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Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
, the fourth planet from the
Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
, has appeared as a
setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular
celestial object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical object, physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''bod ...
in fiction in the late 1800s as the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
was evidently lifeless. At the time, the predominant genre depicting Mars was
utopian fiction Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to ...
. Contemporaneously, the mistaken belief that there are
canals on Mars During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were "canals" on the planet Mars. These were a network of long straight lines in the equatorial regions from 60° north to 60° south latitude on Mars, observed ...
emerged and made its way into fiction. ''
The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'',
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
alien invasion The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people ...
of
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
by sinister Martians, was published in 1897 and went on to have a large influence on the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
genre.
Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...
appeared frequently in fiction throughout the first half of the 1900s. Apart from enlightened as in the utopian works from the turn of the century, or evil as in the works inspired by Wells, intelligent and human-like Martians also began to be depicted as decadent, a portrayal that was popularized by
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
in the ''
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
'' series and adopted by
Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goo ...
among others. Besides these, more exotic lifeforms appeared in stories like Stanley G. Weinbaum's "
A Martian Odyssey "A Martian Odyssey" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the July 1934 issue of ''Wonder Stories''. It was Weinbaum's second published story (in 1933 he had sold a romantic novel, ''The ...
". The theme of colonizing Mars replaced stories about native inhabitants of the planet in the second half of the 1900s following emerging evidence of the planet being inhospitable to life, eventually confirmed by data from
Mars exploration The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habit ...
probes. A significant minority of works nevertheless persisted in portraying Mars in a way that was by then scientifically outdated, including
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's ''
The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
''. Terraforming Mars to enable
human habitation Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...
has been another major theme, especially in the final quarter of the century, with the most prominent example being
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...
's ''Mars'' trilogy. Stories of the first
human mission to Mars The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos. ...
appeared throughout the 1990s in response to the
Space Exploration Initiative The Space Exploration Initiative was a 1989–1993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W. Bush administration. On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, US President George H. W. Bush announced plans for ...
. The
moons of Mars The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are irregular in shape. Both were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in August 1877 and are named after the Greek mythological twin characters Phobos (fear and panic) and Deimos (te ...
— Phobos and
Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites * Elecnor Deimos, a Spanish aerospace company * ...
—have made only sporadic appearances in fiction.


Early depictions

Before the 1800s,
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
did not get much attention in fiction writing as a primary
setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
, though it did appear in some stories visiting multiple locations in the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
. The first fictional tour of the planets, the 1656 work ''
Itinerarium exstaticum ''Itinerarium exstaticum quo mundi opificium'' is a 1656 work by the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher. It is an imaginary dialogue in which an angel named Cosmiel takes the narrator, Theodidactus ('taught by God') on a journey through the planets ...
'' by
Athanasius Kircher Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans ...
, portrays Mars as a volcanic wasteland. It also appears briefly in the 1686 work ''
Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds ''Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds'' (french: Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes) is a popular science book by French author Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, published in 1686. Content The work consists of six lessons popularizing ...
'' by Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, but is largely dismissed as uninteresting due to its presumed similarity to Earth. Mars is home to spirits in both the 1758 work '' De Telluribus in Mundo Nostro Solari'' (English title: '' Concerning the Earths in Our Solar System'') by
Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had ...
and the 1765 novel ''
Voyage de Milord Céton dans les Sept Planètes Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by ...
'' by
Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert was an 18th-century French writer. She wrote one of the earliest known works of science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals wi ...
. It later appeared alongside the other planets in the anonymously published 1839 novel '' A Fantastical Excursion into the Planets'' where it is divided between the
Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin litera ...
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
and
Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
, the anonymously published 1873 novel ''
A Narrative of the Travels and Adventures of Paul Aermont among the Planets A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
''—where, unlike the other planets, it is culturally rather similar to Earth—and the 1883 novel ''
Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds ''Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds'' is an 1883 science fiction novel by Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, a Polish-English curate, author, and historian. The book is an expanded version of Lach-Szyrma's earlier work '' A Voice from Another ...
'' by
W. S. Lach-Szyrma The Reverend Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, M.A., F.R.H.S. (25 December 1841 – 25 June 1915) was a British curate, historian and science fiction writer. He is credited as one of the first science fiction writers to use the word "Martian ...
where a visitor from
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
relates the details of Martian society to Earthlings. Mars became the most popular extraterrestrial location in fiction in the late 1800s as it became clear that the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
was devoid of life. A recurring theme in this time period was that of
reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
on Mars, reflecting an upswing in interest in the
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
in general and in relation to Mars in particular. Humans are reborn on Mars in the 1889 novel '' Uranie'' by
Camille Flammarion Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction ...
as a form of
afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
, the 1896 novel '' Daybreak: The Story of an Old World'' by James Cowan depicts
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
reincarnated there, and the protagonist of the 1903 novel ''
The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' by
Louis Pope Gratacap Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...
receives a message in
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
from his deceased father on Mars. Another trope introduced during this time is Mars having a different local name such as Glintan in the 1889 novel '' Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet'' by
Hugh MacColl Hugh MacColl (before April 1885 spelled as Hugh McColl; 1831–1909) was a Scottish mathematician, logician and novelist. Life MacColl was the youngest son of a poor Highland family that was at least partly Gaelic-speaking. Hugh's father died w ...
, Oron in the 1892 novel '' Messages from Mars, By Aid of the Telescope Plant'' by
Robert D. Braine The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
, and
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
in the 1912 novel ''
A Princess of Mars ''A Princess of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It was first serialized in the pulp magazine ''All-Story Magazine'' from February–July, 1912. Full of swordplay and dari ...
'' by
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
. This would carry on to later works such as the 1938 novel ''
Out of the Silent Planet ''Out of the Silent Planet'' is a science fiction novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, first published in 1938 by John Lane, The Bodley Head. Two sequels were published in 1943 and 1945, completing the ''Space Trilogy''. Plot While on a ...
'' by
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
which refers to the planet as Malacandra. Several stories also depict Martians speaking Earth languages and provide explanations of varying levels of preposterousness: in the 1899 novel '' Pharaoh's Broker'' by
Ellsworth Douglass Ellsworth may refer to: People *Ellsworth (surname) *Ellsworth P. Bertholf, US Coast Guard commodore *Ellsworth B. Buck, American politician *Ellsworth Bunker, American diplomat *Ellsworth Burnett, American politician *Ellsworth Cunningham, also k ...
they speak
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
as Mars goes through the same historical phases as Earth with a delay of a few thousand years and currently corresponds to the captivity of the Israelites in
Biblical Egypt Biblical Egypt (; ''Mīṣrāyīm''), or Mizraim, is a theological term used by historians and scholars to differentiate between Ancient Egypt as it is portrayed in Judeo-Christian texts and what is known about the region based on archaeological e ...
, in the 1901 novel '' A Honeymoon in Space'' by
George Griffith George Griffith (1857–1906), full name George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazin ...
they speak
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
because they acknowledge it as the "most convenient" language of all, and in the 1920 novel ''
A Trip to Mars ''Himmelskibet'', ''Excelsior'' / ''A Trip to Mars'' / ''Das Himmelschiff'' is a 1918 Danish film about a trip to Mars. In 2006, the film was restored and re-released on DVD by the Danish Film Institute. Phil Hardy says it is "the film that mark ...
'' by Marcianus Rossi they speak
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as a result of having been taught the language by a
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
who was flung into space by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79. Martians were often portrayed as existing within a
racial hierarchy A racial hierarchy is a system of stratification that is based on the belief that some racial groups are superior to other racial groups. At various points of history, racial hierarchies have featured in societies, often being formally institut ...
: the 1895 novel '' Journey to Mars'' by Gustavus W. Pope features Martians with different skin colours (red, blue, and yellow) subject to strict
anti-miscegenation laws Anti-miscegenation laws or miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalization, criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different R ...
, Rossi's ''A Trip to Mars'' sees one portion of the Martian population described as "our inferior race, the same as your terrestrian
negroes In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
", and Burroughs' ''Barsoom'' series has red, green, yellow, and black Martians, with a white race that was responsible for the previous advanced civilization on Mars now extinct.


