Mars Attacks #1: Martian Deathtrap [Hardcover]

Nathan Archer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mars Attacks | Publication Date: April 9, 1996

BANNED IN BROOKLYN
In 1962, at the height of the cold war, the Brooklyn-based Topps Chewing Gum Company released a set of trading cards that combined a classic, H.G. Wells-style alien invasion with the graphic atrocities of war. The result were the legendary Mars Attacks cards, and the reaction was immediate.
National uproar: Deemed too gruesome for innocent young minds, the cards were quickly suppressed.
But even as they disappeared from the market, their cult status grew. . . and grew. Finally, in 1995, Topps re-released the set, adding new--and equally gruesome--cards. The invasion began anew, leading to comic books, novels, a major motion picture deal (with Tim Burton directing), and other insidious means by which the Martian wave would spread across the land.
Martian Deathtrap pits a desperate band of human defenders against the merciless interplanetary invaders. The battleground is a huge mansion filled with trapdoors, secret passages, giant insects, and death lurking around every corner. For the Martians, their mission is to secure the captured ground by whatever means necessary. For the humans, the goal is to beat the odds and simply survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bulbous-headed, needle-toothed Martians do unspeakable things to hapless babes in bikinis and other Earthlings in this disappointing first of two novels spun off from a controversial set of 1962 playing cards. The Mars Attacks cards, issued by Topps, created an uproar for their garish depictions of gore and sexual mayhem occasioned by a modern-day Martian invasion of Earth. Curiously, the novel, which focuses on a mixed band of Earthlings as they're stalked by Martians and other nasties in an isolated mansion-turned-museum, is less graphically detailed than the cards, which might have been a relief had suspense or creativity taken the place of shock. But as imagined by Archer (who's written some paperback Star Trek and Predator novels), the Martians think, feel and act exactly like humans. More alien-like, in fact, are the insects-wasps, mosquitoes, beetles-the Martians blow up to giant size. But even big bugs don't add much buzz to this tired yarn, a repetitious, near-random series of chases, stalkings and killings that works neither as SF horror nor as schlock. (May) ~ FYI: The second Mars Attacks novel, War Dogs of the Golden Horde, will be published in July. Meanwhile, Tim Burton (Batman) is slated to direct a film based on the trading cards.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

"Mars Attacks" trading cards, released by Topps Chewing Gum in 1962, featured alien invasion scenes deemed in their day so gruesome that they were pulled from the market. Today, comics-style gore is almost passe, and Topps has met little resistance to reissuing the cards, whose cult status has in the interim spawned comic books and pulp fiction such as this yarn and soon will give us a movie. Archer's effort, the putative first in a series, follows the alien invaders' violent progress as witnessed by several unfortunate humans who flee to a large mansion in the countryside. The Martians use their superior technology to transform insects into giant, devouring monsters, and the hapless humans must pull together to outwit the invaders. Although this is mostly fast-paced action and grisly violence, Archer puts enough farcical spin on it to make it entertaining to sf readers looking for a few campy thrills as well as to hardened "Mars Attacks" fans. Carl Hays

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 243 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (April 9, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345404955
• ISBN-13: 978-0345404954
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,897,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mansion filled with Martian mayhem, March 8, 2005

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mars Attacks #1: Martian Deathtrap (Mass Market Paperback)

Bud and his buddies are out riding their motorcycles when their afternoon joyride is canceled by an alien invasion. It seems that the probes we have sent to Mars have irked its inhabitants and they decide to attack first, blasting into oblivion every Earthling they happen upon. Bud and two surviving companions narrowly escape a gruesome death, running into the surrounding woods. While the Martians pelt that area with some kind of bioweapons, Bud lead his companions through the woods towards the only nearby shelter, the famous Gelman Mansion. A rich man's folly, the mansion is an intricate maze of rooms and passageways turned museum (a sort of ficitionalized version of San Jose's famous Winchester Mystery House) where, in a contrived coincedence, Bud used to work as a tour guide. Once at the mansion Bud and his companions discover another group of survivors. The Martians in the ship that attacked Bud discover the mansion and send out a small unit to investigate. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Martian Deathtrap as all the depth one would expect from a book based on a series of trading cards. In other words, not much. None of the characters really acts or behaves in a realistic manner and, to be honest, almost all of them are in the story simply to die gruesomely at the hands of the Martian invaders or the insects made giant and deadly by the aliens' bio-weapondry. The Martians are also comically unaware of Earth customs, so some humor can be found in their lack of understanding the strange environment. Overflowing with gore and sprinkled with comedy, the book is passable entertainment. But readers wanting more emotional depth in their alien invaders yarns had better look elsewhere.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Human-The other white meat, March 3, 2002

By 

General Pete (SC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mars Attacks #1: Martian Deathtrap (Mass Market Paperback)

Wonderful book. Reads like a comic book from the 50s, but lots of blood and gore, be warned. You will like this if you like the

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Curious About This One, August 28, 2007

By 

redstealth300 "hates hot weather" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mars Attacks #1: Martian Deathtrap (Mass Market Paperback)

I read it and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a refreshing read. The author started the book off in a way I expected him to. Then he took it in another direction, to keep control of the grandness of the invasion, and I thought that direction was very clever, indeed.