Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Martian Odyssey
    A Martian Odyssey
    A Martian Odyssey
    Ebook45 pages41 minutes

    A Martian Odyssey

    By Stanley G. Weinbaum

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This is a classic science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum that was originally published in Wonder Stories in 1934, and remains his best known work. The story centres on a mission to Mars in the 21st century on which one of the scientists crash lands while photographing the landscape. He and finds himself having to walk across the planet's surface to get back to the astronauts, but on his journey he meets a beaked alien who becomes his travelling companion.
    This work is part of our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most acclaimed authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Robert Sheckley. Each publication is complete with a short introduction to the history of science fiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVintage Sci-Fi Classics
    Release dateMar 16, 2018
    ISBN9781528781800
    Author

    Stanley G. Weinbaum

    Né dans le Kentucky en 1902, Stanley G. Weinbaum étudie le génie chimique à l'université du Wisconsin à Milwaukee, mais n'en sort pas diplômé, non plus que Charles A. Lindbergh, qu’il y côtoie. À la suite d'un pari, Weinbaum passe un examen à la place d'un ami et est découvert ; il refuse de réintégrer l'université en 1923. À Milwaukee, il participe aux réunions des Milwaukee Fictioneers, un groupe d'écrivains parmi lesquels Robert Bloch, Ralph Milne Farley, Raymond Palmer, qui fut plus tard rédacteur en chef d'Amazing. Sa carrière littéraire est courte, mais influente. La plupart de ses nouvelles sont publiées dans les années trente par Astounding, Wonder Stories Magazine, ou le fanzine Fantasy Magazine. Il écrit également plusieurs romans de science-fiction ou de fantastique : La Flamme Noire (publié en 1939), Le Nouvel Adam, et Le Cerveau Fou, ainsi que plusieurs romances dont une seule, The Lady Dances, fut jamais publiée. Il meurt d’un cancer du poumon le 14 décembre 1935, âgé de 33 ans.

    Read more from Stanley G. Weinbaum

    Related to A Martian Odyssey

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Literature of Mars: A Brief History

      Apr 27, 2018

      Though Venus is more like Earth in size, Mars is the planet that regularly makes headlines. New ice under its sandy cliffs has been caught on camera, causing more hope that life may have been present at some point in the past. Prominent people like E

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Roots Of Science Fiction

      Sep 2, 2021

      The Roots Of Science Fiction
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sci-fipioneers

      May 14, 2021

      Sci-fipioneers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Flights Of Fantasy

      Jul 1, 2019

      Flights Of Fantasy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Taking The Future As Read

      Jan 27, 2022

      Taking The Future As Read
      10 min read

    • Article

      Objects of Fear and Worship: The Evolution of Aliens in Literature

      Oct 20, 2017

      The sorns are slender and humanoid and are the scientists and thinkers; the hrossa resemble overstretched otters; they are poets and musicians; and the pfifltriggi are the builders, looking like insectile frogs. The post Objects of Fear and Worship:

      6 min read

    • Article

      Editorial

      Nov 2, 2023

      This issue marks another major milestone in the storied history of Fortean Times: exactly 50 years since the appearance of the very first issue of The News (as FT was known for its first 15 issues) in November 1973. We’re certainly delighted – and, w

      5 min read

    • Article

      Looking Backward From the future

      Jun 30, 2020

      Looking Backward From the future
      14 min read

    • Article

      In Defence Of The Dark Ages

      Sep 28, 2023

      In Defence Of The Dark Ages
      8 min read

    • Article

      Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

      Sep 1, 2022

      Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
      9 min read

    • Article

      Miscellany

      Nov 23, 2023

      Miscellany
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Neanderthal In The Mirror

      Mar 18, 2021

      Nobody alive today remembers a time before we knew the Neanderthals. Yet their discovery happened very recently in the wider context of human history – barely five generations back. 1856 is the official Neanderthal “ground zero”, when bones materiali

      9 min read

    • Article

      Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

      Sep 29, 2022

      Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
      9 min read

    • Article

      Ufology: Behind The Curve?

