Description:
Powell, 1969. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Soft cover. Fine. Bill Hughes. First edition/printing thus 1969 Powell PP 173, abridged with special introduction by Ackerman. Fine condition, collectible. "... Edison's Conquest of Mars (first appeared 12 January-10 February 1898 New York Evening Journal as "The Conquest of Mars" [see Checklist for further details]; 1947; cut vt Forrest J. Ackerman Presents Invasion of Mars 1969), which is set a few years further into the Near Future, quite remarkably captures the ebullient US spirit of the time, its sense of innocent entitlement. Thomas Alva Edison himself (see also Edisonade) is the protagonist. The Martians have duly perished of bacteria (as described in Wells's original), though a few survivors had devastated New York in the immense wash of their escaping rocket; the world as a whole resembles Post-Holocaust landscapes from later sf. Astronomers soon detect signs that the Martians are preparing to invade again. In response, Edison invents a flying…
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