Sands of Mars. Arthur C. Clarke. Review and Ramble

 The Egyptians observed it, so did the Chinese. Indeed, the Chinese called it Yinghuo, which means "dazzling and confusing." The Greeks and the Romans went all trippy and invented myths and legends to bring it into line with their understanding of how things worked. It wasn't until Galileo came on the scene and made his own telescope in 1608 or 1609 that things started to get a bit of observational traction.

The problem is, and let's be honest, in a small telescope Mars just isn't that interesting. And it seems that Galileo quickly moved on to taking longer ganders at other objects in the night sky. He spent a lot of time gazing at and making drawings of the moon. We know that he used one of his later telescopes to make the now famous discovery of Jupiter's largest four moons.

You have to ramp up the aperture before things start to get interesting, and even then, folks, there are heaps more interesting things to turn your telescope to in the night's sky. And yet, if you look up at Mars with the naked eye one thing should strike you. It is very much and definitely red.

Indulge me for a moment or to, for here's the question: If Mars is red, then why are Martians green? I mean, they'd stand out, wouldn't they? You'd see them plain as day, as on Mars, if you are green there really isn't anywhere to hide is there? If you stop and think about it, being green on Mars lends itself to a particular and unfortunate level of vulnerability.  Even and in spite of any speculation as to what kinds of predators roam the Martian veld.

Is it any wonder these little green Martians have a massive attitude problem and want to take over earth. After all, earth has a preponderance of green. These Martians would blend in, wouldn't they?

We have to consider another option though. That the Martians are wearing zip off suits that are green, and underneath they are the perfect colour to blend into the bleak, cold and very red Martian landscape.

And we discover through the course of the novel Sands of Mars, that Arthur C. Clarke has populated his Martian landscape with green plants, that are being eaten and tended by Martians that look for all the world like Kangaroos. What Clarke doesn't reveal is where the plants came from, nor indeed how they survived at all in the harsh Martian landscape. And he certainly doesn't explain the origin of the Martians! 

As we go along in the narrative, after our intrepid hero actually arrives on Mars after the long privation of space, the hard science fiction of space travel, gives way to a softer brand of speculation. Yes, we have the inflatable geodesic domes that provide habitation for the colonists. And yes, there is a structured society in place, where, we are told, everyone has a role to play for the continuation of the colony, and all are incredibly busy doing what they have to do.

This doesn't prevent what becomes a very real political tension between earth, who is funding the Martian colony, and the Martian's themselves who want nothing more than to be free of what they see as colonial oppression, such as it is, and are in fact working on new and rather improbable technologies in the background to ensure that Mars becomes its own state, nation and world.

We see the shift in our hero, as he aligns himself with the cause of Mars, and sets himself up to become one of its more influential citizens in the future. It's not the red of Mars that holds the day at the end of the book. It's the green of the plants that have been discovered along the way, plants that will enable the terraforming of the planet, through the oxygen they provide.

I was left with a very strong impression of "us" and "them" fomented through the concept of shared isolation. Clarke doesn't quite carry off the absolute need for self-reliance that would be needed. He does give a sense of the hardness of landscape, and the sheer vulnerability of the colonists although hinted at but not fully explored. But earth looms large still, that bright blue star that offers succor and supply.

I turned the last page feeling that Clarke might have intended a sequel. I was invested enough in the characters and the narrative to want to know if there was more. It doesn't appear that Clarke ever wrote a direct sequel to Sands of Mars. I think it's a pity. Perhaps the reality of Mars found a way of taking the sting out of the fiction for him. Who knows?

The kangaroo shaped aliens survive on the green plants, perhaps because, after all, humans would also have to survive on what is green, and in terms of the story, similar to what they know and trust as life giving on the earth. They had to bring it with them. I think that's exactly the point that Clarke makes. We have brought with us all the human traits, needs, failings, and this is what the reader is left with at the end of the narrative.

In terms of Mars, we come to realise that above everything else, we are the aliens.