The Planetary series of stories by Stanley G. Weinbaum is a 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 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:
Title Published in Publication Date Setting Fictional date Main characters Other "A Martian Odyssey" Wonder Stories Dick Jarvis, Tweel "Valley of Dreams" Wonder Stories Dick Jarvis, Tweel sequel to "A Martian Odyssey" "Flight on Titan" Astounding Stories 2142* Tim and Diane Vick "Parasite Planet" Astounding Stories Hamilton Hammond, Patricia Burlingame "The Lotus Eaters" Astounding Stories Ham & Pat Hammond sequel to "Parasite Planet" "The Planet of Doubt" Astounding Stories 2100 Ham & Pat Hammond sequel to "The Lotus Eaters" "The Red Peri" Astounding Stories Frank Keene, Peri Maclane "The Mad Moon" Astounding Stories 2112 Grant Calthorpe, Lee Neilan "Redemption Cairn" Astounding Stories 2111 Jack Sands, Claire Avery "Tidal Moon" Thrilling Wonder Stories 2083 Ben Amherst, Carol Kent posthumous publication completed by Stanley Weinbaum's sister Helen
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. 2067 — Perry Maclane invents the expansion chamber (The Red Peri) c. 2065-2061 — Legal battle between Perry Maclane and Interplanetary (The Red Peri) c. 2061 — Peri Maclane born (The Red Peri) c. 2064 — Perry Maclane sets up a pirate base on Pluto with the advance ship Red Peri (The Red Peri) c. 2070 — Pacific War (Redemption Cairn) c. 2077 — Death of Perry Maclane in a raid on the Lucrece (The Red Peri) c. 2079 — The Red Peri takes and loots the Aardkin 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" 2137* — Human settlement on Titan initiated (Flight on Titan) 2140-2142* — Financial speculation in trading with Venus (Flight on Titan) 2142* – Failure of the Planetary Trading Corporation (Flight on Titan) 2143* – Events of "Flight on Titan" *Dates in Flight on Titan are inconsistent with themselves and the rest of Weinbaum's planetary stories. The principal date given is 2142, and the main story takes place in the following year; however, 2030 is referred to within the story as if it were a recent date, and references to the events in Flight on Titan in other stories indicate that they must have taken place before both The Lotus Eaters and The Mad Moon, i.e. in the 21st and not the 22nd century.
Solar System Weinbaum's Solar System corresponds to the scientific Solar System as envisioned in the mid-1930s, with details supplied from Weinbaum's imagination. By 1934, the Solar System was known to consist of the Sun, nine planets, 26 moons, and a few thousand asteroids and comets. Unlike the Solar System as known today, Weinbaum's Solar System was full of life-forms, many of them intelligent; however, only the humans of Earth possessed the capacity for spaceflight (though there is evidence the Martians may have had it in the past). Weinbaum limited himself to planets and moons as settings, naming the following: Venus — Setting of Parasite Planet and The Lotus Eaters. Weinbaum's Venus rotates synchronously with its revolution, so that one side is scorched by the unremitting heat of the Sun, and the other remains in an eternal frozen night. Mild temperatures are only found in a narrow, planet-girdling "twilight zone". First (failed) expedition to Venus led by de Lancey. Later successful expeditions led by Crowly (U.S.) and Burlingame (U.K.). Portions of the twilight zone are claimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Human settlements include Erotia (American) and Venoble (British). Earth — Home of the only actively spacefaring civilization in the Solar System. As of the 22nd century, still divided into many independent, competing nations, including the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Germany, Netherlands. Pacific War was fought here c. 2070, including the use of atomic bombs. Earth's Moon — Considered "arid and useless". Annexed by Russia. Mars — Setting of A Martian Odyssey and Valley of Dreams. A largely desert planet, consisting of orange deserts, grey plains covered with 'biopods', and criss-crossed by canals that feed water from the polar caps. First visited by the international (U.S./French/German) Ares expedition. Home to the intelligent Martians, the semi-intelligent barrel-creatures, the unintelligent pyramid builders, and the deadly dream-beast. Jupiter: Fifth planet from the Sun, three of whose four large moons are habitable, though Europa only barely so. Radiates sufficient heat to warm the inner moons well beyond the heat they receive from the Sun. Io — Setting of The Mad Moon. Two major settlements are Junopolis at the north pole and Herapolis at the south pole. Heated by both the Sun and Jupiter's own heat, the remainder of the moon is a fever-ridden wilderness. Home of loonies and slinkers. The pharmaceutical ferva is collected here. Europa — Setting of Redemption Cairn. Mostly airless, with the small amount of air there is collected in valleys on the Jupiter-facing side of the moon. The rocks are rich in deposits of protactinium. Ganymede — Setting of Tidal Moon. The moon is swept by periodic tidal waves that circle it every three months. The only surface vegetation, save at the poles, is the medicinal cree moss. Ganymede is chilly, with a temperature varying from . The subpolar flood belt creates atmospheric disturbances that interfere with radio communication. Saturn Titan — Setting of Flight on Titan. A cold, snowy world buffeted by near-constant winds. Chief settlement is Nivia. Claimed by the United States. Iapetus — Mentioned as a cold world supporting life. (The Lotus Eaters) Uranus — Setting of The Planet of Doubt. Seventh planet of the solar system, warmed by internal heat. Has a solid, sub-atmospheric surface, with seas and continents perpetually shrouded in fog. The thick atmosphere limits visibility to fifty feet, muffles sound, and effectively impedes radio communications. First visited by Young in 2060, then by the Gaea expedition in 2100. Can only be reached by rockets based on Titan (Saturn system). Portions claimed by the United States; no settlements as of 2100. Pluto — Setting of much of The Red Peri. Ninth and most distant planet of the Solar System. First visited by Atsuki (unverified) and then by Hervey and Caspari. Larger than Earth and with a fifth again the gravity. Only human settlement was the pirate base of the Red Peri (2064-2080).
