Outpost Mars

by C.M. Kornbluth, Judith Merril, Cyril Judd (Pseudonym)

Mars has been settled by humans from Earth, but all the settlements are either corporate or government enclaves in which the residents are virtual slaves - except one. The Sun Lake Colony is strictly voluntary, supported by premiums put up by those who wished to emigrate there. It is struggling to survive, in the face of open hostility from all the other settlements. When the Sun Lakers are accused of stealing a valuable (and addictive!) drug, the threat of extermination hangs above them like the sword of Damocles; yet, in this atmosphere of chaos and fear, the first extra-terran baby is born.

Genres: Science Fiction, Pulp

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Cyril M. Kornbluth grew up in Inwood in New York City. As a teenager, he became a member of the Futurians, the influential group of science fiction fans and writers. While a member of the Futurians, he met and became friends with Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, Robert A. W. Lowndes, and his future wife Mary Byers. He also participated in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association.

Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European Theatre). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge, where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his discharge, he returned to finish his education, which had been interrupted by the war, at the University of Chicago. While living in Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press, a news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full time, returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on a number of novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril (as Cyril Judd).

He used a variety of pen-names: Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond and Scott Mariner.

Reviews

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one of two full lenght novel collaborations between Cyril Kornbluth and Judith Merril (who was married to Frederik Pohl at the time – with whom he also often collaborated.) both published in 1952.

With collaborations between two authors, I can’t help but wonder what parts are who’s. All I’ve read thus far from Merril is a wonderful, and very memorable, 1948 short story titled, “That Only a Mother”. A large part of this novel reflected this work as far as it involving a mother’s challenge with raising of a new born within the harsh condition of Mars. Other parts seemed more along the lines of Kornbluth’s work, involving a sinister narcotics trade deal marred by a theft. There are many other characters and factors that come into play but the story overall is an uncomplicated liner read.

Above average 50’s scifi that holds up to the standard set by the of Heinlein, Eric Frank Russell and Andre Norton. Better than some of what Kornbluth published with Pohl during the same period. I will definitely read more of J. Merril’s work.

Note: I did visit the “Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy” (https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/m...) set in the Toronto public library. I was the only one there (with my wife) and the curator, noting my genuine interest and enthusiasm, let me into the “vault” to see the part of the collection not on public display. Very nice of her I thought.

[Jersy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At its core, this is about a doctor on Mars and his patients, including the first baby born in that colony. I really liked that aspect of it and this is an interesting novel, however it's very much a book from the 50's and it shows: "hysteric" women, women not being believed, mental health issues being dismissed in a cruel way. Though most of the things that bothered me were more or less contradicted in the text eventually, its inclusion and execution still made this a lot less fun and relevant than it could have been. I also kinda expected better from Judith Merril, having read some of her short stories. Her trademark female perspective on Science Fiction is still noticable, though, with a central aspect of the book revolving around a young mother, mentioning past traumatic experiences trying to have a child.
Apart from that, the writing, characters and the story were enjoyable, with especially the conclusion being a bit pulpy.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t say that it’s often that I pay double the cover price for a book, but seeing as this gem initially sold for a quarter back in 1952, I wasn’t about to put the bespectacled and seemingly-sweet old lady at the thrift-store counter in a headlock and quibble over a fifty cent purchase. Besides, she’ll be the one that has to sleep with the fleecing of society on her conscience, she’ll ultimately be the one answering to a higher power for her actions; I’ll be busy checking out what Ted Sturgeon was hailing as “Definitive science-fiction” back when my father was still looking forward to puberty.

Truth be told, I’m pleased as hell to have found this on the shelf, along with the many other books I routinely buy at this place, which claims to use their proceeds to support battered women, while in reality probably just fronts as a legitimate business to cover up back-door cocaine trafficking. I couldn’t care either way, unless there was any way I could get them to throw in a few grams of Columbia’s Finest with each paperback purchased, maybe I could threaten to start snooping into the receiving practices of their inbound ‘donations’ department. Seems like a waste of time and losing proposition in the long run, as I’d actually have to start dropping real coin on books if they got pinched by the narcs.

Anyway, it seems like half the time I go there they have a plethora of new books, and based on the authors and genres of these recent additions, they usually appear to have come from a single collection. I can’t imagine who suddenly parts with 50-100 books, so this always encourages the uncomfortable thought that someone has either passed away or been recently rendered illiterate after being struck by lightning while getting kicked in the forehead by a dromedary. This worries me; when the collection is predominantly older books, I presume it’s usually a case of the former, and I always secretly hope they didn’t die from their head exploding due to the awesomeness of one of the particular books I intend to purchase. Maybe the book carries a curse like the video in the movie “The Ring”; I certainly don’t need any of that. When all is said and done, I bravely decide to buy them anyway, unless they are soaked in blood or stink of a hex, of course. As for those who God showed his inexplicable love for via a lightning strike, I assume that’s how the odds and ends of Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, Michael Crichton, and John Grisham books always manage to trickle in.

