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Welcome To Mars: A Haertel Scholium Book
Dolph Haertel had made history. An incredible anti-gravity discovery, made entirely through his own efforts, had put him miles ahead of the professionals in the space race - and now he was setting off to prove his theories by travelling alone to Mars! The journey went perfectly - until Dolph actually landed on the Red Planet. There, he discovered a fault in his ship that couldn't be repaired without a vital - and missing - spare part. And Dolph Haertel, first Martian explorer, was marooned. His situation was critical. And his only hope lay with the one person to whom he had confided his secret of space travel. But would that person be able to find him in time . . . ?
155 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
2 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
454 books326 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 8, 2011
I read Welcome to Mars (1967) by James Blish last week. It was a fun read about one Dolph Haertel, an unconventional eighteen year old. Convinced rockets are not the best way to explore space, he invents an anti-gravity device. After acquiring absurdly inadequate supplies, he tells his parents he’s going camping for the weekend. Instead he takes his packing crate tree house to Mars. Planning and foresight are not Dolph’s strong points. His trip to Mars is successful, but the landing is less so and Dolph finds himself marooned on Mars.
In an effort to stay alive as long as possible, Dolph inventories his possessions. He doesn’t have much, but by prioritizing his needs (and be being lucky) he begins to solve his most pressing needs. His inventiveness is interesting; I’m not enough of a practical science guy to know if what he does is possible, let alone practical, but Blish makes me believe.
James Blish is one of those writers I’ve known of nearly forever, but who I’ve never read. Well, that’s not entirely true. In the late 60s and early 70s he wrote a series of short story collections titled Star Trek (1967), Star Trek 2 (1968), etc. Each story was an adaptation of an episode from the original “Star Trek” series. I remember owning many of these, and I suppose I must have read them (my ever growing backlog of unread books didn’t really start until college).
Welcome to Mars is fun, but I was frequently surprised about its time flow. More than once I was reading along and something would happen to indicate that more time has passed than I thought; a couple of times a lot more time. It was distracting, but it didn’t really detract from the story.
The edition I read has a forward and an afterward by Blish (both dated 1965). In the forward, Blish explains that real-life Mars is not like the Mars of fiction, that the “Mars of … Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury simply does not exist.” He’s pretty sure the Mars he depicts isn't much like the real life Mars either, but he thinks it might be a bit closer. In the afterward, Blish explains that he finished Welcome to Mars before Mariner IV reached Mars, and that “the agreement between them [the Mariner IV pictues] and my description is a good deal better than I could reasonably have hoped.”
After mentioning Burroughs in his introduction, we shouldn’t be too surprised when Dolph makes reference to the “Jeddak of Barsoom” at one point. But I was amused when a character is addressed as “Lieutenant Gulliver” an apparent reference to Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation (1905) by Edwin Lester Arnold. This book is widely considered “a precursor and likely inspiration to Edgar Rice Burroughs's classic A Princess of Mars (1911)” Wikipedia and which Ace Books reprinted in 1964 entitled Gulliver of Mars.
I can’t say this is a great book that shouldn’t be missed; but I enjoyed it.
In an effort to stay alive as long as possible, Dolph inventories his possessions. He doesn’t have much, but by prioritizing his needs (and be being lucky) he begins to solve his most pressing needs. His inventiveness is interesting; I’m not enough of a practical science guy to know if what he does is possible, let alone practical, but Blish makes me believe.
James Blish is one of those writers I’ve known of nearly forever, but who I’ve never read. Well, that’s not entirely true. In the late 60s and early 70s he wrote a series of short story collections titled Star Trek (1967), Star Trek 2 (1968), etc. Each story was an adaptation of an episode from the original “Star Trek” series. I remember owning many of these, and I suppose I must have read them (my ever growing backlog of unread books didn’t really start until college).
Welcome to Mars is fun, but I was frequently surprised about its time flow. More than once I was reading along and something would happen to indicate that more time has passed than I thought; a couple of times a lot more time. It was distracting, but it didn’t really detract from the story.
The edition I read has a forward and an afterward by Blish (both dated 1965). In the forward, Blish explains that real-life Mars is not like the Mars of fiction, that the “Mars of … Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury simply does not exist.” He’s pretty sure the Mars he depicts isn't much like the real life Mars either, but he thinks it might be a bit closer. In the afterward, Blish explains that he finished Welcome to Mars before Mariner IV reached Mars, and that “the agreement between them [the Mariner IV pictues] and my description is a good deal better than I could reasonably have hoped.”
