Robert Emmett McDowell 1 hr 46 min read

The first expedition to Mars comes thundering home to Earth, and steps down into a wasted, lifeless horror.

Robert Emmett McDowell's 1947 Planet Stories tale opens on spacefarers dreaming of good old Terra, only to face the anguished question of whether they must colonize the alien world they once called home. Dramatic, mournful post-apocalyptic space opera. Read it for atmospheric golden-age SF about homecoming turned to devastation, and the will to begin again.

In its time

Published in 1947, during the 1940s, the golden age begins.

Reading it

1 hr 46 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

Vincent Napoli