Does that sound like Martians to you? Surely they are martial/warlike, or invaders of Earth or extinct by now or hidden underground where we cannot detect them? They are all these things and more. They are whatever an sf writer thinks that they are. CS Lewis tells us that HG Wells' Martians are very different from the real Martians - but he tells us this in a work of fiction!
And, of course, the point that I have glided over until now is that Poul Anderson's stiff, correct, academic "Martians" are human beings that have colonized Mars, not natives. There were native Martians earlier in the Psychotechnic History so what has become of them? An obvious answer springs to mind.
The Martians in Anderson's Technic History are extra-Solar colonists of Mars. Sf, and particularly Poul Anderson, covers every option.
2 comments:
There aren't any Martians as yet. There will be... devotees of Elon Musk, probably... 8-).
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Soon, soon, soon, I hope! And they might also be fans of the works of Heinlein and Anderson, inspired by D.D. Harriman, Anson Guthrie, and Nicholas van Rijn.
And let's not forget ERB's Barsoom stories or your own IN THE COURTS OF THE CRIMSON KINGS. Some of the first Martians will have read those stories too!
Ad astra! Sean
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