After mentioning Burroughs in his introduction, we shouldn’t be too surprised when Dolph makes reference to the “Jeddak of Barsoom” at one point. But I was amused when a character is addressed as “Lieutenant Gulliver” an apparent reference to Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation (1905) by Edwin Lester Arnold. This book is widely considered “a precursor and likely inspiration to Edgar Rice Burroughs's classic A Princess of Mars (1911)” Wikipedia and which Ace Books reprinted in 1964 entitled Gulliver of Mars.
I can’t say this is a great book that shouldn’t be missed; but I enjoyed it.
August 8, 2009
This is one I read in Junior High and I still remember it fondly. I should reread it.
February 21, 2021
A lovely period work, rich with exciting escapades and unusually accepting of female power for its time. Enjoyed.
January 31, 2025
This might be the only time I lower the rating for a Blish novel, but it's not because I didn't like it. But well, if you're new to the Blish-verse (if such a thing exists!), you're in for a treat after this one read, as I'd rate it last among the many works of his I've read.
"Welcome to Mars" is, still, an at times captivating read, although aimed at young adults (the protagonist himself starts off as a 17 year old).
Its main flaw might be that the parts where it is discussed how the protagonist can survive on Mars are reasonably less exciting than when Blish dwells on Earth's information geopolitics, or when he makes references to other works of his.
A sort of Martian Robinson Crusoe, the novella sometimes hesitates when it comes to deciding whom it should please - young science geeks, or young NASA hero-wannabes?
Two comparison with other works of the author are due in order in my opinion in order to explain my point.
First, a comparison with "The Star Dwellers" is hardly avoidable - in that novel, Blish gave himself fully to the YA vibes and could therefore indulge in some of his unexpectedly most lyrical verses. Here, the writing style can be a bit too dry, and the plot alternates between hard earned scientifically ascertained facts, and fantasy-ish (quite good fantasy-ish, towards the very end).
The other comparison should be made with "They shall have stars". I might consider that to be Blish' most hard-sci-fi novel, where he nailed that kind of atmosphere perfectly. "Welcome to Mars" tries do the same, but it so much toned down because of the premises (we could call the Hartel engine a proto-spindizzy? Iykyk), that it doesn't quite manage to satisfy the modern reader.
Having said this, maybe I resent having read the novel only now because it gives potentially-canonical background details about an invention that was often referenced elsewhere in his corpus: the Haertel anti-gravity engine. I would have maybe expected some more grounded backstory about it and its legendary inventor.
Now I feel like I've written enough criticism about it, much of which the writer couldn't have anticipated anyway in his own time.
"Welcome to Mars" is still a pleasant, entry-level Blish novella that can be enjoyed, and will be enjoyed if you're willing to match its tone.
Onto the next one!
"Welcome to Mars" is, still, an at times captivating read, although aimed at young adults (the protagonist himself starts off as a 17 year old).
Its main flaw might be that the parts where it is discussed how the protagonist can survive on Mars are reasonably less exciting than when Blish dwells on Earth's information geopolitics, or when he makes references to other works of his.
A sort of Martian Robinson Crusoe, the novella sometimes hesitates when it comes to deciding whom it should please - young science geeks, or young NASA hero-wannabes?
Two comparison with other works of the author are due in order in my opinion in order to explain my point.
First, a comparison with "The Star Dwellers" is hardly avoidable - in that novel, Blish gave himself fully to the YA vibes and could therefore indulge in some of his unexpectedly most lyrical verses. Here, the writing style can be a bit too dry, and the plot alternates between hard earned scientifically ascertained facts, and fantasy-ish (quite good fantasy-ish, towards the very end).
The other comparison should be made with "They shall have stars". I might consider that to be Blish' most hard-sci-fi novel, where he nailed that kind of atmosphere perfectly. "Welcome to Mars" tries do the same, but it so much toned down because of the premises (we could call the Hartel engine a proto-spindizzy? Iykyk), that it doesn't quite manage to satisfy the modern reader.
