This Web site is dedicated to my fascination of the planet Mars. Throughout
my life the Red Planet has been something of a mystery to me. It's been
glamorized in movies, poetry, books, legend and myth. |
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One of my favorite adventure stories was the book "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs - the author of the well known "Tarzan of the Apes" books. In "A Princess of Mars" the hero John Carter is transported across space to the planet Mars where he fights all sorts of different species, and carves out an empire. It was a fascinating series of books by a fantastic writer. I recommend you go out and read his books! |
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The NASA photo of the mysterious "face" on the planet Mars has caused alot of speculation that it was once populated with a race who left this monument to let people know they existed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mars in sci-fi books. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Visible to the naked eye, the planet has captivated humanity's imagination for millennia. Scientists, politicians, filmmakers, writers, musicians and philosophers all have helped create the public image, the culture, of Mars over the centuries. Ancient Greeks viewed the blood-red planet as the representation of their God of War and Destruction. During the Renaissance, Mars was an inspiration to artists and scientists, a "muse" to invention and creation. Then, in 1894 the amateur astronomer Percival Lowell built an observatory in the mountains of Arizona - and discovered canals on Mars, leading him and others to believe of the existence of an advanced civilization. Thus, Martians were born. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mars was the Roman god of war, agriculture, and of the state. Mars is portrayed as a warrior in full battle armor, wearing a crested helmet and bearing a shield. His sacred animals are the wolf and the woodpecker, and he is accompanied by Fuga and Timor, the personifications of flight and fear. The month March (Martius) is named after him. His Greek equivalent is the god Ares, and Romans said he was the father of Romulus and Remus - the two children raised by wolves who built Rome and the Roman Empire. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1898 the famed science fiction writer H.G. Wells wrote the classic tale "War of the Worlds" which depicted a much more advanced race of martian beings who came to Earth to invade and conquer us. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hollywood
has had a love affair with Mars and space aliens for decades.
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Marvel
Comics put out a variation of the War of the Worlds story set 100
years in the future. The invasion of Earth by the Martians was successful, and the hero in the stories was a human gladiator named Killraven, who raised a gang of resistance to fight the Martians. |
The Edgar Rice Burroughs books about John Carter were my favorite Mars characters. John Carter was much stronger and faster on Mars due to it's lower gravity, and he fought against all kinds of foes. The Tharks were a 12 foot tall race of green skinned creatures with four arms, and there were 10 legged lions called Banths, etc. The Martians had flying craft and advanced weapons but chose to fight with swords. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Princess of Mars was a red skinned beauty named Deja Thoris. The Martians were a warrior race and John carter became their mightiest warrior. A Hollywood motion picture based on this character is currently in development. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Martian landscape. We've landed robot probes on the planet, and soon we hope to land a manned space craft. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||