MARS WEEK starts next Monday. This review is just a friendly reminder that a week of books and movies about the Red Planet awaits you on this blog starting seven days from today. When I was a kid, I read The Martian Way. It was published in 1955, but the four stories in this collection were published in science fiction magazines in the early 1950s. The title story, “The Martian Way,” revolves around a political situation where politicians on Earth threaten to cut off water to the Mars colonists. The colonists have to resort to “the Martian Way” to solve the problem. “Youth” has two space explorers whose spaceship has crashed becoming “pets” to the youths who find them. “The Deep” concerns a distant planet whose sun is dimming. The aliens find a way to migrate to Earth, but Asimov provides a twist at the end. “Sucker Bait” is one of Asimov’s best puzzle stories. A planet where a first expedition died shortly after trying to set up a colony is visited by a second expedition. This time, scientists are supposed to determine what caused the catastrophe. One of the members of the crew is a member of the Mnemonic Service. He is able to remember EVERYTHING. And although the other scientists dismiss him, the Mnemonic savant discovers the planet’s deadly secret. Isaac Asimov is best known for his Robot novels and the Foundation trilogy, but Asimov was also a gifted short story writer. GRADE: B+
I’ll look for a copy at Pulpfest next week!
Dan, I have several edition of THE MARTIAN WAY, but I like this cover the best.
Tried rereading The Caves of Steel a couple of years ago but couldn’t get thru it. The writing was just sooo bad, esp the dialogue. Loved it as a teenager. May be that his short fiction holds up better.
Steve, I reread THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY a few years ago and was surprised by all the dialogue. When I was a kid, I thought THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY was action-packed!
Perhaps Professor Frink on “The Simpsons” summed up Asimov best: “So many books…none of them very good.” (Of course, it sounds better in Frink’s nutty professor voice.)
Deb, many of Asimov’s books haven’t aged well.
Haven’t read him at all.
Patti, Asimov also wrote mysteries as well as science fiction. And, of course, he wrote hundreds of non-fiction books about science.
I’ve been catching up with old science fiction I missed the first time around, including short stories. I did read one of Asimov’s (one in this book) but not the others. But speaking of Mars I did recently read Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934) in the first SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME volume. I wonder if it will make the cut next week.
Jeff, A MARTIAN ODYSSEY isn’t a part of MARS WEEK. But you’ll be surprised by what made the cut!
I remember a couple of these from the old days, though I’m sure I read all of them. Looking forward to Mars Week!
Bill, I’m looking forward to MARS WEEK, too!
Been years since I read this one. A lot of Asimov in my early days. Not so much the last twenty-five. One wonders how they would hold up for me.
Randy, I enjoy SF puzzle stories so these Asimov novelettes entertained me.
When people say a book “doesn’t hold up” years later, what they are really saying is the person has changed; tastes, preferred writing styles, desire for different plotting technique, preference for more, or less, dialogue, etc. Of course the book hasn’t changed at all, it’s the reader! I liked most of the Asimov I read, admittedly years ago, and suspect if I put myself in a non-analytical frame of mind and just read for enjoyment I might well do so again.
James, well said! The stories in THE MARTIAN WAY have a 1950s sensibility which can be a bit jarring to a 21st Century reader’s sensibility.
George, it sounds like this coming week will be simply Mars-velous. (Yes, I have no shame.)
Jerry, I love puns! I’m hoping to make MARS WEEK fun by not going with the obvious choices.
I always liked the ‘Martian Way’ story. It is the perfect example of the Campbell type Astounding story.
Stan, you’re exactly right. “The Martian Way” follows the ASTOUNDING story template exactly.
Not sure I’ve read this one – it was Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES / THE SILVER LOCUSTS that really turned my head around as a kid though – amazing book