Again, when the books are older, and by old I mean published prior to 1960, I can’t help but think some old-school badass recently passed away, and always wonder what the guy was like. Judging by his books, the guy kicked ass, and I am saddened that when the days of apocalypse come this dude won’t be there to handle shit. And it always seems like these collections are sci-fi oriented; what the hell gives with that? Either science fiction fans are kicking off quicker than the rest of us, or I pay so little attention to new collections of Western, Romance, and Legal Drama that they don’t even register. Besides, when the end of days draws nigh what use are the readers of that puke going to be; will their understanding of fictional courtroom proceedings help rebuild society, is it possible we’re going to be so bad off that we’ll accept someone’s ‘circle the wagons’ strategy while defending against the hordes of Apaches that will undoubtedly emerge from the aftermath? I suppose the veteran cougars of multiple scandalous marriages who have learned a thing or two about the merits of a quick tug job might help us repopulate, but it’s the old school sci-fi geeks that I want around, dudes who have already played this calamity out in their minds a thousand times and already know what their first ten goals are when society utters its piteous death rattle.

These sci-fi classics usually rule supreme, the authors seem to be very forward thinking, and tend to have a good idea where the world was headed; right into the fucking dumpster. Granted, most of them play off the same sensationalism lingering around today, threats of overpopulation, irreconcilable pollution, the stupidity of global conflict post-Hiroshima, and catastrophe from outer space resulting in an alien future. What impresses me is that these guys saw what was happening over 50 years ago and offered solutions as to how to become the masters of our destiny; when in reality, we went and put a footprint on the fucking moon, realized how puny and insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things and opted to dull the pain with iPods and Pokemons instead of taking those next great strides.

With “Outpost Mars”, reputed opium-addict Cyril Judd foresees one of these bleak futures just around the corner, and weaves a tale of interplanetary treachery within those confines. Escaping the lunacy and growing barbarism of Earth, where resources are dwindling and tension amongst the increasingly crowded billions is reaching its breaking point, settlers are venturing to Mars in order to start anew. Some have come for profit, established by the Earth-bound conglomerates to harvest resources abundant on the red planet, others have come for adventure or to simply get the hell away, these early settlers are badasses with ‘Mars-worthy’ lungs, able to exist on Mars without any ill-effect, and finally there are the good-spirited folk of Sun Lake Colony, who only want a chance to establish a society free of the insanity taking place back home. In order to finance their uptopia, Sun Lake relies on their makeshift lab run by idealist Dr. Tony Hellman to produce radioactive medicines for patients back on Big Blue. The life is tough, the pay seems crappy, and the number of potential sexual partners available is ghastly, but their great dream puts enough fuel in the engine that keeps them going.

Dr. Tony is having a hell of a week. The Colony is preparing its next shipment of wares and as the man in command, his ass is constantly busy keeping them on schedule lest they miss their shipping window. He’s recently delivered the first child of one of his fellow colonists and this little bundle of joy is strangely reluctant to eat. But topping his list of troubles is a surprise visit from the corrupt local lawman, Commissioner Hamilton Bell (chased off Earth for his shady dealings), and Mars tycoon Hugo Brenner, a pioneer in the manufacture of marcaine, which may have some actual medical use, but is best known for getting people sideways wasted. The visit turns out to be an unpleasant one, Brenner claims that a hundred kilos of his astro-blow have apparently grown legs, and the resulting footsteps lead from his plant to the Sun Lake Colony. This royally sucks, as almost every way to appease Brenner entails getting totally hosed, and they finally compromise that Sun Lake will inspect their facility and deliver the purloined parcel before the next rocket arrives, or the Colony will be sealed off from inbound and outbound shipments, which will ultimately result in not only their financial ruin, but will pose some difficulty for the colonists that rely on Ox-En to assist in being able to breath in the Martian atmosphere.

The Colony begins their inspections, and they sink deeper into despair each time a promising lead turns out to be a bust. Worse yet, that damn baby still won’t fricking eat and the mother appears to be experiencing postpartum psychosis, convinced that naked dwarves are roaming the area in an attempt to steal her baby. To further complicate matters, Brenner starts attempting to lure Dr. Tony to his enterprise for a million bucks, Tony’s saucy assistant Anna seems to be hoping he’ll make an honest woman of her, and their resident old-timer Learoyd is discovered to be a marcaine fiend. As if all this wasn’t enough, Douglas Graham, a notorious earthman reporter with the gift to sway the masses with the written word is dropping in, and it’s likely that the allegations against Sun Lake will come to light during his visit, perhaps ruining their credibility back home amongst their clientele.

