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

    A Martian Odyssey

    By Stanley G. Weinbaum

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    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
    A Martian Odyssey
    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.

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    • 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

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