Planetary series

The Planetary series of stories by Stanley G. Weinbaum is series of short stories, published in Wonder Stories and Astounding Stories in the 1930s, which are set upon various planets and moons of the Solar System.

The stories are marked by attention to the detail of the alien ecosystems with which Weinbaum equips his planets. Though only a few of the stories share protagonists, there is enough shared detail between the stories to show that they belong to a common fictional universe. The birdlike Martians of "A Martian Odyssey" and "Valley of Dreams", for instance, are mentioned in "Redemption Cairn", and "The Red Peri" and the Venusian trioptes of "Parasite Planet" and "The Lotus Eaters" are mentioned in "The Mad Moon". In Weinbaum's Solar System, in accordance with the then-current near-collision hypothesis, the gas giants radiate heat, enough to warm their satellites to Earthlike temperatures, allowing for Earthlike environments on Io, Europa, Titan, and even Uranus. Mars is also sufficiently Earthlike to allow humans to walk its surface (with training in thin-air chambers) unprotected.

The series includes the following ten titles, in publication order:

# "A Martian Odyssey" – "Wonder Stories", July 1934
#: Set on Mars, early 21st century; Dick Jarvis, Tweel
# "Valley of Dreams" – "Wonder Stories", November 1934
#: Set on Mars, sequel to "A Martian Odyssey"
# "Flight on Titan" – "Astounding Stories", January 1935
#: Set on Saturn's moon Titan, 2142; Tim and Diane Vick
# "Parasite Planet" – "Astounding Stories", February 1935
#: Set on Venus, late 21st century; Hamilton Hammond, Patricia Burlingame
# "The Lotus Eaters" – "Astounding Stories", April 1935
#: Set on Venus, sequel to "Parasite Planet"
# "The Planet of Doubt" – "Astounding Stories", October 1935
#: Set on Uranus, 2100; sequel to "The Lotus Eaters"
# "The Red Peri" – "Astounding Stories", November 1935
#: Set on Pluto circa 2080; Frank Keene, Peri Maclane
# "The Mad Moon" – "Astounding Stories", December 1935
#: Set on Jupiter's moon Io, 2112; Grant Calthorpe, Lee Neilan
# "Redemption Cairn" – "Astounding Stories", March 1936
#: Set on Jupiter's moon Europa, 2111; Jack Sands, Claire Avery
# "Tidal Moon" — "Thrilling Wonder Stories", December 1938, a posthumous publication completed by Helen Weinbaum, Stanley Weinbaum's sister.
#: Set on Jupiter's moon Ganymede, 2083; Ben Amherst, Carol Kent.

Chronology

* Less than 20 years before "A Martian Odyssey" – "Atomic blast" perfected by Doheny. ("A Martian Odyssey")
* 10 years before "A Martian Odyssey" – First Moon expedition by Cardoza, followed by half-a-dozen others and the failed de Lancey expedition to Venus.("A Martian Odyssey")
* Early 2000s – Events of "A Martian Odyssey" and "Valley of Dreams"
* 2000-2005 - Colonization of Venus ("The Red Peri")
* 2020 – International Congress at Lisle apportions the British and American claims to Venus ("The Lotus Eaters")
* 2030 – Hocken rocket developed, followed by Russian annexation of the Moon and travel to Mars and Venus ("Flight on Titan")
* 2059 – Council of Berne limits extent of planetary claims made by discoverers. ("The Planet of Doubt")
* 2060 – Young expedition to Uranus ("The Planet of Doubt")
* c. 2080 – Events of "The Red Peri"
* 2083 — Events of "Tidal Moon"
* 2090s – Events of "Parasite Planet" and "The Lotus Eaters"
* 2100 – Events of "The Planet of Doubt"
* 2110 – Gold crisis ("The Mad Moon"); Gunderson expedition to Europa ("Redemption Cairn")
* 2111 - Events of "Redemption Cairn"
* 2112 – Events of "The Mad Moon"
* 2142 – Failure of the Planetary Trading Corporation ("Flight on Titan")
* 2143 – Events of "Flight on Titan"
** Note: there are multiple eclipses of the Sun as seen from Titan in 2142-2143; the longest in duration of them is on March 7, 2143; however, it really only lasts 6 hours, not 72 as in the story.