As it turns out, each of their troubles is only a piece of the puzzle that the Sun Lakers have to assemble; Graham conveniently decides to settle with Sun Lake and has a remarkable history with Commissioner Bell, Anna admits to having some extrasensory perception, and the stolen space-smack and the lunatic with her tales of child-thieving Martian dwarves all collide, resulting in a book that is, ultimately, not awesome, despite all the weird shit I was rapping about earlier. The only characters I found even slightly convincing were a few scrubs that barely appeared within the pages, the dialog was usually borderline ridiculous, the ‘whodunnit’ element was flimsy at best, and the sudden revelation of a character’s ESP as the key to resolving multiple issues can only be considered shameless dues ex machina. In spite of all this, having an old-ass book with pages edged in green is pretty damn sweet, so that’s got to count for something I suppose.

Recently, Chuck Klosterman described the long-awaited Guns N Roses album “Chinese Democracy” as “the sonic equivalent of a Russian robot wrestling with a reticulated python”. I’ll be honest, I don’t have the foggiest clue what the hell that can possibly mean, but for some reason, it conjured images of “Outpost Mars”.

[John Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quote - "Mars was no paradise. But to Dr. Tony Hellman, it meant a second chance for man - and to Hugo Brenner it meant a world to plunder."


For a book written in 1952, Outpost Mars is surprisingly relevant to modern-day space exploration. So long as you suspend your level of disbelief and substitute martian dwarves for microorganisms, most of their day-to-day life feels like what a colonization mission could be like. Despite its fantasies, this is a novel of tomorrow, and some concepts, like humans expressing new genes on other worlds, are a lot of fun to play with.


Following a small Martian community as they try to navigate the harsh landscape, political machinations, and regulated oxygen supplies at the frontier of human exploration, their leader struggles to control the destiny of their Mars colony. They've recruited passionate idealists to their cause whose sole desire is to expand humans' stake in the cosmos for the sake of curiosity and discovery. But unfortunately, it's an uphill battle, for with every idealist comes a bushel of realists, and in this story that means capitalists who want to turn a profit back on Earth. A solid read that's stuck with me for a while, 7.5/10.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story, with several subplots that all tie together, about colonists on Mars -- political corruption, the struggle for survival, drug addiction, and a baby with a very strange problem that the colony physician is trying to figure out. This was published in 1952 but is still relevant today.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 out of 5. I loved this book. I think it’s even better than Gunner Cade. Though it should be pointed out I have a thing for Mars colonisation books (please DON’T suggest your favourite Mars book to me. I already know about it/have read it).

The book is set in the early days of Mars colonisation. It’s not the first settlers, but 40 years down the track. There’s a city of 500ish people called Marsport. It’s where all the rockets land. And these are proper Hugo trophy rockets. Big silver towers on tail fins, basically oversized V2s (this was written in 1951, it’s what the future of space travel looked like then. This is a decade BEFORE the Apollo program.). There are numerous other Outposts, hence the title. Most of them are commercial industrial outpost. The story focuses on one particular one called Sun Lake which has been set up by idealists who want to make Mars are home, rather than a resource to be pillaged for cash.

The protagonist is a doctor called Tony Hellman. The story is from his POV, The book could have the alternate title of Doctor on Mars. The events are the life of trials of being a doctor in a frontier town. There’s accidents, a murder, and a baby to deliver. But these events are background to the main plot, which I won’t reveal, but involves a corrupt administrators and super-rich industrialists. So the general framework is a wild west story on Mars. It’s a fun read.

But it’s not just a wild west story. The details are Mars specific and couldn’t transpire on Earth, it’s where the SF heart of the story lies. There is even discussion of genetics that is still credible today (unless you’re a geneticist, then you’ll probably say it’s bollocks, but I found it credible).

I highly recommend this book. I read it in 2 sittings. Staying up way later than I should have given I have to work today. But at the end of each chapter it was, I’ll just squeeze one more in.

[Matt H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't expect much beyond pulp and pseudo-scientific concepts. Yet, even those aspects were a let down. The writing was bland, and the talk about OxEn and Marcaine were flat and uninteresting. Supporting characters were so unremarkable that it was very easy to forget who they were and what role, if any, they played. Even the more terrestrial themes, like love and greed, were approached so clumsily that the characters themselves seemed uninspired and unconvinced. The two couples in the book seemed so intently platonic that the notions of holding hands or kissing seemed totally out of place. The biggest upset is Judd's inability to describe place/setting. The reason I picked up this book was to enjoy a book that contained a vivid and otherworldly setting. Unfortunately this book wasn't up for that task in a way that Bradbury did it in his classic the Mars Chronicles. The book cover is badass, so I gave it an extra star because of it. In short, avoid this one. It took embarrassingly long to trudge through and the rewards weren't there.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for fans of C.M. Kornbluth or Judith Merril; not as coherent as their other joint novel Gunner Cade, but a straightforward, fast-moving and occasionally thought-provoking SF actioner.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1988 grade C+

Old novel.
Read under the author Cyril Judd