book. Sixth novel in Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

A Fighting Man of Mars - Metropolitan, 1931. First appeared in The Blue Book Magazine April to September 1930. When the girl he is courting is abducted, Tan Hadron ghe rescue. Same story, different hero. Seventh book in BurroughsR Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

Swords of Mars - E. R. Burroughs, 1936. First appeared in The Blue Book Magazine November 1934 to April 1935. Dejah Thoris is kidnapped by Zodangans and taken to Thuria, the nearer moon of Mars. Eighth book in Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

Synthetic Men of Mars - E. R. Burroughs, 1940. First appeared in Argosy Jan. 7 to Feb. 11, 1939. Ras Thavas, the Master Mind, creates the monsters of the title. Ninth book in Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

Llana of Gathol - E. R. Burroughs, 1948. First appeared as " The City of the Mummies" Amazing Stories, March 1941; "Black Pirates of Barsoom" Amazing Stories, June 1941; "Yellow Men of Mars" Amazing Stories, August, 1941; "Invisible Men of Mars" Amazing Stories, October, 1941. Involves the kidnapping and rescue of the eponymous heroine, John Carter's granddaughter. Tenth book in Burroughs' Mars series.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

John Carter of Mars - New York: Canaveral Press, 1964. First edition has cover title: John Carter and the Giant of Mars. Consists of "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" first published in January 1941 and "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" first published in February 1943.

Butler, Jack

Nightshade - New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989. Can best be summarised as "Cyberpunk Vampire Leads Revolution on Mars!" Has many good ideas, but it doesn't go anywhere.

Carter, Lin

The Man Who Loved Mars - London: White Lion, 1973. Ivo Tengren, embittered rebel against the Terran empire, accompanies an eccentric professor and his beautiful granddaughter on a quest for a lost Martian city. Inferior Leigh Brackett pastiche.

Chandler, A. Bertram

The Bitter Pill - Melbourne: Wren, 1974. In the 21st century, Mars has become a penal colony, run by the U.S. on behalf of the Australian government. The prisoners rebel, and call their new world "Botany Bay

Clarke, Arthur C.

The Sands of Mars - London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1951. A writer travels to Mars and becomes involved with the latest scientific discoveries and the planet's political difficulties. An early novel by Clarke, which has somewhat wooden characters, but interesting ideas. Watch out for the Martian kangaroos!

Cole, Charles

Visitors from Mars: A Narrative - Portland, Or.: C. Cole, 1901. An elderly inventor travels as a guest to Mars, and there encounters an advanced, ratopia. A piece of social commentary disguised as science fiction.

Compton, D. G.

Farewell Earth's Bliss - London: Hodder and Stroughton, 1966. Convicts are transported to Mars and there find a strange and oppressive society. A depressing novel, very much of its time in it preoccupations with sex and repression.

Cowan, James

Daybreak: A Romance of an Old World - New York: G. H. Richmond & Co., 1896 The moon breaks free of the earth and bears two explorers away to Mars. This novel has a Christian message.

Cromie, Robert

A Plunge into Space - London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1891. An inventor invents an anti-gravity device , uses it to build a spaceship and with a representative group of friends travels to Mars. A rather wooden piece of prose which, in spite of a love story, reads somewhat like a travel guide. Of historical interest only.

Deitz, William C.

Mars Prime - New York: ROC, 1992. A journalist investigates a series of brutal murders during the voyage of the firs ship to Mars. Later, on Mars, a colonist discovers an abandoned alien spaceship, and uses it to found a religious cult. The two halves of Mars Prime never quite join into a seamless whole and the novel reads like two short stories glued together.

Del Rey, Lester

Police Your Planet / as by Eric Van Lihn - New York: Avalon Books, 1956. Shorter version serialised in Science Fiction Adventures in 1953. A cynical cop, exiled to Mars, tries to take advantage of the corruption but cann live down to his expectations. Hard boiled action adventure.

Dick, Phillip K.

Martian Time Slip - New York: Ballentine, 1964. An autistic boy foresees the future on Mars. Meanwhile the adults on the planet conspire around him. Typically of Dick the underlying themes of this book are more important than the ostensible plot.

