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sasanaseason's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
matt_christopherson's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
embo_'s review
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I found this book quite funny although, an enjoyable read
b_austridge's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
clanhay's review against another edition
2.0
This short story is a glimpse into the imagination of a science fiction writer in the 1930’s. To say the ideas are dated would be quite an understatement.
Here are a few points that got my attention.
The humans had to undergo months of acclimating so they could breathe easily in the Martian atmosphere.
Watches are analog.
Their weapons were either revolvers or pistols.
The airplane like flying craft used a continuous controlled nuclear blast to create lift but was maneuvered by a motor that was difficult to start.
There are many more of these but I can’t remember them now. It’s a fun short read, so check it out if you enjoy classic scifi and see how many quirks you can find.
Here are a few points that got my attention.
The humans had to undergo months of acclimating so they could breathe easily in the Martian atmosphere.
Watches are analog.
Their weapons were either revolvers or pistols.
The airplane like flying craft used a continuous controlled nuclear blast to create lift but was maneuvered by a motor that was difficult to start.
There are many more of these but I can’t remember them now. It’s a fun short read, so check it out if you enjoy classic scifi and see how many quirks you can find.
thorkell's review against another edition
4.0
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum (1934) was a lot of fun. It deals with life on other planets, this time (as so often back then) on Mars. What I liked about the story was that it was open for different form of life (not just carbon based lifeforms) and it dealt with interesting aspect of language. It also shows the limitless faith people had in science and what we could find in space.
The story is out dated but it is still very charming and entertaining.
The story is out dated but it is still very charming and entertaining.
silenttardis's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant story about a Lost astronaut in Mars and the story he told of his time Lost
frakalot's review
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. Shaka, when the walls fell.
This was great. It's told like four guys are sitting around a bar and trying to one-up each other's stories about the biggest fish they nearly caught. Well, rather one of the lads is telling the story and it's all about the strangest aliens he ever saw, which of course get progressively more unbelievable to his pals at the table as his tale goes on. It's quite a lot of fun and I thought the banter was generally giggle worthy.
The tale presents a menagerie of fascinating Martian creatures, varying wildly in intelligence, form and behaviour. One of the creatures we meet is even silicone based which was a very novel idea in 1934.
The fellow delivering this tale makes a lot of assertions about what he saw on his Trek across the Martian desert and his mates are always quick to pull him up on it, by asking him how he knows that what he claims is so. Luckily, our storyteller is equally quick to come back with ~fairly~ reasonable logical deductions.
The creature we learn the most about is called Tweel and is an ostrich-like, intelligent being. The larger portion of this short story focuses on the pair overcoming their communication barriers, (hence my TNG reference at the beginning). Probably my favourite concept in the story was that Tweel's language was not static.
"Our minds simply looked at the world from different viewpoints, and perhaps his viewpoint is as true as ours".
I thought this was impressively self aware in the way it was handled. Although he couldn't quite explain how Tweel was thinking, he could recognise Tweel's intelligence and intent. He would consistently acknowledge that although Tweel's way of interpreting and explaining the world seemed ludicrous to him (and by extension us), our ways were likely equally ridiculous to Tweel. He goes so far as to suggest that Tweel may even possess greater intelligence than we do.
I was super enjoying this so it was disappointing to have to cringe through a few terribly racist lines, (ironically lacking that self-awareness), on the supposed intelligence capacity of so called "primitives". All that these lines serve to do now is remind us of how stupidly ignorant our predecessors could be at times. Almost like they were thinking primitively. Anyway, thankfully this is a short story and it really did only tarnish a few lines of the dialogue.
There's a sequel, which is also short, so I'm off to check that out next.
This was great. It's told like four guys are sitting around a bar and trying to one-up each other's stories about the biggest fish they nearly caught. Well, rather one of the lads is telling the story and it's all about the strangest aliens he ever saw, which of course get progressively more unbelievable to his pals at the table as his tale goes on. It's quite a lot of fun and I thought the banter was generally giggle worthy.
The tale presents a menagerie of fascinating Martian creatures, varying wildly in intelligence, form and behaviour. One of the creatures we meet is even silicone based which was a very novel idea in 1934.
The fellow delivering this tale makes a lot of assertions about what he saw on his Trek across the Martian desert and his mates are always quick to pull him up on it, by asking him how he knows that what he claims is so. Luckily, our storyteller is equally quick to come back with ~fairly~ reasonable logical deductions.
The creature we learn the most about is called Tweel and is an ostrich-like, intelligent being. The larger portion of this short story focuses on the pair overcoming their communication barriers, (hence my TNG reference at the beginning). Probably my favourite concept in the story was that Tweel's language was not static.
"Our minds simply looked at the world from different viewpoints, and perhaps his viewpoint is as true as ours".
I thought this was impressively self aware in the way it was handled. Although he couldn't quite explain how Tweel was thinking, he could recognise Tweel's intelligence and intent. He would consistently acknowledge that although Tweel's way of interpreting and explaining the world seemed ludicrous to him (and by extension us), our ways were likely equally ridiculous to Tweel. He goes so far as to suggest that Tweel may even possess greater intelligence than we do.
I was super enjoying this so it was disappointing to have to cringe through a few terribly racist lines, (ironically lacking that self-awareness), on the supposed intelligence capacity of so called "primitives". All that these lines serve to do now is remind us of how stupidly ignorant our predecessors could be at times. Almost like they were thinking primitively. Anyway, thankfully this is a short story and it really did only tarnish a few lines of the dialogue.
There's a sequel, which is also short, so I'm off to check that out next.