Means of travel

The issue of how humans would get to Mars was addressed in various ways: when not travelling there via spaceship as in the 1911 novel '' To Mars via the Moon: An Astronomical Story'' by Mark Wicks, they might use a
flying carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination. In literature One ...
as in the 1905 novel '' Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation'' by
Edwin Lester Arnold Edwin Lester Linden Arnold (14 May 1857 – 1 March 1935) was an English author. Most of his works were issued under his working name of Edwin Lester Arnold. Life and literary career Arnold was born in Swanscombe, Kent, as son of Sir Edwin Arnol ...
, visit in a dream as in the 1899 play '' A Message from Mars'' by
Richard Ganthony Richard Ganthony (1856–1924) was an actor and playwright. He is best known as the author of the drama '' A Message from Mars'', which premiered in 1899. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, in 1856, Richard Ganthony spent most of his career in t ...
, teleport via
astral projection Astral projection (also known as astral travel) is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an " astral body" through which consciousness can functio ...
as in the 1912 novel ''A Princess of Mars'' by Edgar Rice Burroughs, or use a long-range communication device while staying on Earth as in the 1892 novel ''Messages from Mars, By Aid of the Telescope Plant'' by Robert D. Braine.
Anti-gravity Anti-gravity (also known as non-gravitational field) is a hypothetical phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to ...
is employed in the 1880 novel ''
Across the Zodiac ''Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record'' (1880) is a science fiction novel by Percy Greg, who has been credited as an originator of the sword and planet subgenre of science fiction. Plot The book details the creation and use of a ...
'' by
Percy Greg Percy Greg (7 January 1836 Bury – 24 December 1889, Chelsea), son of William Rathbone Greg, was an English writer. Percy Greg, like his father, wrote about politics, but his views were violently reactionary: his ''History of the United States t ...
and the 1890 novel ''
A Plunge into Space ''A Plunge into Space'' is an 1890 science fiction novel by Irish author Robert Cromie. It describes a voyage to Mars, where Earthlings find a utopia that is so perfect as to be boring. It received mostly positive reviews upon release and likel ...
'' by
Robert Cromie Robert Cromie (1855–1907) was a Northern Irish journalist and novelist. Early life and family Robert Cromie was the third son of Dr. Cromie J.P., of Clough, the local registrar of births and deaths and ruling elder of Clough Presbyterian chu ...
. Occasionally, the method of transport is not addressed at all. Some stories take the opposite approach of having Martians come to Earth; examples include 1891 novel '' The Man from Mars: His Morals, Politics and Religion'' by Thomas Blot (pseudonym of William Simpson) and the 1893 novel ''
A Cityless and Countryless World A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
'' by Henry Olerich.


