Come away, dear reader, to a world of rust-red deserts and impossible dreams! For there exists no destination quite so enchanting to the human imagination as Mars—that distant crimson jewel hanging in our night sky, beckoning storytellers since the very dawn of the telescope. Here you shall find the finest tales ever spun about our celestial neighbor, each one a doorway to wonder.
The Martian by Andy Weir
Mark Watney never meant to become the most famous castaway in all the solar system, yet there he found himself—quite alone on a world that wished him dead. This marvellous tale follows our stranded astronaut as he grows potatoes in Martian soil, burns rocket fuel for water, and calculates his way toward impossible rescue. What makes this story sing is the tremendous spirit of its hero, who meets every catastrophe with wit, science, and stubborn refusal to perish. The 2015 film brought millions to this adventure, yet the novel remains the richer journey by far.
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Winner of the Nebula Award, this magnificent chronicle begins in the year 2026—imagine that!—when one hundred colonists first set foot upon the Red Planet. Here unfolds a story so grand in scope, so meticulous in its science, that Arthur C. Clarke himself proclaimed it the finest Mars colonization novel ever written. The great terraforming debate runs through every page: shall humanity transform Mars into a second Earth, or preserve its ancient, alien beauty? Two sequels follow, and together they form perhaps the most ambitious Martian saga ever attempted.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
This is not merely science fiction, but poetry dressed in a spacesuit. Ray Bradbury’s linked stories transformed the genre in 1950, proving that tales of other worlds could be literature of the highest order. His Mars is a place of crystal towers and fossil seas, where the ghosts of a vanished civilization haunt every expedition from Earth. The true subject is humanity itself—our hopes, our follies, our eternal restlessness. NASA honored Bradbury by naming the Curiosity rover’s landing site after him.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Before any other, there was Wells. In 1898, he imagined Martians descending upon England in terrifying tripod machines, armed with heat-rays and a hunger for human blood. The novel that invented the alien invasion remained so powerful that when Orson Welles broadcast a radio adaptation in 1938, listeners believed the attack was real. Beyond the spectacle lies sharp social commentary about empire and conquest. This grandmother of all Mars fiction has never gone out of print.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Swords flash beneath the moons of Barsoom! Published in 1912, this rousing adventure transported Confederate veteran John Carter to a dying Mars of warring nations and exotic creatures. Here began the planetary romance—a genre of swashbuckling wonder that inspired generations. Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke all confessed their debt to these tales. Carter’s adventures sprawl across eleven novels, each more delightfully outlandish than the last.
The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke
Clarke’s first published novel sends a science fiction writer—oh, the delicious irony—to report on humanity’s struggling Martian colony. Written in 1951, before any spacecraft had left Earth, the story showcases Clarke’s gift for imagining the practical challenges of survival on another world. Our author-hero discovers secrets the colonists have kept from Earth, and finds himself transformed by the experience. A gentle, thoughtful adventure from a master of the form.
Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
In the trembling reality of Philip Dick’s imagination, nothing is certain—least of all time itself. This 1964 novel depicts a Mars colonized by struggling suburbanites, where an autistic boy may hold the key to seeing the future. Dick explores perception, madness, and the nature of time with his characteristic brilliance. Critics consider this among his finest works, and the scenes viewed through schizophrenic eyes remain genuinely haunting.
Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
Young Jim Marlowe and his extraordinary Martian pet Willis stumble upon a conspiracy that threatens every colonist on the planet. This 1949 juvenile novel helped create countless science fiction readers, combining adventure with serious themes of independence and cooperation between species. Heinlein planted seeds here that would bloom later in Stranger in a Strange Land. The restored edition, published after Heinlein’s death, reveals the story as the author intended.
Moving Mars by Greg Bear
Greg Bear won the Nebula Award for this 1993 tale of revolution and mind-bending physics. Second-generation Martians chafe under Earth’s corporate control, dreaming of independence. When a radical new technology emerges, protagonist Casseia Majumdar must decide whether to use it—even if doing so means removing Mars from the solar system entirely. Political intrigue meets spectacular hard science in what critics called a triumph of the genre.
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
What if, instead of transforming Mars to suit humanity, we transformed a human to suit Mars? Roger Torraway surrenders his body to cybernetic reconstruction, becoming something no longer quite human in order to survive the Martian environment. This Nebula Award winner from 1976 examines the psychological cost of such transformation, and conceals a remarkable twist regarding who has truly been guiding humanity’s fate. Pohl proves himself a master of both science and soul.
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
The beloved author of Narnia ventured to Mars in 1938 and found angels there. Cambridge philologist Ransom is kidnapped to the planet Malacandra, where he discovers three wise species living in harmony under spiritual guardianship. Lewis wrote what he called “theologized science fiction,” weaving Christian themes into planetary adventure. Arthur C. Clarke, despite his different worldview, praised this and its sequels as among the few works of space fiction worthy of being called literature.
Mars by Ben Bova
This 1992 epic imagines humanity’s first expedition to the Red Planet with rigorous scientific detail. Geologist Jamie Waterman joins an international crew facing dust storms, political intrigue, and the tantalizing possibility of Martian life. Ben Bova, six-time Hugo winner, crafted what Arthur C. Clarke called “the definitive novel about our fascinating neighbor.” The story continues in Return to Mars, for those who cannot bear to leave.
The Lady Astronaut Series by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky reimagine the space race with women at its heart. After an asteroid strikes Earth in 1952, mathematician and pilot Elma York fights to become one of the astronauts who will save humanity. The second book follows her grueling journey to Mars. Kowal won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and her meticulous research—including consultations with real astronauts—brings extraordinary authenticity. This is alternate history at its most inspiring.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
From the author of The Martian comes a schoolteacher who awakens aboard a spacecraft with no memory and the small matter of saving all life on Earth. While not strictly a Mars novel, this 2021 triumph proves Weir’s brilliance was no accident. A film adaptation starring Ryan Gosling arrives in March 2026. Readers who loved Mark Watney’s resourcefulness will find equal joy in Ryland Grace’s cosmic problem-solving.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Valentine Michael Smith was born on Mars and raised by Martians, yet he is human—or was, before he learned to think in ways no Earthling can comprehend. This Hugo Award winner became the first science fiction novel to reach the New York Times bestseller list. Though Mars appears mainly in backstory, Martian philosophy transforms everything. The novel remains controversial, provocative, and impossible to ignore.
Choosing Your Next Martian Adventure
For hard science and practical survival, begin with The Martian. For epic scope and terraforming grandeur, choose Red Mars. For literary beauty, nothing surpasses The Martian Chronicles. For swashbuckling adventure, let John Carter sweep you to Barsoom.
And for those who wish to contemplate what Mars might mean for the human spirit, the entire shelf awaits.
