Mars: The Home Front
Encyclopedia
"Mars: The Home Front" is a short story by George Alec Effinger
, published in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches
. It is a crossover
between H. G. Wells
' The War of the Worlds
and Edgar Rice Burroughs
' Barsoom series
.
cabin after fishing, when, hearing a noise, he turns around and is confronted by a massive beast. He soon realizes that it is Woola, the Barsoom
ian calot of his uncle - John Carter, Warlord of Mars
- who has appeared with the creature to relate his latest adventure to his nephew.
The narration then switches to Carter's voice as he tells his story (from references he makes, it is set after The Warlord of Mars
and before The Chessmen of Mars
, as he is already Warlord of Barsoom, but his only child is stated as being Carthoris). Carter is at a party in Lesser Helium, speaking with Kantos Kan and Mors Kajak when he realizes that Dejah Thoris
has gone missing. With Kantos Kan at his side, he looks for her and finds evidence that she has been kidnapped in a scuffle; on the roof of the palace are several dead bodies of militiamen and brigands, and an abandoned flier. Assuming that the kidnappers arrived in two fliers but only escaped in one due to their losses, Kantos Kan and John Carter enter it and, finding the coordinates already set in the destination compass, activate the controls.
For half a day they fly over an unrecognized portion of Barsoom, finally coming to rest above a complex that is built around what appears to be a massive pit in the ground. They land and exited, but are beset by a band of Red Martians who use a paralyzing weapon on them and place them in a cell where an old man, a Gathol army officer named Bas-ok, is already being held. Bas-ok explains to them that they are being held captive by the sarmaks
, a leathery-skinned, tentacled race who have taken them captive in order to drink their blood due to their having no digestive organs of their own.
The cell then shakes with the force and sound of a massive explosion. Bas-ok describes how that is the third explosion that happens once a day, and that it means the sarmaks have fired the giant cannon in the center of the complex again, using it to launch cylinder-ships of conquest against the inner world of Jasoom
. Carter realizes that he now not only must rescue Dejah Thoris, but also help prevent the sarmaks from conquering his own homeworld. Overpowering the guards, he and his companions escape, with him sending Kantos Kan to rally the forces of Helium and with he and Bas-ok searching out Dejah Thoris.
The narration again switches back to Carter's nephew, who explains that he must wait to tell the rest of the story but gives a brief overview of what happened. Bas-ok betrayed Carter to the sarmaks and was killed for it; John Carter, after a battle in the feeding chamber, rescued Dejah Thoris and destroyed the cylinder-launching device after the tenth blast (explaining why only ten cylinders landed on Earth in The War of the Worlds), and finally how Carter led "the navy of Helium...the combined forces of the green men of Thark and Warhoon, the black First Born, and red men from many cities and nations" in a climactic battle against the sarmaks. He ends by retelling Carter's last words before returning to Barsoom: the threat of the sarmaks is over and there is no need for thoughts of revenge, as both worlds are now once more at peace.
called them the Mor-Taxans). The name sarmak has become somewhat popular; that is the name they are called in the Wold Newton Universe
as well as a number of articles in ERBzine, the official Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzine
.
The character of Bas-ok draws comparisons between the sarmaks and the kaldane
s, another Martian race of Barsoom; in the Wold Newton Universe, the kaldanes are stated as being mutated sarmaks, with both possibly descended from Cthulhu
oids.
A number of comparisons have also been drawn to Alan Moore
's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
comic series. The first issue of the second volume
had Carter, along with Gullivar Jones
, leading an alliance of Martians (including those from Barsoom) in the final assault against the launching cannon of Wells' Martians. In it, a conversation between Carter and Jones indicates that something has happened to Dejah Thoris during the war; Jess Nevins
' semi-official annotations for the series suggest that Moore was referencing her abduction in "The Home Front". Others have noted that "It's tempting, my god but it's tempting, to try and read Effinger's short story and Alan Moore's comic together. Effinger's is the beginning, and Moore gives us the end, leaving only a detailed middle for us to imagine."
The concept of the Martians of Wells and Burroughs coexisting (and fighting) on the same fictional Mars was also used in Larry Niven
's 1999 novel Rainbow Mars
and briefly indicated in Ian Edginton
's 2006 comic Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.
George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio.-Writing career:...
, published in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches
War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches
War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches is a 1996 Bantam Spectra science fiction anthology, edited by Kevin J. Anderson. It is a tribute to H. G...
. It is a crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
between H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
and Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
' Barsoom series
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
.
Plot summary
The story is narrated first-person, in the style of Burroughs' writing, by an unnamed man who has just returned to his VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
cabin after fishing, when, hearing a noise, he turns around and is confronted by a massive beast. He soon realizes that it is Woola, the Barsoom
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
ian calot of his uncle - John Carter, Warlord of Mars
John Carter (character)
John Carter is a fictional character, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who appears in the Barsoom series of novels. Though actually a Virginian from Earth and a visitor to Mars, he is often referred to as "John Carter of Mars" in reference to the general setting in which his deeds are recorded, in...
- who has appeared with the creature to relate his latest adventure to his nephew.