Canals

History of Mars observation#Martian canals, During the 1877 opposition of Mars, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli announced the discovery of linear structures he dubbed ''canali'' (literally "channels", but widely translated as "canals") on the Martian surface. These were generally interpreted—by those who accepted their existence—as waterways, and they made their earliest appearance in fiction in the anonymously published 1883 novel ''Politics and Life in Mars'', where the Martians live in the water. Schiaparelli's observations inspired Percival Lowell to speculate that these were artificial constructs and write a series of non-fiction books—''Mars'' in 1895, ''Mars and Its Canals'' in 1906, and ''Mars as the Abode of Life'' in 1908—popularizing the idea. Canals became a feature of romantic portrayals of Mars such as the 1912 novel ''A Princess of Mars'' by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Works that did not depict any waterways on Mars typically explained the appearance of straight lines on the surface in some other way, such as simooms or large tracts of vegetation. While they quickly fell out of favour as a serious scientific theory, largely as a result of higher-quality telescopic observations by astronomers such as E. M. Antoniadi failing to detect them, canals continued to make sporadic appearances in fiction in works such as the 1938 novel ''Out of the Silent Planet'' by C. S. Lewis and the 1949 novel ''Red Planet (novel), Red Planet'' by Robert A. Heinlein until the Mars flyby, flyby of Mars by Mariner 4 in 1965 conclusively determined that they were mere optical illusions.


Utopias

Because History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses, early versions of the nebular hypothesis of Formation and evolution of the Solar System, Solar System formation held that the planets were formed sequentially starting at the outermost planets, some authors envisioned Mars as an older and more mature world than the Earth, and it became the setting for a large number of Utopian and dystopian fiction, utopian works of fiction. This genre made up the majority of stories about Mars in the late 1800s and continued to be represented through the early 1900s. The earliest of these works—as well as the first work of science fiction set primarily on Mars—was the 1880 novel ''Across the Zodiac'' by Percy Greg. The 1887 novel ''Bellona's Husband: A Romance'' by William James Roe portrays a Martian society where everyone ages backwards. The 1890 novel ''A Plunge into Space'' by Robert Cromie depicts a society that is so advanced that life there has become dull, and as a result the humans who visit succumb to boredom and leave ahead of schedule—to the approval of the Martians, who have come to view them as a corrupting influence. The 1892 novel ''Messages from Mars, By Aid of the Telescope Plant'' by Robert D. Braine is unusual in portraying a completely rural Martian utopia without any cities. An early work of feminist science fiction, the 1893 novel ''Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance'' by Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Robinson Merchant (writing jointly as "Two Women of the West"), depicts a man from Earth visiting two egalitarian society, egalitarian societies on Mars: one where women have adopted male vices and one where equality has brought out everyone's best qualities. The 1897 novel ''Two Planets, Auf zwei Planeten'' by Kurd Lasswitz contrasts a utopian society on Mars with that society's Colonialism, colonialist actions on Earth. The book was translated into several languages and was highly influential in Continental Europe, including inspiring rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, but did not receive a translation into English until the 1970s which limited its impact in the Anglosphere. The 1910 novel ''The Man from Mars, Or Service for Service's Sake'' by Henry Wallace Dowding portrays a civilization on Mars based on a variation on Christianity where Genesis creation narrative, woman was created first. In Russian science fiction, Mars became the setting for Socialism, socialist utopias and revolutions. The 1908 novel ''Red Star (novel), Red Star'' by Alexander Bogdanov is the primary example of this, and inspired numerous others. ''Red Star'' portrays a socialist society on Mars from the perspective of a Russian Bolsheviks, Bolshevik invited there, where the Class conflict, struggle between classes has been replaced with a common struggle against the harshness of nature. The 1913 prequel ''Engineer Menni'', also by Bogdanov, is set several centuries earlier and serves as an origin story for the Martian society by detailing the events of the revolution that brought it about. Another prominent example is the 1922 novel ''Aelita (novel), Aelita'' by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy—along with its Aelita, 1924 film adaptation, the earliest Soviet science fiction film—which adapts the story of the 1905 Russian Revolution to the Martian surface. ''Red Star'' and ''Aelita'' are in some ways opposites. ''Red Star'', written between the unsuccessful 1905 Russian Revolution and the successful Russian Revolution, 1917 Russian Revolution, sees Mars as a socialist utopia that Earth can learn from, whereas in ''Aelita'' the socialist revolution is instead exported from the early Soviet Russia to Mars. ''Red Star'' depicts a utopia on Mars, in contrast to the dystopia initially found on Mars in ''Aelita''—though both are Technocracy, technocracies. ''Red Star'' is a sincere and idealistic work of traditional utopian fiction, whereas ''Aelita'' is a parody.


