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In fiction, the planet Mars, fourth from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in at least 5,000 works, portrayed differently as planetary science has advanced. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as it became clear there is no life on the Moon. Mars then was a setting for utopian fiction. The War of the Worlds (1897), H. G. Wells's novel about an invasion of Earth by sinister Martians, had a major influence on science fiction. After 1900, life on Mars was often depicted as decadent, as in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom series. Exotic life appeared in stories like Stanley G. Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey". Later in the 20th century, Mars colonization became a popular theme, as it became clear Mars is lifeless, though some works, like Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, feature native life. Terraforming Mars became a major theme in works like Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, and some works depict an initial expedition to the planet. (Full article...)