Finding Barsoom

by Jennifer R. Povey

Jennifer R. Povey discusses humanity’s interest in life on Mars, along with the red planet’s candidacy for terraformation—an idea explored by many SF authors that will likely never happen, according to Povey. Read her latest Analog flash fiction, “Watching Mars,” in our [September/October issue, on sale now!]

In 1877, Schiaparelli described “canali” on Mars, which meant channels, but was translated into English as “canals.”

He described and observed long straight lines in the equatorial regions of Mars. Observers, most especially Lowell, thought they were artificial canals.

At the time, Mars was believed to have an atmosphere and oceans. It was only in the 1920s that we worked out that Mars was dry, had almost no atmosphere and likely no life.

So, why do we keep looking for life on Mars? Why do we keep writing about a living, breathing Mars? In the 1880s, Percy Greg wrote Across the Zodiac, the first work of science fiction set primarily on Mars. In 1889, Camille Flammarion wrote Uranie, which had people die and be reincarnated on Mars (did Heinlein read this when he wrote Stranger in a Strange Land). Novels about living Mars continued to be written long after we knew better…with Stranger a classic example. Another one that comes to mind is C.S. Lewis Out of the Silent Planet, although that is more a work of fantasy.

I call this Mars Barsoom, in reference to the pulp classic series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and to differentiate it from a scientifically accurate Mars.

We are still looking for Barsoom.

If we can’t find it, then we’ll make it. As science fiction authors had to acknowledge that Mars was lifeless, then the next obvious step was to fix that.

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy is considered the seminal work about terraforming Mars. The first work in which Mars was terraformed was The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke. Ironically it was not the first science fiction work about terraforming. That honor goes to La Journee d’un Parisien au XXI Siècle, by Octave Béliard, in which the moon was the body being transformed. Venus and even Ganymede got the treatment before Mars did. Heinlein’s Farmer in the Sky was produced a year earlier. Of course at this point, Heinlein was still writing Barsoom stories.

Here’s the problem: We’re probably never going to make Barsoom. Perhaps I’m wrong, but Mars is a remarkably poor candidate for terraforming. You have to greatly increase the atmosphere and keep it there, generate a magnetic field. The Mars of The Expanse and even The Martian (and my own Transpecial) is more realistic.

If we’re going to terraform any planet in this solar system (and I’d argue we have to fix Earth first, just saying) then Venus is a far better candidate. It’s easier to get rid of atmosphere than make it, the gravity’s already right, etc.

But we can’t quite let go of Barsoom. I know I can’t. I suppose the flash piece, “Watching Mars,” in the September/October issue is partly a goodbye to Barsoom. It also came from a prompt, and sometimes I work out what those stories are about long after I write them.

I’m not going to say more because spoilers. Read the story and I suspect you’ll see what I mean.

We’re not going to find Barsoom, at least not within this solar system.

We’re not going to make it, at least not on Mars.

But we’re never going to quite let go of it, are we? And we don’t have to.

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Born in Nottingham, England, Jennifer R. Povey (she/her) now lives in Northern Virginia, where she writes everything from heroic fantasy to stories for Analog. She has written a number of novels across multiple sub genres. She is a full member of SFWA. Her interests include horseback riding, Doctor Who and attempting to out-weird her various friends and professional colleagues. Find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jrpovey/ or Mastodon at @NinjaFingers@universeodon.com.