''The War of the Worlds''

The 1897 novel ''The War of the Worlds'' by
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
alien invasion The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people ...
of
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
by Mars in search of resources, represented a turning point in Martian fiction. Rather than being portrayed as essentially human, the Martians have a completely inhuman appearance and cannot be communicated with. Rather than being noble creatures to emulate, the Martians dispassionately kill and exploit the Earthlings like livestock—a critique of contemporary British colonialism in general and its devastating effects on the Aboriginal Tasmanians in particular. The novel set the tone for the majority of the science-fictional depictions of Mars in the decades that followed in portraying the Martians as malevolent and Mars as a dying world. Beyond Martian fiction, the novel had a large influence on the broader science fiction genre, and inspired rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard. Says Bud Webster, "It's impossible to overstate the importance of ''The War of the Worlds'' and the influence it's had over the years." An unauthorized sequel—''Edison's Conquest of Mars'' by Garrett P. Serviss—was released in 1898. Wells' story gained further notoriety in 1938 when The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama), a radio adaptation by Orson Welles in the style of a news broadcast was mistaken for the real thing by some listeners in the US, leading to panic; less famously, a 1949 broadcast in Quito, Ecuador similarly resulted in a riot. Several additional List of works based on The War of the Worlds#Sequels by other authors, sequels by other authors have been written since, including the 1975 novel ''Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds'' by Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman, the 1976 novel ''The Second War of the Worlds'' by George H. Smith (fiction author), George H. Smith, the 1976 novel ''The Space Machine'' by Christopher Priest (novelist), Christopher Priest, the 2002 short story "Ulla, Ulla" by Eric Brown (writer), Eric Brown, and the 2017 novel ''The Massacre of Mankind'' by Stephen Baxter (author), Stephen Baxter.


Life on Mars

The term ''Martians'' typically refers to inhabitants of Mars that are similar to humans in terms of having such things as language and civilization, though it is also occasionally used to refer to Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials in general. These inhabitants of Mars have variously been depicted as enlightened, evil, and decadent. Martians have also been equated with humans in different ways. They are the descendants of humans from Earth in some works such as the 1889 novel '' Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet'' by
Hugh MacColl Hugh MacColl (before April 1885 spelled as Hugh McColl; 1831–1909) was a Scottish mathematician, logician and novelist. Life MacColl was the youngest son of a poor Highland family that was at least partly Gaelic-speaking. Hugh's father died w ...
, where a close approach between Mars and Earth in the past allowed some humans to get to Mars, and the 1922 novel ''Aelita (novel), Aelita'' by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy where they are descended from inhabitants of the lost civilization of Atlantis. Conversely, humans are revealed to be the descendants of Martians in the 1954 short story "Survey Team" by Philip K. Dick. Human settlers take on the new identity of Martians in the 1946 short story "The Million Year Picnic" by
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
(later included in the 1950 fix-up novel ''
The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
''), and this theme of "becoming Martians" came to be a recurring motif in Martian fiction toward the end of the century.


Enlightened

The portrayal of Martians as superior to Earthlings appeared throughout the
utopian fiction Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to ...
of the late 1800s. In-depth treatment of the nuances of the concept was pioneered by Kurd Lasswitz with the 1897 novel ''Two Planets, Auf zwei Planeten'', wherein the Martians visit Earth to share their more advanced knowledge with humans and gradually end up acting as an occupying colonial power. Martians sharing wisdom or knowledge with humans is a recurring element in these stories, and some works such as the 1952 novel ''David Starr, Space Ranger'' by Isaac Asimov depict Martians sharing their advanced technology with the inhabitants of Earth. Several depictions of enlightened Martians have a religious dimension: in the 1938 novel ''
Out of the Silent Planet ''Out of the Silent Planet'' is a science fiction novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, first published in 1938 by John Lane, The Bodley Head. Two sequels were published in 1943 and 1945, completing the ''Space Trilogy''. Plot While on a ...
'' by
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
, Martians are depicted as Christian beings free from original sin, the Martian Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Klaatu who visits Earth in the 1951 film ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a Christ figure, and the 1961 novel ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' by Robert A. Heinlein revolves around a human raised by Martians who brings their religion to Earth as a prophet. In comics, the superhero Martian Manhunter first appeared in 1955. In the 1956 novel ''No Man Friday'' by Rex Gordon, an astronaut stranded on Mars encounters pacifist Martians and feels compelled to omit the human history of warfare lest they think of humans as savage creatures akin to cannibals.


Evil

The seminal depiction of Martians as evil creatures was the 1897 novel ''
The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' by
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
This characterization dominated the pulp era of science fiction, appearing in works such as the 1928 short story "The Menace of Mars" by Clare Winger Harris, the 1931 short story "Monsters of Mars" by Edmond Hamilton, and the 1935 short story "Mars Colonizes" by Miles J. Breuer. It quickly became regarded as a cliché and inspired a kind of countermovement that portrayed Martians as meek in works like the 1933 short story "The Forgotten Man of Space" by P. Schuyler Miller and the 1934 short story "Old Faithful (short story), Old Faithful" by Raymond Z. Gallun. Outside of the pulps, the
alien invasion The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people ...
theme pioneered by Wells appeared in Olaf Stapledon's 1930 novel ''Last and First Men''—with the twist that the invading Martians are cloud-borne and microscopic, and neither aliens nor humans recognize the other as a sentient species. In film, this theme gained popularity in 1953 with the releases of ''The War of the Worlds (1953 film), The War of the Worlds'' and ''Invaders from Mars (1953 film), Invaders from Mars''; later films about Martian invasions of Earth include the 1954 film ''Devil Girl from Mars'', the 1962 film ''The Day Mars Invaded Earth'', a Invaders from Mars (1986 film), 1986 remake of ''Invaders from Mars'' and List of works based on The War of the Worlds#Adaptions, three different adaptations of ''The War of the Worlds'' in 2005. Martians attacking humans who come to Mars appear in the 1948 short story "Mars Is Heaven!" by Ray Bradbury (later revised and included in ''The Martian Chronicles'' as "The Third Expedition"), where they use Telepathy, telepathic abilities to impersonate the humans' deceased loved ones before killing them. Comical portrayals of evil Martians appear in the 1954 novel ''Martians, Go Home'' by Fredric Brown, where they are little green men who wreak havoc by exposing secrets and lies; in the form of the cartoon character Marvin the Martian introduced in the 1948 short "Haredevil Hare", who seeks to destroy Earth to get a better view of Venus; and in the 1996 film ''Mars Attacks!'', a pastiche of History of science fiction films#Post-War and 1950s, 1950s alien invasion films.