Characters Amherst, Bob — (Tidal Moon) Atsuki — First person to visit Pluto, though the claim is disputed. (The Red Peri) Avery, Claire — Nicknamed "The Golden Flash". Rocket racer. Co-pilot on the Henshaw expedition to Europa. (Redemption Cairn) Basil — Space pirate on the Red Peri, brother of Elza. (The Red Peri) Briggs — Original co-pilot of the Hera, replaced by Kratska on Io after he fell sick with white fever (blancha). Burlingame, Patricia — Daughter of Patrick Burlingame, biologist, British. Later married Hamilton Hammond. (Parasite Planet, The Lotus Eaters, The Planet of Doubt) Burlingame, Patrick — British explorer of Venus. (Parasite Planet) Calthorpe, Grant — Trader collecting Ionian ferva leaf for Neilan Drug, formerly a big-game hunter on Venus and Titan; lost his fortune in the crisis of 2110. Cardoza — First person to travel by atomic rocket to the Moon. (A Martian Odyssey) Caspari — 3rd person to visit Pluto (The Red Peri) Coretti, Stefan — Nominally chemist on the Henshaw expedition; actually a government agent. (Redemption Cairn) Crowly — American explorer who claimed much of Venus' twilight zone for the United States. (The Lotus Eaters) Cullen — Chemist on the Gaea expedition to Uranus. (Planet of Doubt) de Lancey — Leader of the unsuccessful first flight to Venus. (A Martian Odyssey) Doheny — American scientist who perfected the atomic blast, dying in the process. (A Martian Odyssey) Elza — Space pirate on the Red Peri. (The Red Peri) Grandi, Marco — Space pirate on the Red Peri. (The Red Peri) Gunderson — Leader of the 2110 expedition to Europa, died in the crash of the Hera. (Redemption Cairn) Hammond, Hamilton — Nicknamed "Ham". Trader and collector in the Venusian hotlands. Married to Patricia Burlingame.(Parasite Planet, The Lotus Eaters, The Planet of Doubt) Harbord — Astrogator on the Gaea expedition to Uranus (Planet of Doubt) Harrick — Important figure in Interplanetary. (Redemption Cairn) Harrison — Captain and astronomer of the Ares expedition, American (A Martian Odyssey, Valley of Dreams) Harvey — Gustavus Neilan's assistant (The Mad Moon) Hawkins — First officer of the Aardkin. (The Red Peri) Henshaw, Harris — Captain of the 2nd organized expedition to Europa; killed by Kratska. (Redemption Cairn) Hervey — 2nd man to visit Pluto. (The Red Peri) Jarvis, Dick — Chemist of the Ares expedition, American (A Martian Odyssey, Valley of Dreams) Keene, Frank — Radiologist and physicist, radiation engineer on the Limbo expedition into deep space. (The Red Peri) Kent, Carl — (Tidal Moon) Kent, Carol — (Tidal Moon) Kratska — co-pilot on the Gunderson expedition to Europa, contributed to the crash of the Hera. Hexylamine addict. Later went as biologist on the Henshaw expedition to Europa under the pseudonym of Ivor Gogrol. (Redemption Cairn) Leroy, Pierre — Biologist of the Ares expedition. Citizen of the "Sixth Commune" in France. (A Martian Odyssey, Valley of Dreams) Maclane, Perry (d. 2077) — Nicknamed "Red". Inventor of the expansion chamber. (The Red Peri) Maclane, Peri (2061-) — Daughter of Perry Maclane, pirate, called "The Red Peri" (The Red Peri) Neilan, Gustavus — Owner of Neilan Drug, a pharmaceutical concern on Io. (The Mad Moon) Neilan, Lee — Daughter of Gustavus Neilan, later married to Grant Calthorpe. (The Mad Moon) Nestor, Solomon (2025-) — Representative of the Smithsonian on the Limbo'''s deep-space expedition. (The Red Peri) Putz, Karl — Engineer of the Ares expedition. Native of Germany. (A Martian Odyssey, Valley of Dreams)