Question of the Day: The Known Space Martians

In article ,
James Nicoll wrote:
> On rereading "How The Heroes Die", I came across this bit:
>
> "There isn't any Martian ecology. Jack, has anyone ever found any
>life on Mars besides that man-shaped mummy?"
>
> Are the Martians in fact native to Mars at all?

Just to clarify: there's definitely a population of beings
on Mars until the Brennan-monster commits genocide but given the apparent
lack of an ecology in which to have evolved, does it make sense to suppose
that the "Martians" are in fact the last holdouts of an expedition of
extra-solar beings?


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On Mon, 21 May 2007 20:21:56 +0000 (UTC), jdnicoll DeleteThis @panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

>In article ,
>James Nicoll wrote:
>> On rereading "How The Heroes Die", I came across this bit:
>>
>> "There isn't any Martian ecology. Jack, has anyone ever found any
>>life on Mars besides that man-shaped mummy?"
>>
>> Are the Martians in fact native to Mars at all?
>
> Just to clarify: there's definitely a population of beings
>on Mars until the Brennan-monster commits genocide but given the apparent
>lack of an ecology in which to have evolved, does it make sense to suppose
>that the "Martians" are in fact the last holdouts of an expedition of
>extra-solar beings?

Perhaps the rest of the ecology was as subterranean[1] as the
Martians.

[1] Yes, I _know_ that's not the right word.
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In article ,
Erik Max Francis wrote:
>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> On rereading "How The Heroes Die", I came across this bit:
>>
>> "There isn't any Martian ecology. Jack, has anyone ever found any
>> life on Mars besides that man-shaped mummy?"
>>
>> Are the Martians in fact native to Mars at all?
>
>I don't recall it being suggested anywhere else that the Martians were
>not native to Mars (and I don't remember that line). It would make a
>certain amount of sense, since as that line indicates, I also don't
>recall any other signs of life being found on Mars other than those guys.
>
>Perhaps it that line was a throwaway line that her was experimenting
>with and never expounded on. I don't recall it being "official" that
>the Martians were non-native.
>
I'm pretty sure that Niven intended them to be native. The
alternate solution seems to make sense, though.

You know, it could explain why the Ringworld controls are in
the Map of Mars. The "Martians" build the Ringworld as a place to
study the O2 breather, a safe place that could dropped into the sun
on a moments notice. The guys on Mars are just a crew who got
left behind (Again, not suggesting Niven had that in mind).
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James Nicoll wrote:

> I'm pretty sure that Niven intended them to be native. The
> alternate solution seems to make sense, though.

Yeah, I agree on both points.

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I've been playing with a theory that Martians were driven underground when
their world was devastated by the Pak when they arrived but failed to finish
the job before all the protectors died leaving the Martians with a massive
xenophobic complex and an altered biology allowing them to live underground


"Erik Max Francis" wrote in message

> James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> I'm pretty sure that Niven intended them to be native. The
>> alternate solution seems to make sense, though.
>
> Yeah, I agree on both points.
>
> --
> Erik Max Francis && max RemoveThis @alcyone.com && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
> San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM, Y!M erikmaxfrancis
> History is a set of lies agreed upon.
> -- Napoleon Bonaparte
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In article , Darren J Longhorn
wrote:
> > Just to clarify: there's definitely a population of beings
> >on Mars until the Brennan-monster commits genocide but given the apparent
> >lack of an ecology in which to have evolved, does it make sense to suppose
> >that the "Martians" are in fact the last holdouts of an expedition of
> >extra-solar beings?
>
> Perhaps the rest of the ecology was as subterranean[1] as the
> Martians.
>
> [1] Yes, I _know_ that's not the right word.
>
Sub-arean ?? (definitely not "sub-aerial" !)

--
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Written at Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:41 +0100, but posted later.
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In alt.books.larry-niven message <VA.0000140b.269df854.RemoveThis@email.provider.i
nvalid>, Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:37:23, Aidan Karley <name1_name2.RemoveThis@email.prov
ider.invalid> posted:
>In article , Darren J Longhorn
>wrote:
>> > Just to clarify: there's definitely a population of beings
>> >on Mars until the Brennan-monster commits genocide but given the apparent
>> >lack of an ecology in which to have evolved, does it make sense to suppose
>> >that the "Martians" are in fact the last holdouts of an expedition of
>> >extra-solar beings?
>>
>> Perhaps the rest of the ecology was as subterranean[1] as the
>> Martians.
>>
>> [1] Yes, I _know_ that's not the right word.
>>
> Sub-arean ?? (definitely not "sub-aerial" !)

One cannot be under a planet.

ISTM that the Latins used "terra" to mean "earth" rather than "Earth",
so "subterranean" only *looks* wrong.

But sub-agerian might be used - "ager" is essentially the surface of the
land.

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