A Martian Odyssey and Others is a collection of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short stories by author Stanley G. Weinbaum

Stanley G. Weinbaum

Stanley Grauman Weinbaum was an American science fiction author. His career in science fiction was short but influential...

. It was first published in 1949

1949 in literature

The year 1949 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Arthur C. Clarke becomes Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts.*Bertrand Russell receives the Order of Merit....

 by Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and E. E. Smith...

 in an edition of 3,158 copies. The stories originally appeared in the magazines Wonder Stories

Wonder Stories

Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...

, Astounding and Thrilling Wonder Stories.

Contents

• "A Martian Odyssey
  A Martian Odyssey
  "A Martian Odyssey" is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the July 1934 issue of Wonder Stories. It was Weinbaum's first published story, and remains his best known. It was followed four months later by a sequel, "Valley of Dreams"...
  
  "
• "Valley of Dreams
  Valley of Dreams
  Valley of Dreams is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the November 1934 issue of Wonder Stories...
  
  "
• "The Adaptive Ultimate
  The Adaptive Ultimate
  "The Adaptive Ultimate" is a science fiction short story about an experimental medical treatment gone awry. It was written by Stanley G. Weinbaum and first published in the November 1935 issue of Astounding magazine under the pen name "John Jessel". It was collected in various editions of A...
  
  "
• "The Mad Moon
  The Mad Moon
  The Mad Moon is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum that first appeared in the December 1935 issue of Astounding Stories. As was the case with his earlier stories "A Martian Odyssey" and "Parasite Planet", "The Mad Moon" showcases Weinbaum's talent for creating alien ecologies...
  
  "
• "The Worlds of If"
• "The Ideal"
• "The Point of View"
• "Pygmalion's Spectacles"
• "Parasite Planet
  Parasite Planet
  "Parasite Planet" is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the February 1935 issue of Astounding Stories. It was Weinbaum's fourth published story, and the first to be set on Venus...
  
  "
• "The Lotus Eaters
  The Lotus Eaters (Weinbaum)
  "The Lotus Eaters" is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the April 1935 issue of Astounding Stories...
  
  "
• "The Planet of Doubt
  The Planet of Doubt
  "The Planet of Doubt" is a science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum that was first published in the October 1935 issue of Astounding Stories...
  
  "
• "The Circle of Zero"

Reception

Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine, using the collection as a springboard for a broader discussion of the sf genre, concluded that "The reader who reads science fiction dispassionately is likely to be struck by how closely the human imagination is tied to reality, even when it deliberately sets out to violate it. Stanley Weinbaum's loonies and slinkers have been seen before. The shapes may be different, but his dream-beasts come startlingly close to what the human race has been running across, for a good many years, in its childish nightmares."