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The 10 Greatest Books Set on Mars, Ranked
Mars has been a favourite setting for science fiction since Percy Greg’s 1880 novel *Across the Zodiac*, and this ranking highlights ten books that show the range of stories the planet has inspired. The article presents them as notable works across the genre, from foundational adventures to modern, scientifically grounded fiction.
Among the books discussed are Gregory Benford’s *The Martian Race*, about a privately funded race to Mars that turns into a fight to get home, and Greg Bear’s Nebula-winning *Moving Mars*, which follows a political and scientific revolution. Robert A. Heinlein’s *Red Planet* imagines a frontier world where young colonists challenge a corporate plot, while Ben Bova’s *Mars* centres on the first crewed mission and its environmental and political dangers.
In short
- Mars has inspired science fiction for more than a century.
- The selection spans frontier adventures and hard science fiction.
- Several stories explore politics, exploration and survival.
Explained simply
Mars has long been a setting for science fiction: Percy Greg’s 1880 novel Across the Zodiac is often cited as an early example. Writers have used the planet to explore ideas ranging from dangerous expeditions and remote settlements to political change and the possibility of life beyond Earth.
The books in this tradition imagine different people shaping Mars’s future, including astronauts, young colonists, scientists and political leaders. Some focus on the risks of reaching the planet and surviving there; others consider who might control a settlement and how its inhabitants could respond.
These stories reflect changing ideas about space travel and Mars itself, from adventurous frontier tales to fiction informed by scientific research. Together, they show how the planet has offered writers a way to examine exploration, technology and human society.