Inspired by reality
If science has taken giant leaps in the last few decades, sciencefiction has made strides of its own. The genre now includes alternative histories, political comedies and LGBT plotlines set in space.
But sometimes, science learns from fiction. The 1988 novel, Genesis, an Epic
Poem, by Frederick Turner so richly imagined human habitation on Mars that the novel was, for a while, recommended reading at NASA.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s deep, vast chronicle of settling on Mars spans 200 years, three tomes and a companion collection of short stories. His Mars trilogy (1992-1996) and The Martians (1999) tell the story of adapting the terrain, revolution and self-determinism through several characters. There’s hope and despair, and a commitment to scientific development as well as social dynamics.
By the turn of the millennium, scientific discoveries formed much of the basis of fiction. Geoffrey A Landis’s 2000 novel, Mars Crossing, follows an attempt to reach Mars in the 21st century, after two expeditions have failed. Four men and two women must ration supplies, repair life-support systems, find fuel for the return, and trek across the planet to a safer ship. It’s a test of endurance and ingenuity. It’s the kind of novel Andy Weir improved upon in 2011 with The Martian, featuring a botanist and astronaut stranded on Mars, waiting for a ride home.
Mary Robinette Kowal’s 2012 novelette The Lady Astronaut of Mars is more alternative history than sci-fi. A woman who led a Mars expedition 30 years earlier has the rare chance to join a new mission. But it means abandoning her sick husband on Earth. How will she choose?
Despite new missions, some stories remain old-fashioned. The 2013 anthology Old Mars consists of 15 stories that hark to the era before space exploration, when the universe was a source of wonder. A disabled man is the only one who can see the inhabitants of Mars. There are arduous journeys through the dust, alien illnesses and tales of kidnap and rescue, all written by acclaimed writers such as Ian Mcdonald, Liz Williams and Michael Moorcock.