The Holes Around Mars by Jerome Bixby
"The Holes Around Mars" by Jerome Bixby is a science fiction short story originally published in the January 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. The narrative revolves around a crew of astronauts who embark on an expedition to Mars, where they encounter mysterious holes in the landscape that challenge their understanding of natural phenomena. The story explores themes of discovery, curiosity, and the strange manifestations of alien worlds. In the story, the
crew, led by commander Hugh Allenby, stumbles upon unusual four-inch holes present in various terrestrial objects on Mars, sparking a series of amusing yet serious speculations about their origins. As they investigate further, the team discovers that the holes align in a straight line across the Martian desert, leading to a Martian village inhabited by small, quirky creatures. The astronauts find themselves entangled in a series of humorous and dangerous encounters with the Martians, culminating in Allenby’s revelation about the nature of the holes, positing that they were created by a small body traveling at great speed, leading to unexpected scientific insights. The story cleverly combines humor with scientific inquiry, revealing the absurdity of human assumptions in the face of the unknowable universe. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Bixby, Jerome, 1923-1998 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Francis, Dick |
| Title | The Holes Around Mars |
| Series Title | Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction January 1954. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 85.3 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Mars (Planet) -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 32360 |
| Release Date | May 13, 2010 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 335 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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