Mars, We Love You: Tales of Mars, Men and Martians (1971)

Mars, We Love You: Tales of Mars, Men and Martians, edited by Jane Hipolito and Willis E. McNelly (1971)

At left: Paperback (New York: Pyramid Books, 1973), #V3086, 379 p., $1.25. From the Foreword:

“When we began assembling the stories which comprise this volume, we hoped to present as representative an anthology as possible considering both space limitations and copyright availability. It is our hope that this collection will show the chronological growth of the dream of Mars and Martians over the last hundred years. We begin with Giovanni Schiaparelli’s misunderstood remarks about ‘channels’ on the planet’s surface for which the Italian word was canali. The myth grew from the word and provided a mystique of Mars. We progress from Percival Lowell, H. G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and a dozen other writers to several stories and poems written expressly for this book. The book isn’t complete and it may omit your favorite Mars story, but with the writers of the past one hundred years, we hope you will be able to say with us, ‘Mars, We Love You!’”

The contents of this anthology:

• Introduction, “The Romance of Mars,” by Isaac Asimov

• Report on Canali, by Giovanni Schiaparelli (excerpt, nonfiction)

• Mars as the Abode of Life, by Percival Lowell (excerpt, 1908, nonfiction)

• War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells (excerpt, 1897 serial)

• A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (excerpt, 1912 serial)

• “A Martian Odyssey,” by Stanley G. Weinbaum (1934)

• “The Embassy,” by Donald A. Wollheim (1942)

• “Dark Mission,” by Lester del Rey (1943)

• “Lost Art,” by George O. Smith (1943)

• “The Cave,” by P. Schuyler Miller (1943)

• “Expedition,” by Anthony Boucher (1943)

• “Loophole,” by Arthur C. Clarke (1946)

• “Catch That Martian,” by Damon Knight (1952)

• “Omnilingual,” by H. Beam Piper (1957)

• “The Lost City of Mars,” by Ray Bradbury (1967)

• “One Step from Earth,” Harry Harrison (1970)

• “Carthage: Reflections of a Martian,” by Frank Herbert (poem)

• “Soft Landing,” by Wlliam Fox (poem)

• “Earthbound,” by Irene Jackson (poem)

• “In Lonely Lands,” by Harlan Ellison (revised version, 1969)

• “World of the Wars,” by Bruce McAllister

• “Exploration,” by Barry N. Malzberg

• Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein (excerpt, 1956)

• “Linguistic Relativity in Middle High Martian,” by Willis E. McNelly (1968)

Theodore Sturgeon’s review in the May 14, 1972, issue of The New York Times concludes that Mars, We Love You is “a more toothsome package than the candybar of the same name."