Outpost Mars by Cyril Judd (book review).
As mentioned earlier, I’ve tracked down the two books that Judith Merril and C.M. Kornbluth wrote together under the pen-name of Cyril Judd, a composition of their first names. The first is ‘Outpost Mars’, originally written in 1951-52, looking at the indicia. Don’t expect the satires similar to Kornbluth with Frederick Pohl. This is essentially a straight Science Fiction tale. From the book ‘Better To Have Loved: The Life Of Judith Merril’, we know that each of them wrote several hundred words and each wrote over the other and advance the story so it is a proper collaboration.
From the title, we know there is a manned base on Mars and this is based on what was known about Mars in the 1950s. For the colonists, an OxEn pill every few days allowed them to tolerate the Red Planet’s atmosphere but new-borns had to rely on oxygen masks until they were older. The fact that Mars has a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere should raise some question marks now but allow for the age it was written in. The concerns of the time was an addictive drug Marcaine that could only be manufactured on Mars and whether it should be sent back to Earth.
There is quite an industry going on Mars. Phosphorus can be dug out of the ground and doesn’t burn in its oxygen-lacking atmosphere. When you consider that this book was written pre-space age, today the gathering of material off-world is now considered quite valid. Mars does have phosphorus so that isn’t far-fetched.
The main element of the plot, without going too spoiler, are dwarf Martians and although we don’t really see them are considered legendary than real until the dots are joined.
The plot is heavily dialogue orientated but, unlike modern stories, where it is easy to read dialogue quickly, you do find yourself reading this at normal speed. The two authors bring in a selection of characters so although you would think that a couple of them are the leads, quickly turns out they aren’t. Well, not all the time. I suspect this is the flourish of how it is written so no one character has all the answers.
‘Outpost Mars’ isn’t brilliant but it is readable. Our knowledge of Mars has, of course, grown considerable in the past seventy years. We now know that its atmosphere is primarily a thin carbon dioxide and I’m not sure if OxEn would work or how quickly some humans could adapt to breath without oxygen masks, let alone the cold temperature but I like the idea that we might be capable of changing to a different environment.
GF Willmetts
April 2022
(pub: Four Square Science Fiction, 1966. 187 page paperback. Price: whatever and whenever you can find it. I pulled mine for a few pounds. ISBN: 1585)