Decadent

Martians characterized by decadence were first portrayed in the 1905 novel '' Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation'' by
Edwin Lester Arnold Edwin Lester Linden Arnold (14 May 1857 – 1 March 1935) was an English author. Most of his works were issued under his working name of Edwin Lester Arnold. Life and literary career Arnold was born in Swanscombe, Kent, as son of Sir Edwin Arnol ...
, one of the earliest examples of the planetary romance subgenre. The idea was developed further and popularized by
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
in the 1912–1943 ''
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
'' series starting with ''
A Princess of Mars ''A Princess of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It was first serialized in the pulp magazine ''All-Story Magazine'' from February–July, 1912. Full of swordplay and dari ...
''. Burroughs presents a Mars in need of human intervention to regain its vitality, a place where violence has replaced sexual desire. This version of Mars functions as a kind of stand-in for the bygone American frontier, where protagonist John Carter of Mars, John Carter—a Confederate States Army, Confederate veteran of the American Civil War who is made Superhuman strength, superhumanly strong by the lower gravity of Mars—encounters indigenous Martians representing Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans. Burroughs' vision of Mars would go on to have an influence approaching but not quite reaching Wells', inspiring among others C. L. Moore's stories about Northwest Smith starting with the 1933 short story "Shambleau". Another author who followed Burroughs' lead in the decadent portrayal of Mars and its inhabitants—while updating the politics to reflect shifting attitudes toward colonialism and imperialism in the intervening years—was
Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goo ...
in works such as the 1940 short story "Martian Quest" and the 1944 novel ''Shadow Over Mars'', as well as the stories about Eric John Stark including the 1949 short story "Queen of the Martian Catacombs" and the 1951 short story "Black Amazon of Mars" (later expanded into the 1964 novels ''The Secret of Sinharat'' and ''People of the Talisman'', respectively). In the 1950 film ''Rocketship X-M'', Martians are depicted as disfigured cavepeople inhabiting a barren wasteland, descendants of the few survivors of a nuclear holocaust, while in the 1963 novel ''The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel), The Man Who Fell to Earth'' by Walter Tevis a survivor of nuclear holocaust on Mars comes to Earth for refuge but finds it to be similarly corrupt and degenerate. Inverting the premise of Heinlein's ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', the 1963 short story "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" by Roger Zelazny sees decadent Martians visited by a preacher from Earth.


Past and non-humanoid life

In some stories where Mars is not inhabited by humanoid lifeforms, it used to be in the past or is inhabited by other types of lifeforms. The ruins of extinct Martian civilizations are depicted in the 1943 short story "Lost Art (short story), Lost Art" by George O. Smith where their perpetual motion machine is recreated and the 1957 short story "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper where their fifty-thousand-year-old language is Decipherment, deciphered, while the 1933 novel ''The Outlaws of Mars'' by Otis Adelbert Kline and the 1949 novel ''The Sword of Rhiannon'' by Leigh Brackett employ time travel to set stories in the past when Mars was still alive. The 1934 short story "
A Martian Odyssey "A Martian Odyssey" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the July 1934 issue of ''Wonder Stories''. It was Weinbaum's second published story (in 1933 he had sold a romantic novel, ''The ...
" by Stanley G. Weinbaum broke new ground in portraying an entire Martian ecosystem wholly unlike that of Earth—inhabited by various species that are alien in anatomy and inscrutable in behaviour—and in depicting extraterrestrial life that is non-human and intelligent without being hostile. One Martian creature called Tweel (A Martian Odyssey), Tweel is found to be intelligent, but have thought processes so inhuman that it is impossible for the alien and the human it encounters to learn each other's languages, and they can only communicate rudimentarily through the universal language of mathematics. Isaac Asimov would later say that this story met the challenge John W. Campbell made to science fiction writers in the 1940s: to write a creature who thinks at least as well as humans, yet not ''like'' humans. Three different species of intelligent lifeforms appear on Mars in C. S. Lewis' 1938 novel ''Out of the Silent Planet'', only one of which is humanoid. In the 1943 short story "The Cave (short story), The Cave" by P. Schuyler Miller, various lifeforms endure on Mars long after the civilization that used to exist there has driven itself to extinction through ecological collapse. The 1951 novel ''The Sands of Mars'' by Arthur C. Clarke features some indigenous life in the form of Oxygen production, oxygen-producing plants and Martian creatures resembling Earth marsupials, but otherwise depicts a mostly desolate environment—reflecting then-emerging data about the scarcity of life-sustaining resources on Mars. Other novels of the 1950s likewise limited themselves to rudimentary lifeforms such as lichens and tumbleweed that could conceivably exist in the absence of any appreciable atmosphere or quantities of water.


