Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars

Revamped blog Marooned has new URL

2010-09-08T13:33:00.004-04:00

I've revamped my blog in hopes of providing a more enjoyable experience for all. A different template, larger images, simplified tags and more tools for sharing posts with others. The name of the blog remains Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars but it has a slightly different URL: http://sffbooksonmars.blogspot.com/. It will take me a few days to update the links on the sidebar.

Winner of The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition giveaway!

2010-09-06T19:38:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Terri L. of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who is the proud new owner of my slightly-used copy of the signed, limited edition, 750-page The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (Subterranean Press, 2009). Great job, Terri! Enjoy!

Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” wins Hugo Award

2010-09-06T00:11:00.000-04:00

BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” (2009), which attracted millions of viewers in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, just won the prestigious Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. A science fiction horror set on the Red Planet in the year 2059, “The Waters of Mars” stars British Actor David Tennant as the Doctor and

Reading Barsoom & Llana Jane Burroughs

2010-09-05T12:36:00.009-04:00

If you're a fan of pulp author Edgar Rice Burroughs and his fictional red planet Barsoom, here are some recent links worth checking out. The science fiction blog io9 posted a fascinating four-part series called Reading Barsoom by John Marr:1) How Edgar Rice Burroughs became one of the twentieth century's biggest scifi authors2) A naked princess and slave rebellions in Edgar Rice Burroughs' first

1931 letter to Astounding Stories: "Aren't there any tall girls in your imaginations?"

2010-09-05T00:12:00.002-04:00

Dear Editor:Gr-r-r, now I am mad! I do wish that people who want a regular instruction book of a magazine would kindly refrain from spending their valuable pennies on ours.And if Mr. Johnston of Newark believes us who like A. S. [Astounding Stories] to be morons, why let's be morons! for when ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. I'd like to inform this highly intelligent person that our mag

Events of Martian Rails: Green Mars!

2010-09-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

Martian Rails (2009), the crayon board game manufactured by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of events to which players can respond in order to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:Green Mars! -- Spring comes suddenly to the Southern hemisphere. Due to the eccentricity of the orbit if Mars, the

“The First-Born” -- new health sciences short story by Brian W. Aldiss

2010-09-03T00:04:00.006-04:00

Here’s another new short story written by award-winning British science fiction author Brian W. Aldiss. It’s titled “The First-Born” and it was published earlier this summer in Gateways (Tor, 2010) , an anthology of new, original stories by bestselling SF authors inspired by science fiction great Frederik Pohl and edited by his wife, Elizabeth Anne Hull. Set on an arid Mars settled by bands of

Rogue archivist and other in$ider$ at Public.Resource.Org earn ea$y ca$h

2010-09-02T16:45:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Canadian science fiction author and blogger Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing, I learned all about “10 Rules for Radicals” by rogue archivist Carl Malamud. Apparently, it’s “a must-read for anyone interested in the history or future of universal access, open networks and free societies.” I can’t speak to that, but I did take the time to browse the financial paperwork (IRS Tax Form 990s and

Five Mars SF&F guys who committed suicide

2010-09-02T00:03:00.004-04:00

Guess who?1. James Ashmore Creelman (1894-1941) Hollywood film writer whose credits include King Kong (1933) and The Journey to Mars (1936).2. Thomas Disch (1940-2008) Science fiction author and poet whose works include the children’s book The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1988).3. Gray Morrow (1934-2001) Illustrator of paperback book covers and comics whose works include the cover art for

Cover art: Podkayne of Mars

2010-09-01T00:01:00.002-04:00

Check out this Flickr gallery of cover art portraying Podkayne of Mars, the title character in Robert A. Heinlein’s classic 1963 juvenile novel. More than 25 pieces of beautiful artwork, including covers from Britain, Germany, Finland, Brazil and Japan. Interesting how few covers include both Podkayne and a phallic rocket! I had difficulty determining some of the dates of publication, so

Wanted: Info on Brain W. Aldiss’ new SF story “Finches of War”

2010-08-31T18:02:00.005-04:00

Late last month, ThisIsOxfordshire.com reported that award-winning British science fiction author and artist Brian W. Aldiss has written a new science fiction short story set on Mars. It’s called “Finches of War”. Does anyone have any more information? Thanks.

