7 best science fiction novels about the Red Planet

News of upcoming expeditions to Mars appears almost every day. What awaits people in its red deserts? Writers have long asked this question (and the answers were rarely comforting). We offer a selection of the seven most interesting and significant works, the action of which is associated with the fourth planet of the solar system. Of course, the list does not purport to be complete, but it may be the first step to the study of literary Mars.

Herbert Wells, War of the Worlds (1897)

In the photo: illustration of Enrique Alvima Correa, 1906

The first novel on the list is an enduring classic that has stood the test of time and a bunch of adaptations. True, the action does not take place on Mars: apparently, his Ilon Mask appeared among the Martians a century and a half earlier than ours, so at the end of the 19th century they arrived on Earth. And, as it quickly became clear, not for tourist purposes. The attempts of the evil Martians to seize the world and the heroic struggle of people with aliens are dedicated to the novel. A curious case is connected with the “War of the Worlds”: gullible farmers took the radio show of the novel for real news and began to prepare for the invasion of the Martians. The work enriched the world culture not only with an immortal plot, but also with the famous "tripods", as well as the knowledge that before traveling to an unfamiliar area it is better to get vaccinated in advance.

Edgar Burroughs, "Princess of Mars" (1912)

In the photo: a shot from the movie "John Carter", dir. Andrew Staton (2012)

Edgar Burroughs is the man who gave Tarzan to the world. But in addition to a series of novels about a powerful jungle inhabitant raised among monkeys, the writer also created the “Martian cycle” - books about the dying civilization of Mars. "Princess of Mars" - the first of the cycle. She talks about how the American Confederate officer John Carter in 1866 after his death moves to a second body on Mars. There, Carter quickly finds out that not everything is calm on the planet. The highly developed civilization of the Red Martians is slowly dying, while warlike nomadic savages are gaining strength, and bloodthirsty mutants are hunting for both. During the adventure, the earthling falls in love with Daya Toris, the princess of the city-state of Helium. By the way, a few years ago a Hollywood film adaptation of history was released, which is called “John Carter”.

Alexey Tolstoy, Aelita (1923)

In the photo: a shot from the film adaptation of "Aelita", dir. Jacob Protazanov (1924)

The novel of the Soviet writer Alexei Tolstoy is a pure product of its time. Travelers from Earth who have reached Mars find there a completely unjust society controlled by a dictator. Despite the fact that the Red Planet! Continuous counter-revolution. But earthlings arrived not from somewhere, but from Soviet Russia. Therefore, they decide to stage a coup, which, however, fails. The daughter of the main Martian villain, who falls in love with the earthly Soviet engineer Losev, is called Aelita. But the romantic line also tragically ends. In 1924, Soviet director Yakov Protazanov filmed a silent black and white film adaptation of Aelita, which became a classic of world cinema and one of the first cinema experiences in the genre of science fiction. In 1937, Tolstoy rewrote the novel as a novel for the youth, in the form of which he is most famous today.

Lao She, Notes on the Cat's Town (1932)

In the photo: Illustration of the artist under the pseudonym Uno Moralez

Chinese writer Lao She uses Mars as a testing ground for his dystopia: crashed on Mars, the astronaut is faced with a local civilization, whose representatives are very reminiscent of cats. Studying the daily life of Martians in Feline City, the capital of their state, the protagonist finds out that the locals are mired in corruption, theft, ignorance, the right of the strong acts here, and everyone does not give a damn about each other. At the same time, the inhabitants of the country boast of their ancient civilization, cultural achievements and glorious history, from which only memory remained, and even that gradually disappears. Lao She in this satirical pamphlet depicts China of his time, exposing the vices of Chinese society, which at the beginning of the 20th century very much resembled the inhabitants of the Cat City.

Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (1950)

Photo: Rollong Stone

Without exaggeration, one of the greatest works of the 20th century is not only in science fiction, but also in literature as a whole. In the novel, consisting of a series of short stories, Bradbury talks about Mars, but talks about people. The story tells of expeditions to the Red Planet and its gradual colonization by earthlings. On Mars, people meet the dying Martian civilization and do not expect how soon they will be in the same boat with it ... Some novel novels will make you laugh, some will touch you, some will strike you with their poetic beauty, but not one will leave you indifferent. If you need to select only one book from this list, it will be Martian Chronicles.

Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of the Titan (1959)

In the photo: illustration by Peter Elson (1985)

The events of the novel of one of the most paradoxical American writers take place not only on Mars, but also on Earth and Saturn’s satellite Titan. Retelling the plot of this book is not easy. It begins with a strange physical paradox, when a space traveler and his dog are smeared at a certain point in space in space and time, and they periodically "get together" on Earth, which leads to their short-term materialization. Further events begin to develop rapidly around the heir to a huge state, with which a series of incredible events take place. As always with Vonnegut, his text itself seems to be spread out in space and time, like an unlucky hero, so you can only collect history together at the end of a roller coaster of a rich plot. And as always, farce here easily turns into a real tragedy.

Andy Weir, The Martian (2011)

In the photo: frame from the movie "Martian", dir. Ridley Scott (2015)

Andy Weir published his debut novel in parts on the Internet. The story of the astronaut Mark Watney, left alone on Mars, so captivated the readers that Weir not only finished the novel, which became a bestseller, but also sold the film rights to Ridley Scott himself. The novel is praised for authenticity, as far as possible within the framework of a work of art. For example, there are no such strong sandstorms with which everything began on the Red Planet. But in general, the geography of Mars and the technical capabilities of the Martian station are described quite accurately (although battles are still going on in the network over whether Watney could grow potatoes on Mars). In any case, the Weyr novel deserves to be included in this list, if only because after many years he again returned the attention of people to space. Children again dream of becoming astronauts, and they are watching the news about the preparation of expeditions to Mars no less than political games. Is this not a victory?