Lifeless Mars

In light of the ''Mariner program, Mariner'' and ''Viking program, Viking'' probes to Mars between 1965 and 1976 revealing the planet's inhospitable conditions, almost all fiction started to portray Mars as a lifeless world. The disappointment of finding Mars to be hostile to life is reflected in the 1970 novel ''The Earth Is Near'' by Luděk Pešek, which depicts the members of an Astrobiology, astrobiological expedition on Mars driven to despair by the realization that their search for life there is futile. A handful of authors still found ways to place life on the red planet: microbial life exists on Mars in the 1977 novel ''The Martian Inca'' by Ian Watson (author), Ian Watson, and intelligent life is found in hibernation there in the 1977 short story "In the Hall of the Martian Kings" by John Varley (author), John Varley. By the turn of the millennium, the idea of microbial life on Mars gained popularity, appearing in the 1999 novel ''The Martian Race'' by Gregory Benford and the 2001 novel ''The Secret of Life (novel), The Secret of Life'' by Paul J. McAuley.


Human survival

As stories about an inhabited Mars fell out of favour in the mid-1900s amid mounting evidence of the planet's inhospitable nature, they were replaced by stories about enduring the harsh conditions of the planet. Themes in this tradition include Space colonization, colonization, terraforming, and pure survival stories.


Colonization

The colonization of Mars became a major theme in science fiction in the 1950s. The central piece of Martian fiction in this era was
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's 1950 fix-up novel ''
The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
'', which contains a series of loosely connected stories depicting the first few decades of human efforts to colonize Mars. Unlike later works on this theme, ''The Martian Chronicles'' makes no attempt at realism (Mars has a breathable atmosphere, for instance, even though spectrographic analysis had at that time revealed no detectable amounts of oxygen); Bradbury said that "Mars is a mirror, not a crystal" to be used in fiction for social commentary rather than predicting the future. Contemporary issues touched upon in the book include McCarthyism in "Usher II", Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation and lynching in the United States in "Way in the Middle of the Air", and nuclear anxiety throughout. There are also several allusions to the European colonization of the Americas: the first few missions to Mars in the book encounter Martians, with direct references to both Hernán Cortés and the Trail of Tears, but the indigenous population soon goes extinct due to chickenpox in a parallel to the Virgin soil epidemic, virgin soil epidemics that Native American disease and epidemics, devastated Native American populations as a result of the Columbian exchange. The majority of works about colonizing Mars nevertheless endeavoured to portray the challenges of doing so realistically. The hostile environment of the planet is countered by the colonists bringing life-support systems in works like the 1951 novel ''The Sands of Mars'' by Arthur C. Clarke and the 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, while the early colonists during the centuries-long terraforming process in the 1953 short story "Crucifixus Etiam" by Walter M. Miller Jr. are dependent on Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a machine that oxygenates their blood from the thin atmosphere, and the scarcity of oxygen even after generations of terraforming forces the colonists to live in a domed city in the 1953 novel ''Police Your Planet'' by Lester del Rey. In the 1955 fix-up novel ''Alien Dust'' by Edwin Charles Tubb, colonists are unable to return to a life on Earth because inhaling the Martian dust has given them pneumoconiosis and the lower gravity has Muscle atrophy, atrophied their muscles. Mars colonies seeking independence from or outright revolting against Earth is a recurring motif; in del Rey's ''Police Your Planet'' a revolution is precipitated by Earth using unrest against the colony's corrupt mayor as a pretext for bringing Mars under firmer Terran control, and in Tubb's ''Alien Dust'' the colonists Nuclear blackmail, threaten Earth with nuclear weapons unless their demands for necessary resources are met. In the 1952 short story "The Martian Way" by Isaac Asimov, Martian colonists Space mining, extract water from the rings of Saturn so as not to depend on importing water from Earth. Besides direct conflicts with Earth, Mars colonies get other kinds of unfavourable treatment in several works. Mars is a dilapidated colony and neglected in favour of locations outside of the Solar System in the 1967 novel ''Born Under Mars'' by John Brunner (author), John Brunner, a place where political dissidents and criminals are exiled in ''Police Your Planet'', and the site of an outright prison colony in the 1966 novel ''Farewell, Earth's Bliss'' by David G. Compton.


