Arnold Marmor 7 min read

It's still clear in Nick's mind, the afternoon summons to circus owner Marsten's office, the trip to Mars, and the strange journey back.

Arnold Marmor's 1954 story spins a genial first-contact space opera from a circus, a boss, and a very unusual new act. Light, fun golden-age SF. Read it for a breezy tale where the greatest, loudest circus on Earth goes looking for its next attraction all the way out at Mars.

In its time

Published in 1954, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

7 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).