Dawn
ENGL 3850-02N
Sci-Fi Lit
Dr. Coats
29 April, 1997
The Day The Martians Came
This was slow at first, but then got to be very interesting. I didn't get to read the whole thing, but what I read was great. Frederik Pohl is truly a great science fiction writer. I caught some of the sarcasm, but only because we talked about it in class. I think if I had read this book before we had discussed it, I probably would not have paid that much attention and missed the sarcasm. Anyway, a really good book.
I was very much intrigued at how Pohl defined Martians in this book. They weren't mean and green like in Princess of Mars, nor were they poor and needy like in Martian Time-Slip. They were much like seals, black and featureless, and all together in one spot instead of scattered about the planet. They were also more highly intelligent than humans, and not at all violent. This takes me back into a C.S. Lewis mentality as in his book, Out of the Silent Planet, in which the first intelligent, nonviolent martians were encountered in this class.
My favorite story thus far has to be "Saucery". It made me laugh so hard at these two men developing yet another Martian scam to put on the public. It actually made me wonder if those cult leaders and phonies out there actually do this, I mean sit down and talk about how they were going to scam people. I also enjoyed the story because the scam was so outrageous that it would probably work! It amazes me what people will do to make a fast buck.
All in all, the stories I have read thus far are very good. I hope to finish the book before the semester is out. I really am now enjoying it, but its too bad that I have a 500 or so page book to read for class, too. When I'm done with Red Mars, I will go back and finish this book because it is definitely worth reading.