Terraforming

Clarke's ''The Sands of Mars'' features one of the earliest depictions of Terraforming of Mars, terraforming Mars to make it more hospitable to human life; in the novel, the atmosphere of Mars is made breathable by plants that release Oxide mineral, oxygen from minerals in the Martian soil, and the Climate of Mars, climate is improved by creating an artificial sun. The theme appeared occasionally in other 1950s works like the aforementioned "Crucifixus Etiam" and ''Police Your Planet'', but largely fell out of favour in the 1960s as the scale of the associated challenges became apparent. A resurgence of popularity of the terraforming theme began to emerge in the late 1970s in light of data from the ''Viking program, Viking'' probes suggesting that there are substantial quantities of non-liquid and sub-surface water on Mars; among the earliest such works are the 1977 novel ''The Martian Inca'' by Ian Watson (author), Ian Watson and the 1978 novel ''A Double Shadow'' by Frederick Turner (poet), Frederick Turner. Works depicting the terraforming of Mars continued to appear throughout the 1980s. The 1984 novel ''The Greening of Mars'' by James Lovelock and Michael Allaby, a study on how Mars might be settled and terraformed presented in the form of a fiction narrative, was influential on science and fiction alike.
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...
was an early prolific writer on the subject with the 1982 short story "Exploring Fossil Canyon", the 1984 novel ''Icehenge'', and the 1985 short story "Green Mars (novella), Green Mars". Turner revisited the concept in 1988 with ''Genesis (poem), Genesis'', a 10,000-line Epic poetry, epic poem written in iambic pentameter, and Ian McDonald (British author), Ian McDonald combined terraforming with Magic realism, magical realism in the 1988 novel ''Desolation Road''. By the 1990s, terraforming had become the predominant theme in Martian fiction. Various methods for accomplishing it were depicted, including ancient alien artefacts in the 1990 film ''Total Recall (1990 film), Total Recall'' (a loose adaptation of Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale") and the 1997 novel ''Mars Underground (novel), Mars Underground'' by William Kenneth Hartmann, utilizing indigenous animal lifeforms in the 1991 novel ''The Martian Rainbow'' by Robert L. Forward, and relocating the entire planet to a new Planetary system, solar system in the 1993 novel ''Moving Mars'' by Greg Bear. The 1993 novel ''Red Dust (McAuley novel), Red Dust'' by Paul J. McAuley portrays Mars in the process of reverting to its natural state after an abandoned attempt at terraforming it. With a Mars settled primarily by China, ''Red Dust'' also belongs to a tradition of portraying a multicultural Mars that developed parallel to the rise to prominence of the terraforming theme. Other such works include the 1989 novel ''Crescent in the Sky'' by Donald Moffitt, where Arabs apply their experience with surviving in desert conditions to living in their new caliphate on a partially terraformed Mars, and the 1991 novel ''The Martian Viking'' by Tim Sullivan (writer), Tim Sullivan where Mars is terraformed by Geats led by Hygelac. The most prominent work of fiction dealing with the subject of terraforming Mars is the ''Mars'' trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (consisting of the novels ''Red Mars'' from 1992, ''Green Mars'' from 1993, and ''Blue Mars'' from 1996), a hard science fiction story of a United Nations project wherein 100 carefully selected scientists are sent to Mars to start the first settlement there. The series explores in depth the various practical and ideological considerations involved, the principal one being whether to turn Mars "Green" by terraforming or keep it in its pristine "Red" state. Other major topics include the social and economic organization of the emerging Martian society and its political relationship to Earth and the Multinational corporation, multinational economic interests that finance the mission, revisiting the earlier themes of Mars as a setting for utopia—albeit in this case one in the making rather than a pre-existing one—and Martian struggle for independence from Earth. Alternatives to terraforming have also been explored. The opposite approach of modifying humans to adapt them to the existing environment, known as pantropy, appears in the 1976 novel ''Man Plus'' by Frederik Pohl but has otherwise been sparsely depicted. The conflict between pantropy and terraforming is explored in the 1994 novel ''Climbing Olympus'' by Kevin J. Anderson, as the humans that have been "areoformed" to survive on Mars do not wish the planet to be altered to accommodate unmodified humans at their expense. Other works where terraforming is eschewed in favour of alternatives include the 1996 novel ''River of Dust'' by Alexander Jablokov, where the settlers create a liveable environment by burrowing underground.


Robinsonades

Martian robinsonades—stories of astronauts stranded on Mars—emerged in the 1950s with works such as the 1952 novel ''Marooned on Mars'' by Lester del Rey and the 1956 novel ''No Man Friday'' by Rex Gordon. They remained popular throughout the 1960s; examples include the 1966 novel ''Welcome to Mars'' by James Blish and the 1964 film ''Robinson Crusoe on Mars''. The subgenre was later revisited with the 2011 novel ''The Martian (Weir novel), The Martian'' by Andy Weir and its The Martian (film), 2015 film adaptation.