Dick, Phillip K.

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965. Conscripted colonists on Mars console themselves with drugs and games. A very Dickian book with its preoccupations with God and the nature of reality.

Dickson, Gordon R.

The Far Call. - New York: Dial Press, 1973. An expedition to Mars is crippled by political grandstanding and a solar flare. As the astronauts in space fight for their lives a political appointee on Earth fights for the integrity of the mission.

Douglas, Ellsworth

Pharaoh's Broker: Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner Written by Himself - London: C.Pearson, 1899. Republished Boston: Gregg Press, 1976. A financial speculator travels to Mars and finds it almost identical to Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. He uses his foreknowledge to speculate and almost takes control of the planet. Unusual in that Mars is depicted as being less advanced than Earth.

Farmer, Philip JOSE

Jesus on Mars - Los Angeles: Pinacle Books, 1979. An expedition to Mars discovers an orthodox Jewish community ruled by an alien calling himself "Jesus".

Flammarion, Camille

Uranie - New York: Cassell, 1890. Translated from the French by Mary Serrano. Also published by : Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1890; London: Chatto and Windus, 1891 as Urania. A man awakes on Mars and meets the reincarnation of himself.

Fontenay, Charles

Rebels of the Red Planet - New York: Ace, 1961. A female agent from Earth falls in love with the mysterious rebel Dark Kensington. A downright silly book whose only virtue is its brevity.

Forward, Robert L.

Martian Rainbow - New York: Del Rey, 1991. Twin brothers, one good, one evil, struggle for control of Mars. The science is good but the plot is cliched and the characterisation wooden. For dedicated fans of this author only.

Gallum, Raymond Z.

Skyclimber - Tower Books, 1981. A Mars colony is founded almost by accident, and a nuclear war on Earth causes the home planet to abandon the Martian settlers. Skyclimber is somewhat old fashioned in its characterisation and an obligatory sex scene doesn't help.

Gantz, Kenneth F.

Not in Solitude - New York: Doubleday, 1959. An Air Force expedition to Mars encounters strange signals and hostile attacks even though the only life appears to be a type of lichen. A complex, depressing novel, written by an officer of the USAF.

Genone, Hudor

Bellona's Bridegroom: a Romance - Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1887. A man travels to Mars where he discovers an ideal society where everyone speaks English and people age backwards.

Gordon, Rex

No Man Friday - London: Heinnemann, 1956. An astronaut is shipwrecked on Mars, and must find ways of surviving there. A very British novel, which seems slightly quaint today.

Gratacap, Louis Pope

The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars: Being the Posthumous Papers of Bradford Torrey Dodd - New York: Bretano's, 1903; New York: Irving Press, 1903. A man is reincarnated on Mars and sends messages back to his son. Mars is depicted as being Schiaperellian, with deserts and canals.

Greg, Percy

Across the Zodiac - London: Trubner & Co., 1880. An Earthman travels to Mars and discovers an advanced utopian society. While it was original in its time it seems somewhat slow and ponderous today. Chiefly of historical interest.

Heinlein, Robert A.

Podkayne of Mars - New York: Putnam, 1963. A teenage girl travels from Mars to Venus, and gets involved in political intrigue along the way. Has some interesting details about life in the Martian colonies.

Heinlein, Robert A.

Red Planet - New York: Scribners' Sons,1949. Two boys discover a plot against the Martian colonies, and must travel across the planet to warn the colonists. Good, action-packed juvenile fiction, with many ideas which were later elaborated in Heinlein's adult novels. The best part of this story, however, is the boys' strange Martian pet!

Isaac Asimov's Mars

Isaac Asimov's Mars / edited by Gardner Dozois - New York: Ace Books, 1991. Stories about Mars from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Contains: "Live from the Mars Hotel" by Allen Steele -- "The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica" by Brian W. Aldiss -- "Windwagon Smith and The Martians" by Lawrence Watt- Evans -- "Retrovision" by Robert Frazier -- "The Great Martian Railroad Race" by Eric Vincoff -- "All the Beer on Mars" by Gregory Benford -- "The Catharine Wheel" by Ian MacDonald -- "Mars Need Beatniks" by George Alec Effinger -- "Green Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Judd, Cyril

Outpost Mars - New York: Abelard Press, 1952. Re-released by Beacon as: Sin in space. A small Martian colony suffers from the actions of a scheming industrialist and a scurrilous journalist. Life is depicted as being harsh and grim on Mars, but the ending of this novel is happy.

