Mars is My Destination

Long, Frank Belknap, 1903-1994Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 350K words
Chapters: 35

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mars is My Destination by Frank Belknap LongAuthor: Long, Frank Belknap, 1903-1994,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 4, 2016

Editor's review

Mars is My Destination, by American science fiction writer Frank Belknap Long, was made freely available as an ebook by Project Gutenberg and belongs to an early strand of science fiction centered on Mars. Its value lies not in hard-SF technical extrapolation but in the way mid-twentieth-century science fiction imagined alien worlds and human destiny: Mars as destination carries both adventure and questions about human nature and choice. Read it in the context of the genre's history and watch how the author builds a self-consistent narrative space from limited scientific knowledge, and how an alien setting refracts real-world anxieties. The length suits a short read; the pace is tight, good for finishing in segments on a commute or before sleep. The Project Gutenberg edition is the original English text, its language bearing the marks of its era—a reading challenge for contemporary readers and also the pleasure of literary archaeology in genre fiction. If you are mapping the lineage of Mars narratives or want to know the lesser-known corners of Golden Age science fiction, this book is worth a read.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Science fiction readers interested in early SF and Mars themes
Readers who want to learn genre history through public-domain ebooks
Learners with some English reading ability who want close reading of a short work
Commuters who like a complete narrative in a limited span

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting hard science settings and contemporary Mars exploration detail
Readers who prefer Chinese and find the original English difficult
Readers hoping for a long novel's complex cast of characters

Reading tips

Read the first two sections to grasp the Mars setting and narrative tone, then decide whether to read closely or quickly
Keep a short list of characters and key events to follow the plot in a short work
After finishing, compare with Mars-themed works of the same period to see how the imagining differs
Skip era-specific expressions when they slow you down, keep the reading rhythm, and look them up later

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is the original English ebook released by Project Gutenberg, in English, classified under American literature. The material shows no information about a Chinese translation, so readers need some English reading ability.

Is it suitable for science fiction beginners?

It can serve as supplementary reading for understanding genre history, but it is not recommended as a first science fiction book. Its language and setting bear mid-twentieth-century marks, and beginners may do better starting with contemporary works that are friendlier to read.

How should I plan the length and reading pace?

The material does not give a specific word count, but by subject and publication form it is a short work. Read it in two or three sessions, focusing on one plot section each time, and sum up the main line in a few sentences afterward to avoid losing the whole through fragmented reading.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Long, Frank Belknap, 1903-1994 Author

Frank Belknap Long (1903–1994) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are not widely known to Chinese readers. Seven of his works are held in this collection: The Mississippi Saucer, The Calm Man, Space Station 1, The Sky Trap, The Man from Time, The Man the Martians Made, and Mars is My Destination. Judging from these titles, his writing often centers on space stations, Mars, time travel, and alien visitors, combining science fiction adventure with fantasy imagination. His plots are tightly paced, and he excels at building suspense and a sense of wonder within short formats. Some works touch on supernatural and weird themes, reflecting his interest across both science fiction and fantasy. His work is representative of mid-twentieth-century American popular science fiction magazine culture and is still mentioned by genre readers and researchers.