Alex Weller’s Reviews > The Illustrated Man > Status Update

Poe and Bierce go to see Charles Dickens, who is having a Christmas party with his characters. Turns out that when their books were banned, the authors were resurrected by their characters to save the worlds they created. Dickens, whose books were banned by mistake, wants nothing to do with the others and refuses to help Poe and Bierce. This ... doesn't really make sense.

The authors on Mars are setting traps for the arriving astronauts, all based on elements from their stories. It appears Earth banned supernatural and fantasy literature in favor of what's real. Interesting. But I still wanna know how these authors are alive. Are they Martians that took the forms of the authors? I don't know.

Okay, for some reason, all the classic authors whose books were banned on Earth now live in the Emerald City on Mars. Edgar Allan Poe plans to have the astronauts killed out of revenge, or flee to another planet if they can't. Algernon Blackwood then informs him about the astronauts' books, then they go to tell Charles Dickens about the situation. How are these people even alive?

The three witches watch the astronauts through their crystal ball, worried the books they have will cause trouble. Meanwhile, so many other magic rituals are taking place, as somebody watches from a tower in a recreation of Oz's Emerald City. What the hell is going on here?

Just started reading the tenth story, "The Exiles". It's the year 2120. In a reenactment of "Macbeth", three witches on Mars perform a voodoo ritual on a crew of arriving astronauts from Earth, putting them through hallucinations, bizarre dreams, and death. Turns out that literature involving fantasy or the supernatural has been banned for a century. So, uh, what is all this?

Finished "The Fire Balloons"! As they walk down the hills back into town, Father Stone says that they have found the Truth on Mars like they have on Earth. They can travel to other worlds and find more Truths that add up to the ultimate answer. Furthermore, Father Stone is now able to see God in the blue spheres. Overall, very uplifting story, even though I'm an atheist and I've already read this one.

The priests perform a church service, and the fiery Martians arrive. However, they reveal that they cast away their material lives and bodies thousands of years ago, and live in a state of God's grace, free of sin, with no need for the makeshift church. They are willing to teach Father Peregrine more, then they fly away, leaving the priest on his knees, crying as he remembers the Fire Balloons from his childhood.

The priests put together a natural church on a plateau, complete with the constructed altar. They do add some familiar objects for their own comfort, though. Now to see how it all plays out (again!).

Father Peregrine announces his plan to the other priests. He plans to build a church for the spherical Martians, with a spherical Christ for them to worship, effectively bringing Christ to them in a shape they understand. Good plan, but we know Father Peregrine will be pretty disappointed when he hears what the fiery Martians have to say. Honestly, why did this story get reprinted here?

Father Peregrine wakes up in the early morning and decides to test the fiery Martians' morality. He leaps off a cliff only to be snatched by the Martians and brought to safety. When Father Stone doubts him, he shoots himself, only to be saved again. Now that Father Stone has seen it for himself, Father Peregrine decides they need to tell the others about it.