Mars has been a seminal setting for countless science fiction adventures-from the worship of Mars as the god of war, to the image of the "angry red planet," the invaders from The War of the Worlds, the mysterious "canals" of Mars, the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels set on Mars, innumerable science fiction movies set on Mars or featuring Martians who come to Earth, and of course, Ray Bradbury's classic The Martian Chronicles.

This fine volume contains seventeen imagination-grabbing tales ranging from the incredible discovery made by a native Martian species which may change the entire course of their future…to a reporter hunting down the crew of the very first mission to land on Mars…to a "rescue" mission to recover an astronaut "kidnapped" by Martians…to a Ray Bradbury Mars story never before published in the United States.

Contents
Introduction: The Fascination of Mars (Mars Probes) by Patrick Moore
The Love Affair by Ray Bradbury
Myths of the Martian Future by Eric Brown
A Martian Theodicy by Paul Di Filippo
The Real Story by Alastair Reynolds
Flower Children of Mars by Mike Resnick and M. Shayne Bell
Out of the Blue, Into the Red • shortstory by James Lovegrove
Mom, the Martians, and Me • shortstory by Scott Edelman
he Old Cosmonaut and the Construction Worker Dream of Mars • novelette by Ian McDonald
A Walk Across Mars • novelette by Allen Steele
Martian Autumn • shortstory by Stephen Baxter
Shields of Mars • shortstory by Gene Wolfe
Under Mars • shortstory by Paul J. McAuley
The War of the Worldviews • shortstory by James Morrow
Near Earth Object by Brian W. Aldiss
The Me After the Rock by Patrick O'Leary
Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel by Michael Moorcocks
Author Biographies (Mars Probes)