The Book of Mars

Head of Zeus £30  HB

Mars has intrigued many creative and eloquent individuals over the years, inspiring them to write captivating stories and document exciting discoveries. In The Book of Mars, astronomy writer Stuart Clark brings together 80 written pieces from the past century and a half, combining excerpts of novels and short stories based on Mars by eminent science fiction writers, together with various reports from leading scientists. The book is loosely broken down into six thematic sections and before each piece there is a brief introduction by Clark. These introductions tend to focus on the authors and, while informative, many could have benefitted from additional context by providing, for example, the overall premise of the book that the selected chapters originally came from, or explaining whether the content of scientific texts is still held to be true today (certainly, some of the older scientific texts now seem closer to fiction). Despite this, the range of pieces included, both in genre and age, prove extremely interesting and, at times, positively quirky.

Particularly enjoyable is the variety of short stories featured, from the moving dilemma of Mary Robinette Kowal’s

The Lady Astronaut of Mars, to the oddly amusing reluctant hero in Stephen Bartholomew’s The Hermit of Mars and the gripping archaeological dig described in Henry Beam Piper’s Omnilingual.

The Book of Mars demonstrates perfectly how the Red Planet has and continues to fascinate us, making us strive to explore it further. If you’re interested in Mars – science or fiction – this book is for you. ★★★★★

Penny Wozniakiewicz is a senior lecturer in space science at the University of Kent