Edison's Conquest of Mars / A Columbus of Space

by Garrett P. Serviss

This volume features two novels by Garret Serviss, one of the most popular early science fiction writers. Serviss was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer, who also wrote several non fiction books on astronomy. His novels were widely read, most published serially in magazines. The first novel in this volume, Edison's Conquest of Mars, is his most popular novel. This early space opera was written as a sequel to Fighters from Mars, an unauthorized and heavily altered version of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, and was among the first novel to use several themes and motifs that later became signature of the genre. The main character is Thomas Alva Edison. A COLUMBUS OF SPACE is about a trip to Venus (written before Edgar Rice Burroughs and Otis Adebert Kline Venus series), on a craft that can travel a tremendous speed, powered by the "power of the atom." In Venus, the travelers find different societies depending on if you live on the sun side or the no-sun side of the planet ... It is written in Jules Verne's style, and as an homage to Verne.

202 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2016

About the author

Garrett Putman Serviss was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. He majored in science at Cornell and in 1876 joined the staff of the The New York Sun newspaper, working as a journalist until 1892. Serviss showed a talent for explaining scientific details in a way that made them clear to the ordinary reader, leading Andrew Carnegie to invite him to deliver The Urania Lectures in 1894 on astronomy, cosmology, geology, and related matters. Serviss toured the United States for over two years delivering these lectures. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column devoted to astronomy and other sciences.

Eight of his books are devoted to astronomy. He also wrote six works of fiction in his lifetime, all of which would today be classified as science fiction.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_...]