Kline, Otis Adelbert

Swordsmen of Mars - New York: Avalon, 1961. First published in 6 parts in Argosy, beginning 7 January 1933. The hero is transferred from Earth to Mars by telepathy and saves Martian civilisation from destruction. Heavily indebted to Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Kline, Otis Adelbert

Outlaws of Mars - New York: Avalon, 1961. First published in 7 parts in Argosy, beginning 25 November 1933. Sequel to Swordsmen of Mars with a different hero.

Lanier, Sterling F.

Menace Under Marswood - London: Grafton, 1983. Anarchist tribes battle the U.N. on a terraformed Mars. This book includes a beautiful priestess, a wise old man and hidden aliens: but it is hard to see why the story was set on Mars at all.

Lasswitz, Kurd

Two Planets - Carbondale and Edle: Illinois University Press, 1971. Originally published as Auf Zwei Planeten in 1971. Translated from the German by Hans J. Rudnick. Afterword by Mark Hillegas. English version abridged. Two men are captured by Martians near the North Pole. One travels to Mars; the other stays at home. Meanwhile the Martians conquer Earth, and the relations between the two planets degenerate. A comment on 19th century imperialism?

Leggett, Mortimer

A Dream of a Modest Prophet - Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1890. A man wakes up on Mars and finds it dominated by a pure Christian-like religion. A religious and moral tract.

Lewis, C.S.

Out of the Silent Planet - London: John Lane, 1938. A philologist is kidnapped and taken to Mars where three races co-exist in harmony under the guidance of a god-like being. This pastoral depiction of Mars may charm some; equally, the Christian message of this book may put others off.

Long, Frank Belknap

Mars is my Destination - Pyramid Books, 1962. An agent to investigate a feud between two corporations on Mars. Mars seems to be populated entirely by square-jawed "real men" (who deliver speeches about the virtues of the colonies) and their womanly mates. Meanwhile the hero of this novel seems to spend most of his time brooding and dodging assassins.

Maccoll, Hugh

Mr Stranger's Sealed Packet - London: Chatto and Windus, 1889. Mr Stranger, and eccentric science master at an English school, builds a spaceship and travels to Mars. There a humanoid race of 'Marsians' and falls in love.

Mars We Love You

Mars We Love You / Edited by Jane Hipolato and Willis E. Mcnally - New York: Doubleday, 1971. British ed. with title: The Book of Mars. Theme anthology of Mars stories, arranged in date order. Includes the groundbreaking "A Martian Oddessey", first published in 1934. Contains: excerpts from A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs -- "A Martian Oddessey" by Stanley Weinbaum -- "The Embassy" by Donald A. Wollheim -- "Dark Mission" by Lester del Rey -- "Lost Art" by George O. Smith -- "The Cave" by P. Schuler Miller -- "Expedition" by Anthony Boucher -- "Loophole" by Arthur C. Clarke -- "Catch that Martian" by Damon Knight -- "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper -- "The Lost City of Mars" by Ray Bradbury -- "One Step From Earth" by Harry Harrison -- "Carthage: Reflections of a Martian" by Frank Herbert -- "Soft Landing" by William Fox -- "Earthbound" by Irene Moyer Jackson -- "In Lonely Lands" by HEllison -- "World of the Wars" by Bruce McAllister -- "Exploration" by Barry M. Malzberg -- Excerpt from Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein -- "Linguistic Relativity in Middle High Martian" by Willis E. McNelly.

Mcauley, Paul J.

Red Dust - London: Victor Gollancz, 1993. A young man finds himself involved in the plots of the "Ten Thousand Years" who rule a Chinese dominated Mars. A complex, multi-layered story, filled with fascinating details.