Having said this, maybe I resent having read the novel only now because it gives potentially-canonical background details about an invention that was often referenced elsewhere in his corpus: the Haertel anti-gravity engine. I would have maybe expected some more grounded backstory about it and its legendary inventor.
Now I feel like I've written enough criticism about it, much of which the writer couldn't have anticipated anyway in his own time.
"Welcome to Mars" is still a pleasant, entry-level Blish novella that can be enjoyed, and will be enjoyed if you're willing to match its tone.
Onto the next one!
March 10, 2022
A great short novel, ideal for juvenile readers or adults seeking a bit of escapism. I gave it four stars but one of those is sentimental for this is an old childhood favourite. Not much more than a novella, the story is a classic of juvenile SF - plucky boy genius invents space drive, goes to Mars and is stranded. Even pluckier girlfriend follows and is also stranded. An adventure of survival ensues. For entertainment value it is similar though less sophisticated than the Heinlein juveniles but to be honest it isn't great SF. Having neglected to bring a spare of the only part likely to fail (girlfriend does the same), our hero seems to have an endless supply of everything else. He also has an amazing ability to build complex, robust and reliable machinery out of sticks and string and duct tape.
The good points of it are that Blish did try to make Mars as realistic as he could, given the state of knowledge at the time and consistent with his hero having at least a chance to survive. Remember that the first satellite photos of Mars only arrived after the book was written and the existence of canals and even life was still considered possible. At least Blish had the sense to realise that if there was a feature that looked like this, they were probably not actually canals but geological rifts of some sort.
The good points of it are that Blish did try to make Mars as realistic as he could, given the state of knowledge at the time and consistent with his hero having at least a chance to survive. Remember that the first satellite photos of Mars only arrived after the book was written and the existence of canals and even life was still considered possible. At least Blish had the sense to realise that if there was a feature that looked like this, they were probably not actually canals but geological rifts of some sort.
March 2, 2023
This book caught my eye because of the mention of anti-gravity, a concept the author uses to get his main characters to Mars. While the use of AG is great in making a fast trip, when it breaks and strands the Dolph and his girl friend on Mars, they have to survive.
Very creative in describing the martian terrain for the time. Good characters. The science is well done. The ending is a bit corny and unrealistic for five decades later, but acceptable.
Worth one's time if you are interested in old science fiction by a great writer and are on vacation.
Very creative in describing the martian terrain for the time. Good characters. The science is well done. The ending is a bit corny and unrealistic for five decades later, but acceptable.
Worth one's time if you are interested in old science fiction by a great writer and are on vacation.
August 10, 2021
Of its time in many ways, the treatment of Nanette as a character pushed into the background is not something you’d see In any reputable book now. In other aspects, it’s an entertaining castaway book, and The Martian definitely seems to have some inheritance from it
February 15, 2023
First half reads like Weir's The Martian but with more guesswork. Would be interesting to know if Weir read this as a child. Favourite part is definitely when the female character has "women's problems" due to the lack of a moon - hilarious
December 29, 2024
2.5 stars. Overall pretty forgettable and goofy, but I do enjoy the knack Blish has for writing fantastic fiction that maintains a basis the science of his day. He also can't help but philosophize a bit on history and human nature.
November 27, 2025
Written before Mariner IV first landed on Mars, this is a slight fanciful notion of the red planet. Not as extreme as Burrows, but more like Asimov's Space Ranger series.
I found the main character to be annoying at first, but he grew on me, and the book is an entertaining read.
I found the main character to be annoying at first, but he grew on me, and the book is an entertaining read.
March 25, 2014
I read this as a young person, and it is a truly excellent 'young adult' book. It has everything a teenaged boy (making assumptions) would want in a book, from high adventure to romance. Not only that, the girl is no ankle-twisting cardboard cut-out but a real and equal participant in the adventure. Jim Blish always had a smooth and readable style, and this book is no exception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2007
read 08.02.84
June 16, 2011
Good book. Totally implausible as far as the science was concerned, yet the ideas and concepts were interesting.
August 9, 2012
Fun but a bit dry and outdated.
Much of it was pretty ingenious though.
Author's apparent shout out to pack-rats everywhere: "First rule of survival - save everything."
Much of it was pretty ingenious though.
Author's apparent shout out to pack-rats everywhere: "First rule of survival - save everything."
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews