SLEEPERS OF MARS is a collection of early short stories, but was published after John Wyndham’s death. It opens with a sequel to his novel STOWAWAY TO MARS which ends with the British spaceship, Gloria Mundi leaving Mars, expecting the USSR ship to leave at the same time. It did not. Several years later, Gloria Mundi has reached earth safely, but there is no sign of the Soviet vessel. The story, Sleepers of Mars describes the Russians’ fate, stranded on Mars and imprisoned by Martian robots in an enclosed city. They stumble across some Martians held in suspended animation capsules, and when they decide to open them up, they discover the history of the planet, and make a plan to escape. If the spacecraft does get back to earth, will it have accidentally brought unwelcome Martians back too?
Though Sleepers of Mars was written in 1939, its background of the search for solutions to environmental problems including melting ice caps, and the controversial use of artificial intelligence are surprisingly contemporary.
SLEEPERS OF MARS contains the following stories:
Sleepers of Mars (1939)
a sequel to the novel STOWAWAY TO MARS, in which a Russian expedition finds the remains of Martian civilisation.
Worlds to Barter (1931)
descendants of the human race travel back in time to take over the current earth
Invisible Monster (1933)
an invisible alien on the loose after the return of a space expedition
The Man from Earth (1934)
a human sent on a mission to Venus wakes up in the far future as the last human alive.
The Third Vibrator (1933)
the inventor of a super-weapon has a vision of how it previously destroyed Atlantis and Lemuria.
The Last Lunarians(1938)
first appeared in THE WANDERERS OF TIME
