Novels about Mars

[qwsed]

Its time for Mars books. It can be about colonization, excavation, old relics, underground race, terraforming

Mostly centered within our solar system really.

Please if you know any good ones please do tell me.

 

[psikeyhackr]

The Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27354

http://www.lunch.com/reviews/book/U...Til_the_Sands_Run_Red_with_Earther_Blood.html

psik

 

[Hitmouse]

A Princess of Mars & sequels Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Quantum Thief Hannu Rajaniemi

The War of the Worlds HG Wells

 

[Bjorn]

Princess of Mars is Awesome

And did you hear they are making a movie about the Barsoom series? Hopefully they can do Burroughs work justice.

 

[Werthead]

The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is the best place to start.

Moving Mars by Greg Bear (though I didn't think it was one of his best).

Mars and Return to Mars by Ben Bova (a bit meh).

And one of the cleverer books about Mars (title spoiled because it's a spoiler the book is actually set on Mars, which makes recommending it in this thread paradoxical):

Spoiler

Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

 

[Hitmouse]

And did you hear they are making a movie about the Barsoom series? Hopefully they can do Burroughs work justice.

The trailer does not look promising.


The Silver Locusts Ray Bradbury
Red Planet Robert Heinlein
The Coming of the Terrans Leigh Brackett

 

[Waiting]

Red Dust by Paul J. McAuley

 

[jordanlanni]

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and A Martian Odyssey by Stanley Weinbaum were both excellent pieces on Mars. Really set the imagination on fire!

 

[Hitmouse]

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury... Really set the imagination on fire!

AKA The Silver Locusts (see above)

 

[EMMAXIS]

You can't go wrong with Ilium by Dan Simmons. Not only does it take place on Mars, but also in Ancient Greece! How's that for a crazy combination?

 

[mars]

In the Courts of the Crimson Kings - Stirling

 

[Chuffalump]

It's a bit outside the brief but Shield by Poul Anderson. Mostly set on Earth but with some short Martian flashbacks.

 

[megaphage]

Heinlein - Double Star

An entertaining read, although I've always thought the story could have been told just as well without the SF setting.

 

[Hobbit]

This website will be very useful: http://booksonmars.blogspot.com/

and in particular this link: http://booksonmars.blogspot.com/p/library-of-free-mars-reads.html which has 40 free-to-read Mars novels!

Mark

 

[psikeyhackr]

Its time for Mars books. It can be about colonization, excavation, old relics, underground race, terraforming

Here is one that contains a message that is about more than Mars.

Omnilingual by Henry Beam Piper
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/308/omnilingual

psik

 

[psikeyhackr]

The War of the Worlds (1898) HG Wells[/QUOTE]

Earth invasion, allegory of British in India. The story doesn't actually take place on Mars.

A Princess of Mars (1917) & sequels Edgar Rice Burroughs

Usually called science fiction but is actually fantasy. Not as good as the Conan stories which are acknowledged fantasy.

A Martian Odyssey by Stanley Weinbaum were both excellent pieces on Mars. Really set the imagination on fire!

A Martian Odyssey (1934) public domain
http://generation.feedbooks.com/book/2244.pdf

Used an atomic rocket to get to Mars. More scientific than Burroughs.

==== Historical break WWII V2 missle, A-Bomb ====

The Martian Chronicles (1947-50) by Ray Bradbury

Telepathic Martians, humans invading Mars, nuclear war on Earth.

Omnilingual (1957) by Henry Beam Piper
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/308/omnilingual

Extinct Martains, archeology and the universality of science.

This story is scientifically reasonable and has something to say.

==== Historical break Moon landing, Mars probes ====

The Mars Trilogy, (1993,'94,'96) Kim Stanley Robinson

This one is scientifically reasonable and probably annoyingly detailed to some people. I think it is the best in this list though.

Changes in the real world affects what authors know what kind of imaginative projections they choose to create so I put them in chronological order and specified the technological history I thought was important. Weinbaum writing about an atomic rocket in 1934 is curious since the neutron was not discovered until 1932.

psik

 

[Diosces]

This

Just finished reading Quantum Thief, takes place mostly on MARS

 

[Hitmouse]

The War of the Worlds (1898) HG Wells

Earth invasion, allegory of British in India. The story doesn't actually take place on Mars.

OK, Martians in the Home Counties of England.
I can see the allegory for British Imperialism in general, but not the British Raj specifically. Can you elaborate please?

 

[Hobbit]

One I forgot: Labyrinth of Night, by Allen Steele.

Been a while since I read it, but I read it at about the same time as Greg Bear's Moving Mars.

All I can remember is that it was 'Heinleinesque....'

Mark

 

[Werthead]

One I forgot: Labyrinth of Night, by Allen Steele.

Been a while since I read it, but I read it at about the same time as Greg Bear's Moving Mars.

All I can remember is that it was 'Heinleinesque....'

Mark

Oh yeah, I have that one. It's okay. The problem is that it's all about the pyramids of Mars and the Great Face on Mars, which of course have now been completely debunked. Doesn't make the book unenjoyable but it does date it badly.