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Arthur C. Clarke

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The Sands of Mars Kindle Edition

by Arthur C. Clarke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 1,012 ratings

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Predating the earliest manned space mission: the first full-length science fiction novel from the acclaimed author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

First published in 1951, before the achievement of space flight, Arthur C. Clarke created this visionary tale. Renowned science fiction writer Martin Gibson joins the spaceship Ares, the world’s first interplanetary ship for passenger travel, on its maiden voyage to Mars. His mission: to report back to the home planet about the new Mars colony and the progress it has been making.

In The Sands of Mars, Clarke addresses hard physical and scientific issues with aplomb—and the best scientific understanding of the times. Included are the challenges of differing air pressures, lack of oxygen, food provisions, severe weather patterns, construction on Mars, and methods of local travel—both on the surface and to the planet’s two moons.

“[Clarke is] one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age.” —The New Yorker

Print length

254 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

RosettaBooks
Publication date

November 30, 2012
File size

1690 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Arthur C. Clarke was considered to be the greatest science fiction writer of all time. He was an international treasure in many other ways: an article he wrote in 1945 led to the invention of satellite technology. Books by Mr. Clarke - both fiction and nonfiction - have more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide. He died in 2008 at the age of 90.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07H18NR6P
Publisher ‏ : ‎ RosettaBooks (November 30, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 30, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1690 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 254 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #96,453 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #337 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #395 in Space Exploration Science Fiction eBooks
- #682 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,012 ratings

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Arthur C. Clarke

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SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE (1917-2008) wrote the novel and co-authored the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and he is the only science-fiction writer to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His fiction and nonfiction have sold more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide.

Photo by en:User:Mamyjomarash (Amy Marash) (en:Image:Clarke sm.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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4.3 out of 5

1,012 global ratings

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Kgfamz$

Loved the story Terrific Classic Sci-fi from a Classic Voice

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024

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I find Clarke's writing satisfying and enjoyable to read. He writes so conicisely with almost a staccatto pace. Yet, remains successful in setting the stage for the reader with immersive descriptions of space travel and the conditions of
settling on Mars.Because of vision problems I was excited to find this on my Kindle. Just in time to read again!

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2022

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The story was interesting and very believable. Clark is an excellent sci-fi author. I have read quite a few of his books and have always found them to be very well constructed .

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K. Frey

A refreshing change of pace

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023

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I grew up reading Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein and the other greats of the era. Though fading memory does not allow me to recall stories individually, reading this reminded me that on the whole, their vision of the future of mankind was much more optimistic than all the dystopian stories that permeate sci-fi today. I think I'll be reading a lot more of these stories and books of those authors as a way of reminding myself that sci-fi can present a hopeful vision of the future.

6 people found this helpful

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Dave-M

Sands of Mars

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2023

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I didn’t like that it concluded so quickly, but that is not a complaint. It was because I enjoyed reading it so much. Perhaps some decent writer will pick it up and create a sequel. I look forward to that.

2 people found this helpful

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Srab

Succinct

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024

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Short novel with rather simple plot but the characters, mostly our protagonist, are well written and thoroughly developed. Overall the plot is way different from modern Mars fiction, but for me this was refreshing. The elder qualities made this story feel new and unique. Clarke's style is - I can't really summarize it...but I'll try - poignant. He doesn't waste words, let alone entire pages, which summarily describes my review. Clarke gets straight to the point most of the time and this was most evident in the second half of the novel where several yarns are spun together into a beautiful tunic. I saw most of it coming like away, yet it still entertained me well enough to finish those last 100 pages in one reading.

2 people found this helpful

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JackInTN

Fin grad

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2023

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Lined Reason the now classic fiction of Author C Clark. Looking forward reading more. Fun for all ages, all good.

One person found this helpful

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Jamie Morrison

Arthur C. Clark is a favorite

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2024

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Arthur C. Clark has always been one of my favorite authors. This book was a perfect example of why he holds such esteem in my eyes.

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023

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Comfortably paced languaged in old school. Some terms were fun to look up, as such are not used in present-day works. Made me excited for that day when we become the guest of Mars, and find our fortunes among those red rocks. Great read!

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tjt1961

An old favourite

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2022

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I have read this book many times. It is an enjoyable read with engaging characters. As with all sci-fi from this period it is dated and we know Mars is far more hostile and far harder to get than portrayed in the book but that does not distract from it being a good read.

One person found this helpful

FallenGrace

Engrossing sci-fi adventure.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2015

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Having delved into some of Arthur C. Clarkes works I decided to try and work my way through the rest of his novels bit by bit starting from some of his earlier work. Originally published in 1951 before the advent of space flight, The Sands of Mars follows Martin Gibson, a famous science fiction author who gets to live his dream and ride a spaceship to humanity's Mars colony to give feedback to earth on what the colony is like. The first part of the book focuses on Gibson's spaceflight to Mars onboard the ship Ares and his interactions with the crew on board before landing on Mars. The rest of the book is all about the red planet and it's inhabitants, how it measures up to how he imagined, their hard work to survive and thrive on a planet so inhospitable to humans, I liked the pacing of it all. Gibson is a fairly likeable character and Arthur C. Clarke develops him rather well as the story progresses. As other reviews mentioned there are a few too many coincidences that happen to keep the story pushing along but they don't detract from the enjoyment of the story any.

What amused me most was that Martin was a sci-fi author before the reality of space flight which he is teased for because a lot of what he imagined isn't close to reality. The Sands of Mars itself was written before space flight or any detailed exploration of Mars but Arthur C. Clarke will not be teased only remembered for being a terrific writer with a great imagination.

Recommended.

+ Imaginitive story.
+ Good pacing.
+ Gibson is a likeable chap.

4 people found this helpful

arne

An old masterpiece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2012

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This is a book I read for the first time long ago, before space travel had become a reality and crushed many dreams of what it would look like. I remember my fascination of the description of the voyage to Mars and of the society of the pioneers there - and the eventual finding of the Martians. Science fiction of this type meant a lot to me since it opened my eyes that the future might not just be crowding the earth until it becomes inhabitable.

So what would it give a modern reader? Arthur C Clarke is a very good novelist, and I think a new generation might enjoy reading this book in the same vein as reading Jules Verne's books - and ponder why space travel is taking so long to happen. Maybe the Chinese ...

7 people found this helpful

Diggy

great classic science fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2014

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hard to believe this was written in 1951 - could have been yesterday. worth a read of this great author

One person found this helpful

tony beaver

The Sands of Mars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2023

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Not as exciting as some other of Clark’s books. Technically and scientifically brilliant but story dragged a little at times.

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