Mcdonald, Ian

Desolation Road - Bantam, 1991. First published in 1988, afterword copyright 1991. The rise and fall of the town Desolation Road. A fanciful story with everything in it from time travel to little green men, and too complex to summarise briefly. Written in part in tribute to Ray Bradbury. Desolation was one of the better Mars novels of the 1980s.

Mchugh, Maureen F.

China Mountain Zhang - New York: Tor Books, 1992. This book is mainly set on a Communist Chinese Earth, but has a subplot set in a Martian colony. An excellent first novel by a new author.

Mcintosh, J. T.

One In Three Hundred - Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday, 1954. When the Earth is destroyed only one in three hundred can be saved by resettling on Mars. This book is outdated in its social attitudes as well as its scientific background.

Moffitt, Donald

Crescent in the Sky - New York: Del Rey, 1990. Part 1 of The Mechanical Sky. Sequel: A Gathering of Stars. On a Muslim Mars, a genetic engineer gets caught up in a plot to replace the emir. The author has obviously researched his background well, and the plot and characters hold the readers attention. Unfortunately the book is inconclusive.

Moorcock, Michael

Warriors of Mars - [S.l.] : Compact Books, 1965. Later published as City of the Beast A scientist finds himself on an ancient, exotic Mars. A pastiche of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and very like its inspiration, but inferior Moorcock.

Moorcock, Michael

Blades of Mars - [S.l.] : Compact Books, 1968. Later publiLord of the Spiders A sequel to Warriors of Mars. More adventures on the Red Planet.

Moorcock, Michae

Barbarians of Mars - [S.l.] : Compact Books, 1969. Later published as Masters of the Pit. A sequel to Blades of Mars, in the same style.

Pesek, Ludek

The Earth Is Near / Translated from the German by Anthea Bell - Worcester: Longman Young Books, 1973. First published as Die Erde is Nah: die Marsexpedition, in 1970. An expedition travels to Mars, but conflicts among the croy them. Ostensibly a children's book, but interesting reading for adults as well.

Petaja, Emil

The Caves of Mars - New York: Ace, 1965. A mad scientist uses a Martian drug to establish a cult following. Fairly standard space opera with a brave hero and a beautiful heroine.

Pike, Christopher

The Season of Passage - London: Hodder and Stoughton, c1992. Martian vampires destroy an interplanetary mission. Horror rather than science fiction.

Pohl, Frederik

Man Plus - London: Gollacnz, 1976. An astronaut is surgically transformed into a cyborg in preparation for a mission to Mars. A hard science fiction novel which is at once deeply moving and scientifically accurate. Winner of the Nebula award.

Pohl, Frederik

Mars Plus / by Frederik Pohl and Thomas T. Thomas - New York: Baen Books, 1994. Intelligent computers plot to control Mars. A disappointing sequel to Man Plus.

Pohl, Frederik

Mining the Oort - New York: Ballentine Books, 1992. Mars is heavily in debt to r financing its terraforming project. Follows the career of young Dekker de Woe as he grows up and wishes to take part in this project. A competent piece of science fiction by a thoroughly professional author.

Pope, Gustavus W.

Romances of the Planets, No. 1: Journey to Mars, the Wonderful World: Its Beauty and Splendor: Its Mighty Races and Kingdoms: Its Final Doom - New York: Dillingham, 1894. Sequel: Romances of the Planets, No. 2: Journey to Venus. A U.S. Navy Officer is shipwrecked in Antarctic Ocean, and rescued by Martians who take him to their world. There he meets and falls in love with a princess, but must battle a villainous prince to win her.

Priest, Christopher

The Space Machine : a Scientific Romance. - London: Faber, 1976. A late-Victorian commercial traveller tampers with an eccentric scientist's invention and sends himself and a young lady to Mars. A prequel to War of the Worlds and a successful pastiche in the nineteenth century manner. Mars as described in this book merges recent discoveries with the planet depicted by Wells.

Robinson, Kim Stanley

Red Mars - London: HarperCollins, 1992. The history of Mars as seen through the eyes of its "first hundred". A monumental novel which covers everything from the first landing, through disputes about the ultimate fate of Mars and a rebellion against the corporations which control the planet. Unfortunately, despite the books obvious merits it sometimes reads like a textbook. Winner of the Nebula award.

