Fourth Planet from the Sun: Tales of Mars from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

With Mars back in the news again, thanks to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers that landed in January 2004, the time seems right to...let you see for yourself how our perceptions and images of Mars have changed over the past 50 years. -from the introductionLong before our robots got there, writers were dreaming about going to Mars. Fourth Planet from the Sun presents twelve tales of the red planet, ranging from planetary romance to scientific realism, by some of the giants of science fiction.There's Ray Bradbury's 1952 story, "The Wilderness," a mood-piece tracing the last day on Earth of two women who are about to follow their men to the Martian frontier. In "Mars is Ours" by Alfred Coppel, a war on the cold and lonely Martian sands exacts a terrible price from the men who fight it. Arthur C. Clarke imagines "Crime on Mars," and follows a burglar who fails to considerone crucial Martian detail. Leigh Brackett takes us to a terraformed Mars where an unwilling visitor is forced to witness the secret rites of the "Purple Priestesses of the Mad Moon." In Roger Zelazny's classic "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," an arrogant Terran poet tries to save the Martians from extinction. The basis of the movie Total Recall, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick tells what happens to a man obsessed with going to Mars.Filled with excitement, mystery and lots of great reading, Fourth Planet from the Sun keeps the dream of the red planet alive. Jacket art by Michael Carroll.