Customer Reviews

Marooned on Mars

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I read this book as a child, checking it out of the grammar school library at least half a dozen times. At 45, I remember it fondly as a jumping off point for time travel and other space faring tales of fiction, both in books and comics. I wish it could be republished so another generation will get he same opportunity and joy I did.

I am 42 now and have never forgotten this book, never been able to locate it until now. I hope to be able to read it again as it really opened a young boy's mind to space travel!

Once upon a time, in the 1950s, there was a line of science fiction novels-- 36 in all-- for young readers published by the John C. Winston Company. They weren't quite on par with the juveniles written by Robert A. Heinlein or Andre Norton, but the overall quality was still fairly high.

Lester del Rey was the king of the Winston authors. Under his own name and pseudonyms like Philip St. John, Eric Van Lhin, and Kenneth Wright, he wrote roughly a third of the Winston novels. The quality was uneven, ranging from very good to mediocre. Some, like _Step to the Stars_ (1954), still read well today. Others, like _Rocket Jockey_ (1952), seem hopelessly dated. _Marooned on Mars_ (1952) is a fairly average entry-- neither del Rey at his best nor his worst. On the positive side, it has characters that are well-drawn, a clear and readable style, and convincing background details. (Del Rey's Mars seems realistic and believable.) On the negative side, it suffers from a plot that is highly predictable. You know well in advance what the hero is going to do , what changes he will undergo, and what discoveries he will make.

When I first read this book as a teenager, I'll admit that I didn't notice these aspects of the plot. But I did notice something about the title. Yes, it alliterates. (I knew about alliteration because I had started to read some of the Perry Mason mysteries, like _The Case of the Caretaker's Cat_.) But it seemed to me that the title didn't make complete sense. Yes, the spacemen are stranded on Mars with little hope of rescue. But the cause of the disaster was accidental. Somebody who is marooned on a desert island or planet would be deliberately abandoned by somebody else. But "marooned" has a couple of other meanings. It was an old word for a black slave, which doesn't have much of anything to do with the story. But it is also a color-- a deep red. And Mars is the red planet. Sometimes a title doesn't make a literal sense, but it still _feels_ right. _Marooned on Mars_ somehow felt right to me. The book is not without its flaws. But give it a try.

From the back cover: "Determined to be on the first rocket flight from the moon to Mars, stowaway Chuck Svensen endangers the experiment by hiding on board the Eros."

Fast moving adventure narrative that is similar to Heinlein's "juvenile" novels in style and content. Like those novels, this one could be enjoyed by adults or children.