Robinson, Kim Stanley

Green Mars - London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. Sequel to Red Mars. Begins where the previous novel leaves off and continues the saga into another generation. Very like Red Mars with many of the same characters and incidents.

Robinson, Kim Stanley

Icehenge - London: Futura, 1984. A woman gets involved in a revolution on Mars. Years later an enormous monument is discovered on Pluto, and historians try to piece together the tale. Told in three sucessive narratives, each of which calls in question what has gone before.

Serviss, Garrett P.

Edison's Conquest of Mars - Los Angeles: Carcosa House, 1947. First published in the New York Evening Journal, Jan 12 to Feb. 10 1898. A "sequel" to War of the Worlds. Thomas Edison invents a spaceship and various lethal weapons, and the nations of Earth send a fleet to retaliate against Mars. For its time scientifically accurate (Garrett P. Serviss was a science journalist), but lacks the style a of H. G. Well's original.

Shiner, Lewis

Frontera - New York: Baen Books, 1984. Some valuable discoveries on Mars cause the Russians and a private corporation to set up rival operations to "rescue" the colonists abandoned there. Well written but rather grim in tone.

Steele, Allen

Labyrinth of Night - London: Century, 1992. A scientific team investigating the "face on Mars" must deal with dangerous alien technology and a military megalomaniac. The best novel dealing with alien artefacts on Mars written in the last decade.

Sullivan, Tim

Martian Viking - New York: Avalon, 1991. An unemployed man is sent to a Martian penal colony, where he is subjected to experiments with hallucinogenic drugs. The style of this novel is reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.

Sykes, S. C.

Red Genesis - New York: Bantam, 1991. A Byron Preiss Visual Publication. The Next Wave; Book 1. Includes bibliography and essays by Isaac Asimov and Eugene Mallove. An industrialist is exiled to Mars afg convicted of causing a major ecological disaster. This book is full of colourful characters and packed with incident set against a lovingly detailed background. An excellent read from a little known author.

Tolstoy, Alexei

Aelita - Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1957. First published in 1922-23. Two Russians fall foul of the King of Mars, who is afraid they will start a revolution.

Tubb, E. C.

Alien Dust - London: Boardman, 1955. A series of grim stories depicting theation of Mars. A gloomy and episodic book, which is by today's standards appallingly sexist.

Two Women of the West

Unveilling a Parallel: A Romance / (Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Marchant) - Boston: Arena Publishing Co., 1893. A rather stuffy gentleman travels to Mars and is shocked by the emancipated women there.

Watson, Ian

The Martian Inca - New York: Scribners' Sons, 1977. A contaminated soil sample from Mars infects a village in the Andes with a consciousness altering. Meanwhile an American expedition to Mars suffers from the same disease.

Whiteford, Wynne

Lake of the Sun - New York: Ace Books, 1989. A colony from Earth discovers Martians living underneath the planet. Despite initial misunderstandings all ends happily. An uncharacteristically lightweight book by Wynne Whiteford.

Whiteford, Wynne

The Specialist - New York: Ace, 1990. A journalist visits Mars to investigate a mysterious probe which is rumoured to have been sighted there. A futery-thriller, set against a successfully worked out background.

Williams, Michael Lindsay

Martian Spring - New York: Avon, 1986. An explosion in the upper atmosphere alters Mars' axial tilt and brings about a "Martian spring". The book includes a race of saintlike, telepathic Martians which awake from hibernation, an embittered, genetically engineered protagonist and a villain named "Von Bok". Possibly the worst Mars book ever written.

Williamson, Jack

Beachhead - New York: Tor Books, 1992. A mission to Mars is jeopardised by personality conflicts amongst the crew and financial chicanery back home. Similar to Bova's Mars published in the same year, but rather more melodramatic.

Wyndham, John

Planet Plane / (as by John Benyon) - London: Newnes, 1935 Subsequently published and better known as Stowaway to Mars. A young female stowaway jeopardises a flight to Mars. A sadly dated novel, with its aviator heroes building their own rocket ship and confronting cardbounists and humanoid aliens on Mars.

(c) Copyright 1994, Christine Hawkins. All rights reserved.