Paul L. Payne (1921–1992)

Mars is Heaven is one of Ray Bradbury’s sterling pieces of short fiction. It begins when a rocket lands on Mars. Captain John Black, his navigator Lustig, and archaeologist Samuel Hinkston can hardly believe what they see. It appears to be Earth, yet Earth from the early part of the twentieth-century — Green Bluff, Illinois in 1926, to be exact. How can it be?

Captain Williams and his crew of three, and Nathaniel York’s expedition to Mars were believed to be lost. Had they somehow survived, and colonized Mars? Or had Black’s rocket been returned by some cosmic happenstance to a simpler, gentler period from Earth’s history? All their instruments confirm, however, that they indeed have landed on Mars. Black and his men cannot hold back the rest of the contingent for safety’s sake, once their dead loved ones begin approaching the craft.

Reuniting with long-lost loved ones is warm and sentimental. It is peaceful on this Earth, gentle and wonderful. Black can think of no explanation other than the obvious, except one, which comes to him late that night, as he lies in bed…

This basic premise of this rather famous Bradbury tale is well-known. To say any more, however, would ruin the short story, which is among the great Mars and Venus stories by Bradbury.… (mehr)

Leigh Brackett’s John Eric Stark's first appearance is a science fantasy/ Sword and Sorcery set on Mars. Stark is a wanted man who will be given clemency if he can avert a war that would turn Mars into a blood bath.

Much like the Seas Kings of Mars it’s a rousing adventure story that races to a climatic conclusion. This was my first time with John Stark I’m glad that Brackett wrote more about the native Mercurian, whose skin was burned black by the sun a rouge who is always for the native.
… (mehr)