Nostalgic depictions

While most stories by the middle of the century acknowledged that advances in planetary science had rendered previous notions about the conditions of Mars obsolete and portrayed the planet accordingly, some continued to depict a romantic version of Mars rather than a realistic one. Besides the stories of
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's 1950 fix-up novel ''
The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
'', another early example of this was the 1949 novel ''Red Planet (novel), Red Planet'' by Robert A. Heinlein where Mars has a breathable atmosphere, a diverse ecosystem including sentient Martians, and Lowellian canals. Martian canals remained a prominent symbol of this backward-looking vision of Mars, appearing even in comparatively highbrow science fiction works like the 1963 novel ''The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel), The Man Who Fell to Earth'' by Walter Tevis and the 1964 novel ''Martian Time-Slip'' by Philip K. Dick. Some works attempted to reconcile both visions of Mars, one example being the 1952 novel ''Marooned on Mars'' by Lester del Rey where the presumed canals turn out to be rows of vegetables and the only animal life is primitive. As the Space Age commenced the divide between portraying Mars as it was and as it had previously been imagined deepened, and the discoveries of Mariner 4 in 1965 solidified it. Some authors simply ignored the scientific findings, such as Lin Carter who included intelligent Martians in the 1973 novel ''The Man Who Loved Mars'', and
Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goo ...
who declared in the foreword to ''The Coming of the Terrans'' (a 1967 collection of earlier short stories) that "in the affairs of men and Martians, mere fact runs a poor second to Truth, which is mighty and shall prevail". Others were cognizant of them and used various workarounds: Frank Herbert invented the fictional Extrasolar Planet, extrasolar Mars-like planet Arrakis for the 1965 novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' rather than setting the story on Mars, Robert F. Young set the 1979 short story "The First Mars Mission" in 1957 so as not to have to take the findings of Mariner 4 into account, and Colin Greenland set the 1993 novel ''Harm's Way (Greenland novel), Harm's Way'' in the 1800s with corresponding scientific concepts like the luminiferous aether. The urge to recapture the romantic vision of Mars is reflected as part of the story in the 1968 novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' by Philip K. Dick, where the people living on a desolate Mars enjoy reading old stories about the lifeful Mars that never was. Following the arrival of the ''Viking program, Viking'' probes in 1976, the so-called "Face on Mars" superseded the Martian canals as the most central symbol of nostalgic depictions of Mars. The "Face" is a rock formation in the Cydonia (Mars), Cydonia region of Mars first photographed by the ''Viking 1'' orbiter under conditions that made it resemble a human face; higher-quality photographs taken by subsequent probes under different lighting conditions revealed this to be a case of pareidolia. It was popularized by Richard C. Hoagland, who interpreted it as an artificial construction by intelligent extraterrestrials, and has appeared in works of fiction including the 1992 novel ''Labyrinth of Night'' by Allen Steele, the 1995 short story "The Great Martian Pyramid Hoax" by Jerry Oltion, and the 1998 novel ''Semper Mars'' by Ian Douglas (author), Ian Douglas. Outside of literature, it has made appearances in Space (The X-Files), a 1993 episode of ''The X-Files'', the 2000 film ''Mission to Mars'', and Where the Buggalo Roam, a 2002 episode of the animated television show ''Futurama''. Deliberately nostalgic homages to older works have continued to appear through the turn of the millennium. In the 1999 novel ''Rainbow Mars'' by Larry Niven, a Time travel in fiction, time traveller goes to visit Mars' past but instead appears in the Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universe of Mars' fictional past and encounters the creations of science fiction authors such as
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
. Stories by various authors collected in Peter Crowther's 2002 anthology ''Mars Probes'' pay tribute to the works of Stanley G. Weinbaum and
Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goo ...
, among others. Similarly, the 2013 anthology ''Old Mars'' edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois consists of newly-written stories in the planetary romance style of older stories whose visions of Mars are now outdated; Martin compared it to the common practice of setting Western (genre), Westerns in a romanticized version of the Old West rather than a more realistic one.


First landings

Stories about the first
human mission to Mars The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos. ...
became popular after US president George H. W. Bush Space Exploration Initiative, proposed in 1989 to accomplish this feat by 2019. Among these are the 1992 novel ''Beachhead (novel), Beachhead'' by Jack Williamson and the 1992 novel ''Mars (novel), Mars'' in Ben Bova's Grand Tour (novel series), ''Grand Tour'' series. The concept had earlier appeared in the 1977 film ''Capricorn One'', wherein NASA fakes the Mars landing. The idea was spoofed in the 1990 novel ''Voyage to the Red Planet'' by Terry Bisson, which posits that a mission like that could only get funding by being turned into a movie. Stephen Baxter (author), Stephen Baxter's 1996 novel ''Voyage (novel), Voyage'' depicts an alternate history where US president John F. Kennedy was not Assassination of John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, ultimately leading to the first Mars landing happening in 1986. The 1999 novel ''The Martian Race'' by Gregory Benford adapts the Mars Direct proposal by Robert Zubrin to fiction by depicting a private sector competition to conduct the first crewed Mars landing with a large monetary reward attached. Zubrin would later write a story of his own along the same lines: the 2001 novel ''First Landing''. In a variation on the theme, the 2002 short story "The Old Cosmonaut and the Construction Worker Dream of Mars" by Ian McDonald (British author), Ian McDonald portrays the lingering yearning for Mars in a future where the intended first Mars landing was cancelled and the era of space exploration has come to an end without the dream of a human mission to Mars ever being realized.


Moons

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and
Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites * Elecnor Deimos, a Spanish aerospace company * ...
, which were both discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. The first appearance of the moons of Mars in fiction predates their discovery by a century and a half; the Satire, satirical 1726 novel ''Gulliver's Travels'' by Jonathan Swift includes a mention that the advanced astronomers of Laputa have discovered two Martian moons. The 1752 work ''Micromégas'' by Voltaire likewise mentions two moons of Mars; astronomy historian William Sheehan surmises that Voltaire was inspired by Swift. The moons' small sizes have made them unpopular settings in science fiction, with some exceptions such as the 1955 novel ''Phobos, the Robot Planet'' by Paul Capon and the 2001 short story "Romance with Phobic Variations" by Tom Purdom in the case of Phobos, and the 1936 short story "Crystals of Madness" by D. L. James in the case of Deimos. Phobos is turned into a small star to provide heat and light to Mars in the 1951 novel ''The Sands of Mars'' by Arthur C. Clarke. In the 1955 juvenile novel ''The Secret of the Martian Moons'' by Donald A. Wollheim, they are revealed to be alien spacecraft.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mars In Fiction Fiction set on Mars, Fiction about terrestrial planets