Plot: 9/9. It mainly uses 4 kinds of species as 4 mysteries and 3 challenges from the mediocre to the drama. Tweel’s simple learnt vocabulary could serve as different complex meanings to prompt Jarvis through the entire odyssey.

Jarvis set off from Mare Cimmerium, through Xanthus, Mare Chronium, to Thyle I or II where Putz’s motor broke and Jarvis had an air crash and therefore he had to came back on foot for 800 miles.

He went to Mare Chronium and then he found Tweel was fighting against black arms. When he saw the bag hung about the neck of Tweel demonstrating the civilization, he helped it to get rid of the antagonist.

The two began to communicate. First they exchanged their name and the basic vocabulary. But Tweel’s language and thinking pattern were so strange for Jarvis that it’s Tweel who learnt some English quickly. Then they tried mathematics. It worked. Third Jarvis tested it with the astronomy. Tweel was able to add Deimos and Phobos to Mars, and moons to Earth. Since Mercury was invisible with naked eye, it proved Tweel’s race could use telescopes (or they had extreme good vision). Tweel seemed to mistake Jarvis’ gesture that he’s from Earth for their own hilarious ritual rite. It’s funny that they had comparable intelligence but they didn’t have the same wavelength.

Although Tweel was destined for the south, yet it decided to come along with Jarvis heading towards North across Mare Chronium. Although Tweel had the ability of travelling fast, yet it always stuck with Jarvis slowly. It didn’t drink water or eat any food but dug his nose into the sand from time to time. It had some feathery appendages to protect it against sandstorm. It could stuck his beak into the sand and drew up his legs and arms like leafless shrubs. Leroy, the biologist, thought it’s a desert creature.

Silicon Monster

First Jarvis saw small and transparent spheres drifting along from the Xanthus cliffs. Tweel knew nothing about them and then it said rock.

Then they saw a row of pyramids with the top broken and the middle empty. Pyramids seemed from old to new and from small to big while they ran north. Tweel said it’s not a people and added, “No one-one-two. No two-two-four.” It meant that the creature had no intelligence.

They pyramids ended and they finally saw a silicon-based beast. It generated silica bricks as its waste and then placed the brick carefully on the ground. Tweel meant the beast had no breath and was made up of rock. When it had bricks all around it, it moved over to a new place and start over. Hence created these pyramids. Jarvis also realized those little balls were the beast’s eggs.

Dream Beast

In Xanthus, Jarvis saw the girl who was supposed to stay on Earth and he ran towards it without obeying with Tweel’s hindrance.

Tweel took his glass pistol to kill the beast and it turned out to be the black and rope-armed horrors that once captured Tweel!

Tweel said, “You one-one-two, he one-one-two.” It meant whatever you thought, the beast would show.

Mound Builders/Barrel Ants/Drum Ants

Jarvis trudged along toward the mud-heap city. Tweel indicated it’s the people of the south who built the canal besides it. Jarvis met drum ants who were pushing their carts. He tried to communicate with these creatures, but they only echoed his voice so as to do their own business. What he spoke to one of them would be immediately received by another one as if they had the same mind. Tweel then said, “One-one-two, yes! Two-two-four, no!” It meant these creatures had lower intelligence than them.

They entered the nearest mound but they were lost in the maze. They finally got to a domed chamber close to the surface where ants dumped loads of their carts into the wheel and sometimes even themselves! Jarvis saw a crystal beyond the wheel which could heal his thumb and nose. Then ants drummed all around and attack them suddenly, so the duo had to rushed out of the entrance. But ants seemed too much to solve. So Jarvis indicated Tweel to escape and leave him alone, which was rejected by Tweel loyally. Jarvis admitted that Tweel was a man. At such a crucial point, Putz found them and saved Jarvis. As long as Jarvis was fine, Tweel escaped from the scene immediately.

It turned out ants attacked them to take back the crystal stolen by Jarvis.

Core: 9/9. It’s a Martian Odyssey of human’s first expedition on Mars.

It depicts well about distinguished species on Mars. It demonstrates the difficulty of communication across species while also providing a chance of fast friendship beyond seemingly invincible barricades.

Of course the real Mars had no life and has no air, but the adverse preposition clearly set in the beginning of the story as the basic law, which made it acceptable at least for me.

Character: 8/9. Who could hardly ever be unmoved by an intelligent, funny, and friendly Tweel? It seemed like the first intelligent alien friend in the history of science fiction and one of the most outstanding examples on how to use plots to sculpture characters.

Meanwhile, crew members were also lively. Jarvis was a good chemist and storyteller. Suspicious Hamilton always questioned Jarvis’ mentality as well as Tweel’s intelligence.

(As was indicated in the sequel, they two represented two different kinds of American towards aliens. One was suspicious, conservative, anthropocentric, inimical; The other was comprehensive, open, fair and friendly. When Jarvis gave Tweel their advanced technology at the end of the sequel, Hamilton objected that they might compete with human ignoring the fact that Tweel saved Jarvis several times which was enough to show their kindness and it’s very fair to return Tweel’s favour.)

French Biologist Leroy helped analyze amazing creatures from time to time. German Engineer Putz said little but it’s he who saved Jarvis’ ass in the end.

Their lively conversation also made sure the entire odyssey was a light comedy.

However I would give a higher score if the writer could provide more comparison to examples from Earth and more professional analysis from the crew for these creatures. Also it gave more tinges to these characters. Otherwise it’s boring to listen to the monologue without others’ excellent interruption.

World and Others: 8/9. I would give a higher score if the writer could provide more comparison with examples from Earth and more professional analysis from the crew towards these creatures. Otherwise it’s a bit surreal like a fairy tale such as chubby turtle in the New Overworld.

Overall: 9/9. I feel extremely sorry to hear that he died only 1 year after he wrote such a masterpiece.

The work was so good that Asimov once said in the second nova of Asimov on Science Fiction (page 220, chapter 34) or of the introduction of the collection The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum that the story made Weinbaum recognized as the world’s best living science fiction writer and at once almost every writer in the field tried to imitate him. I thought there exist no other praises higher than this one. Attracting other writers to imitate your work is always the best honor for all the writers in the world, better than any other tangible prizes.

Even 36 years after his death, this work was still voted on the list of the best stories by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Even 43 years after his death, people still commemorate him with a crater on Mars named after him for this work.

Then I go through its sequel called Valley of Dreams, I don’t think it comparable to the first one on the degree of mysteries, structure and suspense, though the sequel explained a lot of foreshadowing here and also showed Weinbaum’s marvellous thoughts.

It’s heard that he was about to write the third novelette. But he died of lung cancer soon after this scheme. Many authors like Otto Binder thought it was a real loss to science fiction because he was leading the way to new and untouched heights in creativeness. Lovecraft commented that Weinbaum had that envisage to refrain from any cheap dramatics in which almost all adventure-pulpists wallow. Asimov evaluated Weinbaum’s talents even higher than Heinlein in his essay and even claimed if Weinbaum lived longer, then Campbell Revolution would undoubtedly be substituted by Weinbaum Revolution.

Stanley G. Weinbaum is hence one of my idols to be imitated and challenged.