Dark Horse to reprint John Carter of Mars comics from 1970's Weird Worlds and Tarzan

2010-08-31T12:05:00.006-04:00

Dark Horse Comics is collecting and reprinting the John Carter of Mars stories that were originally published in the 1970's comic books Weird Worlds #1-#7 and Tarzan #207-#209. The forthcoming volume, titled John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds and scheduled to be released in January 2011, features the handsome work of comics legends Marv Wolfman, Murphy Anderson, Gray Morrow, Sal Amendola, Joe

Swedish art: Marsmänniska glass vase

2010-08-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

There’s a beautiful Graal glass vase by Swedish artist Eva Englund (1937-1998) for sale on eBay. Created in 1988, the piece is called "Marsmanniska" ("Martian"). It’s about 8 inches high and 25 inches across at the widest point. Only $4,000. The face on the vase looks similar to ones I have seen on a few European covers of The Martian Chronicles. Cool piece of glass!

New gender switch short story: “Amazon Arena of Mars” by Tara Loughead

2010-08-30T12:06:00.003-04:00

Jekkara Press, the home of The Adventures of Bulays & Ghaavn and The Gender Switch Adventures, has an interesting, free short story titled “Amazon Arena of Mars” (2010). Written by Tara Loughead and dedicated to Leigh Brackett, the Queen of Space Opera and Martian Science Fiction, the story stars Erica Joan Stark, a character based on Brackett’s legendary male character, Eric John Stark. Here are

Retro review: Siskel & Ebert discuss 1996 Sci-Fi spoof Mars Attacks!

2010-08-30T00:01:00.007-04:00

Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review Mars Attacks! (1996), director Tim Burton's science fiction spoof based on the 1962 Topps trading cards. Starring Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Sylvia Sidney and Pam Grier.One thumb up and one thumb down!

The Forge of Mars – 2002 hard SF novel by Bruce Balfour

2010-08-29T12:02:00.014-04:00

The Forge of Mars (2002), a hard science fiction novel by former NASA employee and writer Bruce Balfour.Paperback original (New York: Ace Books, 2002) $6.99. Cover art by Jean Pierre Targete. The blurb from the back cover:A NASA team has discovered alien ruins buried in the canyons of Mars, at the site called Vulcan’s Forge. The first man who touched them died, making them very, very interesting.

Commodities of Martian Rails: Machinery

2010-08-28T02:09:00.002-04:00

Martian Rails (2009), the crayon board game manufactured by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of cool commodities that players can transport to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:Machinery -- The tools and equipment needed to build a society in a harsh land—everything needed to grow and process

Nonfiction book Packing for Mars lands on NYT best sellers list

2010-08-27T13:23:00.007-04:00

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void (Norton 2010), a new nonfiction book by the sexy popular science writer Mary Roach is currently resting at #8 on The New York Times hardcover nonfiction best sellers list, down from #6 last week. “A humorous investigation of life without gravity in the space program," Packing for Mars has an extensive marketing campaign and has received

Original advertisement for Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1917 novel A Princess of Mars

2010-08-27T00:16:00.009-04:00

Sale: RAH’s 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land owned by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2010-08-26T14:35:00.007-04:00

Dragon’s Head Books of Portland, Oregon has an interesting copy of Robert A. Heinlein’s Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) for sale over at AbeBooks. It’s a first edition signed by fantasy author Marion Zimmer Bradley (“from her former husband Walter Breen’s estate -- probably her personal reading copy”). $950

Conservative think tank has greater financial transparency than EFF

2010-08-26T00:22:00.002-04:00

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent (but aging) revolutionaries, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based non-profit organization founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers and “continues to confront cutting-edge issues,” definitely will not be winning any Best Practices awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near

The Mars of Leigh Brackett depicted through Russian endpaper art

2010-08-25T00:05:00.002-04:00

Check out the detail on these two beautiful pieces of endpaper art that I raided from an early 1990’s Russian omnibus comprised of three of American science fiction author Leigh Brackett’s classic Martian tales: The Sword of Rhiannon, People of the Talsiman, and The Secret of Sinharat.Front endpaperRear endpaper

Black Hole Sun - new YA SF novel written by David Macinnis Gill

2010-08-24T12:23:00.006-04:00

Black Hole Sun, a new Young Adult science fiction novel written by American author David Macinnis Gill and published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of behemoth HarperCollins, is scheduled to be released today, August 24, 2010. Billed as a "future-dystopia kick-ass action novel set on Mars," here is the promotional piece from the publisher:Durango will take on any mission -- as long as it is

Review of A. Bertram Chandler’s 1965 novel The Alternate Martians

2010-08-24T00:07:00.003-04:00

A.V. Club (not to be confused with the Italian football club A.S. Roma) recently posted an interesting review of The Alternate Martians (1965), a paperback original penned by Australian science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler that comprises one-half of an old Ace Double novel. Apparently, The Alternate Martians is “akin to what Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill pull off with their League of