The narration then switches to Carter's voice as he tells his story (from references he makes, it is set after The Warlord of Mars
The Warlord of Mars
The Warlord of Mars is a science fiction novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in June, 1913, going through five working titles; Yellow Men of Barsoom, The Fighting Prince of Mars, Across Savage Mars, The Prince of Helium, and The...
and before The Chessmen of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the fifth of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in Argosy All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial in the issues for February 18 and 25 and March 4,...
, as he is already Warlord of Barsoom, but his only child is stated as being Carthoris). Carter is at a party in Lesser Helium, speaking with Kantos Kan and Mors Kajak when he realizes that Dejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Martian novels. Princess of the Martian city state/empire of Helium, Dejah Thoris is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son...
has gone missing. With Kantos Kan at his side, he looks for her and finds evidence that she has been kidnapped in a scuffle; on the roof of the palace are several dead bodies of militiamen and brigands, and an abandoned flier. Assuming that the kidnappers arrived in two fliers but only escaped in one due to their losses, Kantos Kan and John Carter enter it and, finding the coordinates already set in the destination compass, activate the controls.
For half a day they fly over an unrecognized portion of Barsoom, finally coming to rest above a complex that is built around what appears to be a massive pit in the ground. They land and exited, but are beset by a band of Red Martians who use a paralyzing weapon on them and place them in a cell where an old man, a Gathol army officer named Bas-ok, is already being held. Bas-ok explains to them that they are being held captive by the sarmaks
Martian (War of the Worlds)
The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
, a leathery-skinned, tentacled race who have taken them captive in order to drink their blood due to their having no digestive organs of their own.
The cell then shakes with the force and sound of a massive explosion. Bas-ok describes how that is the third explosion that happens once a day, and that it means the sarmaks have fired the giant cannon in the center of the complex again, using it to launch cylinder-ships of conquest against the inner world of Jasoom
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Carter realizes that he now not only must rescue Dejah Thoris, but also help prevent the sarmaks from conquering his own homeworld. Overpowering the guards, he and his companions escape, with him sending Kantos Kan to rally the forces of Helium and with he and Bas-ok searching out Dejah Thoris.
The narration again switches back to Carter's nephew, who explains that he must wait to tell the rest of the story but gives a brief overview of what happened. Bas-ok betrayed Carter to the sarmaks and was killed for it; John Carter, after a battle in the feeding chamber, rescued Dejah Thoris and destroyed the cylinder-launching device after the tenth blast (explaining why only ten cylinders landed on Earth in The War of the Worlds), and finally how Carter led "the navy of Helium...the combined forces of the green men of Thark and Warhoon, the black First Born, and red men from many cities and nations" in a climactic battle against the sarmaks. He ends by retelling Carter's last words before returning to Barsoom: the threat of the sarmaks is over and there is no need for thoughts of revenge, as both worlds are now once more at peace.
Significance
"The Home Front" is one of the only sources to give an actual name to the Martians of The War of the World (the 1988 TV showWar of the Worlds (TV series)
War of the Worlds is a television program that ran for two seasons, from 1988 to 1990. The series is an extension of the original 1953 film The War of the Worlds, using the same War Machine, often incorporating aspects from the film, radio adaptation, and original novel into its mythology.Though...
called them the Mor-Taxans). The name sarmak has become somewhat popular; that is the name they are called in the Wold Newton Universe
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
as well as a number of articles in ERBzine, the official Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
.
The character of Bas-ok draws comparisons between the sarmaks and the kaldane
Kaldane
The Kaldanes are a fictitious sapient species existing in the region of Bantoom on the planet Barsoom in the John Carter series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Introduced in the book Chessmen of Mars, the Kaldanes are almost all head, but for six arachnoid legs and a pair of chelae...
s, another Martian race of Barsoom; in the Wold Newton Universe, the kaldanes are stated as being mutated sarmaks, with both possibly descended from Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
oids.
A number of comparisons have also been drawn to Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
comic series. The first issue of the second volume
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics...
had Carter, along with Gullivar Jones
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation is a novel by Edwin Lester Arnold combining elements of both fantasy and science fiction, first published in 1905. The last of Arnold's novels, its lukewarm reception led him to stop writing fiction...
, leading an alliance of Martians (including those from Barsoom) in the final assault against the launching cannon of Wells' Martians. In it, a conversation between Carter and Jones indicates that something has happened to Dejah Thoris during the war; Jess Nevins
Jess Nevins
John J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
' semi-official annotations for the series suggest that Moore was referencing her abduction in "The Home Front". Others have noted that "It's tempting, my god but it's tempting, to try and read Effinger's short story and Alan Moore's comic together. Effinger's is the beginning, and Moore gives us the end, leaving only a detailed middle for us to imagine."
The concept of the Martians of Wells and Burroughs coexisting (and fighting) on the same fictional Mars was also used in Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
's 1999 novel Rainbow Mars
Rainbow Mars
Rainbow Mars is a science fiction short story collection by Larry Niven. It includes the five previously published Svetz stories and the novel, also called Rainbow Mars in which humans from Earth visit Mars and find it populated by the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, C. S. Lewis,...
and briefly indicated in Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer.He is one of the few British comic talents to follow the reverse trajectory to the one usually taken: becoming successful in American comics before returning to work for 2000 AD.-Biography:...
's 2006 comic Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.