      Apr 20, 2023

      In the late 1980s the interest in alien abductions reached its peak, and the scholarly two-volume UFO Abductions: The Measure of a Mystery by folklorist Thomas Bullard inflamed a debate between those who regarded abductions as real events and those w

      3 min read

    • Article

      History’s 20 Greatest Hoaxes

      Aug 13, 2020

      History’s 20 Greatest Hoaxes
      9 min read

    • Article

      Also On The Bookshelf

      Dec 28, 2021

      The Dublin Railway Murder by Thomas Morris (Harvill Secker, 384 pages, £14.99) In November 1856, George Little, a railway cashier in Dublin, was discovered dead under his desk, his head nearly cleaved from his body, in a blood-spattered room seemingl

      2 min read

    • Article

      5 Great Book Picks for Gift-Giving This Holiday Season

      Dec 7, 2017

      'Inside Animal Hearts and Minds' by Belinda Recio and 'Shahnameh' by A. Ferdowsi are two books that would make ideal gifts this year.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Slouching Towards Dystopia

      Jun 9, 2019

      Slouching Towards Dystopia
      16 min read

    • Article

      2021 Book Of The Year

      Nov 25, 2021

      2021 Book Of The Year
      11 min read

    • Article

      Fall And Rise

      Jun 20, 2021

      Fall And Rise
      4 min read

    • Article

      More Top Picks From 2022

      Nov 24, 2022

      For centuries, volumes about the history of the transatlantic slave trade focused on European abolitionism. But this has changed in recent decades, with scholarship concentrating on American and Caribbean emancipation movements and key figures. In Lo

      4 min read

    • Article

      Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb

      Oct 6, 2022

      Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb
      9 min read

    • Article

      Books Of The Year 2020

      Nov 26, 2020

      Books Of The Year 2020
      10 min read

    • Article

      Miscellany

      Sep 28, 2023

      Miscellany
      17 min read

    • Article

      March Preview: The Millions Most Anticipated (This Month)

      Feb 28, 2023

      We wouldn’t dream of abandoning our vast biannual Most Anticipated Book Previews, but we thought a monthly reminder would be helpful (and give us a chance to note titles we missed the first time around). Here’s what we’re looking out for in March: Ma

      8 min read

    • Article

      Time Makes Ruins Of Us All

      Sep 20, 2023

      Time Makes Ruins Of Us All
      6 min read

    • Article

      2023 Books Of The Year

      Nov 23, 2023

      2023 Books Of The Year
      12 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Martian Odyssey

    4/5

    14 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A fun ramble across Mars meeting various life forms. Mostly light and fun, but also an excellent commentary on the limitations of human beings in understanding the truly alien.

    Book preview

    A Martian Odyssey - Stanley G. Weinbaum

    1.png

    A

    MARTIAN

    ODYSSEY

    BY

    STANLEY G. WEINBAUM

    Copyright © 2017 Read Books Ltd.

    This book is copyright and may not be

    reproduced or copied in any way without

    the express permission of the publisher in writing

    An Introduction to the

    History of Science Fiction

    The origins of the literary genre of science fiction continue to be hotly debated. Some scholars cite recognisable themes as appearing in the first known work of recorded literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, (2000 BCE). Science fiction writer, Pierre Versins (1923-2001), argues that this ancient Sumerian epic poem should be included in the genre due to how it deals with the subjects of human reason and the quest for immortality. It also contains a flood scene that can be seen as resembling apocalyptic science fiction. However, other experts in the field prefer to limit the genre’s scope to the period following the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century, claiming that it was only possible to write science fiction once certain major discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, and physics had been made. Wherever we decide to put the pin in the timeline, it is clear that many of the tropes of what is generally considered to be science fiction have sparked the imagination since the early days of literature.

    One such theme is that of the space ship. A form of this kind of technology can be found in the Hindu epic poetry of India. In the Ramayana (5th to 4th century BCE) Amazing machines called Vimana travel into space, underwater, and even have advanced weaponry that can destroy cities. Time travel was also foreshadowed in such works as Mahabharatha (8th and 9th centuries BCE) in which a king travels to heaven and on his return finds that many ages have passed in his absence.

    The Syrian-Greek writer Lucian (c. CE 125–after CE 180) uses the themes of space travel and alien races to act as mechanisms of satire in True History to make comment on the use of exaggeration within travel literature and debates. These themes are however mainly utilised for comic effect, and as Bryan Reardon, a translator of Lucian comments, it is an account of a fantastic journey – to the moon, the underworld, the belly of a whale, and so forth. It is not really science fiction, although it has sometimes been called that; there is no ‘science’ in it.

    Some elements of the genre can also be identified within One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) (8th-10th century CE) where themes of cosmic travel and immortality appear. Combine this with first millennia tales from Japan, such as Nihongi (720 CE) in which a young fisherman visits an undersea kingdom, staying for three days, only to return home to find himself three hundred years in the future, and it is easy to see that many literary cultures developed themes of what could be called proto-science fiction.

    In the 16th century humanist thinker Thomas More (1478-1535) wrote Utopia (1516) in which he describes a fictional island with a perfect society that he uses to espouse his views on political philosophy. This tale gave the name to the Utopia motif that became a theme in sci-fi writing and together with its antithesis, ‘dystopia’, is still used widely in the genre – most notably in George Orwell’s classic work Nineteen

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1