We are entering the last month of the year and it is time for my monthly themed recommendation list and this time I am covering books that take place on Mars. That may sound like an odd one but that really is my only requirement for this particular list. Each book I am going to cover is a book that takes place on Mars. I will say that I also made sure that each of these are sufficiently different that there should still hopefully be something for everybody.
- Out of the Silent Planet
The first one is Out of the Silent Planet by C. S Lewis. It is the first book in his Space Trilogy and is the only one that takes place on Mars. Here’s the thing though, in the book it is referred to as Malacandra instead of Mars but is the same planet. In this story Dr. Ransom is abducted by Weston and Devine and taken to Malacandra where he manages to escape and meet the local inhabitants. It has slight Christian overtones but is otherwise focused on Ransom’s interactions with the locals as he travels around meeting new groups and learning their languages. I picked this one because it deals with someone traveling from Earth to Mars and exploring the planet once they arrive but in this case they are also an unwilling traveler which is not something you frequently see in this type of story.
2. A Princess of Mars
My next choice is older but fairly similar in many ways to my first choice. A Princess of Mars is the first book in the classic science fiction Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This one was picked because it is an enjoyable read as it is more of an action and adventure format even though it is clearly science fiction. It focuses on John Carter and how he accidentally travels to Mars, or Barsoom, shortly after the end of the Civil War. Once there he finds himself becoming acquainted with and learning the language and culture of the green martians and the red martians. Again it deals with someone traveling from Earth to Mars and then exploring upon their arrival but in this case they are dealing with drastically different types of societies and cultures and we have a different type of protagonist. This means that this story has a different feel to it than the previous choice.
3. The Mars Trilogy
My final choice is probably my favorite of the three ones I am listing this month. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. The first book is called Red Mars and it focuses on the early stages of Martian colonization and terraforming efforts. This book is similar to the others in that it is about people traveling from Earth to Mars and then exploring but there are some significant changes as well. The biggest change is that instead of a single traveler there is a whole group of them that travel to Mars together. Another big change is that there are no prior civilizations or occupants for them to interact with so this book, or this series, comes across as being hyper realistic. It also focuses more heavily on the science side of things as it discusses how people would go about theoretically colonizing Mars. I would classify this book as being closer to the hard side of science fiction because of that. This book is also significantly longer than the other two books I listed to reflect that immense amount of detail that is included. These are just three of the books that I have recently read that take place on Mars. Feel free to share books you have read that would also fit this list in the comments.