Edison's Conquest of Mars

In Short

Garrett Putman Serviss’s 1898 space-adventure novel stands as an ambitious early milestone in military science fiction, conceived as a direct technological counterpunch to H.G. Wells’s apocalyptic invasion narrative. Following the catastrophic devastation left by fleeing Martian invaders, humanity pools its financial and scientific resources under the leadership of inventor Thomas Edison. Equipping an international fleet with anti-gravity propulsion and molecular disintegrator beams, mankind embarks on a bold crusade across the solar system. Blending 1890s electrical speculation with unabashed imperial conquest, the story endures as a foundational artifact of American techno-optimism.

The Story

After the Martians perish from terrestrial diseases, their surviving contingent launches a final, catastrophic explosive blast from New Jersey to propel their getaway vessel toward Mars. The shockwave destroys the remnants of New York, collapses the Hudson Palisades, and triggers widespread devastation, famine, and despondency across the globe. Refusing to await another assault, Earth’s surviving nations forge an unprecedented global alliance. They appoint American inventor Thomas Edison as military director and pool millions into a massive war fund. Edison devises two revolutionary inventions: electrical ships capable of reversing gravity and disintegrator engines that reduce solid matter to atomic dust clouds.

Following high-altitude demonstration flights for world leaders, an armada of one hundred electrical ships launches at midnight amid spectacular celebratory fireworks. En route to Mars, the fleet stops at the moon, where French chemist Professor Moissan marvels over the diamond-crusted peaks of the Aristarchus crater. Continuing past the asteroid belt, the expedition suffers a harrowing setback when stranded Martians destroy two human ships with devastating heat rays before Edison’s disintegrators wipe them out. The landing party captures a bound Martian survivor and discovers evidence of an internal Martian civil war fought over celestial gold.

Upon arriving at Mars, the humans observe a vibrant, complex world crisscrossed by the canals of Schiaparelli. The Martians immediately obscure their planet beneath an immense, choking cloud of ebon smoke. In response, Colonel Smith leads a stealthy detachment to the night side of Mars. There, his crew secures compressed food supplies and rescues Aina, a captive human girl living among the aliens. Aina reveals that her ancestors originated on Earth in the Valley of Cashmere before being abducted eons ago by the giant Martians, who have kept her people in brutal servitude ever since.

Utilizing Aina’s knowledge of Martian infrastructure, Edison recalibrates the disintegrators to penetrate the alien electrical defenses protecting a critical power plant. The humans breach the defenses and sabotage the planetary floodgates, causing massive, devastating inundations that smash Martian military hubs and drown vast populations. Hovering above the rising waters, the human fleet repels Martian airship counterattacks before descending directly into the golden palace of the Martian sovereign.

When a colossal Martian guard viciously kicks Aina inside the throne room, Colonel Smith instantly vaporizes the giant with his disintegrator. Terrified by humanity’s overwhelming firepower, the remaining Martians surrender unconditionally. With their mission accomplished, the fleet embarks on a grand victory tour around Earth, hovering over major world capitals—including Beijing, Moscow, Berlin, Paris, and London—to global applause. The saga culminates in New York at Trinity Church, where Sidney Phillips marries Aina. Colonel Smith gracefully gives the bride away before returning to military service, cementing a permanent bridge between Earth’s ancient past and its heroic future.

How It Unfolds

Devastation and resolve — Earth reels from the catastrophic explosive blast of departing Martians, which demolishes New York and devastates the surrounding countryside. Global leaders form an unprecedented international congress and appoint Thomas Edison to direct humanity’s retaliatory war efforts.

Invention of the disintegrator — Edison demonstrates his new vibratory weapons, which reduce solid brick walls into faint blue clouds of scattered atoms without causing structural explosions. With unlimited funding, workers construct a fleet of one hundred gravity-defying electrical ships for the voyage.

The armada launches — Millions gather in Washington to hear telephonic broadcasts before the fleet departs at midnight under a canopy of grand celebratory fireworks. As the ships ascend into deep space, Earth rounds out beneath them as an enormous ball illuminated by the moon.

Wonders and perils in space — The fleet explores the moon’s Aristarchus crater, discovering brilliant diamond crystals that delight French chemist Professor Moissan. Shortly after, an encounter with stranded Martians on an asteroid leaves two human vessels destroyed before Edison’s disintegrators annihilate the hostile aliens.

Reaching the Red Planet — Arriving at Mars, the expedition observes intricate canals, vibrant colors, and atmospheric clouds before the Martians deploy a vast, suffocating curtain of black smoke. The fleet retreats upward to evade the rising, ebon vapor clouds enveloping the planet.

The rescue of Aina — Colonel Smith leads a covert night-side detachment through the smoke, gathering compressed food rations and rescuing a captive human survivor named Aina. She informs the crew that her ancient ancestors were brought to Mars from Earth's Valley of Cashmere.

Inundation and victory — Guided by Aina, Edison modifies his disintegrators to break through Martian energy networks and destroy key planetary water infrastructure. The resulting catastrophic floods devastate Martian strongholds, forcing the surviving alien leaders to capitulate within their golden palace.

Triumph and return — The victorious fleet sails home, making low-altitude passes over major world cities to celebrate global liberation with cheering crowds. In New York, Sidney Phillips marries Aina at Trinity Church while Colonel Smith bids a quiet farewell.

The People

Thomas Edison — The brilliant American inventor serves as the supreme director of Earth’s retaliatory campaign. Driven by a pragmatic duty to save humanity, Edison designs the variable-polarity space vessels and atomic disintegrators that make interplanetary travel possible. He remains coolly analytical, using tactical logic to decipher alien technology, adjust weapon frequencies, and secure decisive victory.

Colonel Alonzo Jefferson Smith — A rugged American military officer who commands the expedition’s tactical maneuvers with bold initiative. Smith seeks military glory and initially competes for the affections of Aina, demonstrating fierce protective instincts when confronting Martian aggressors. Though heartbroken when she chooses another, he reveals profound nobility by giving her away at her wedding before returning to his army post on the western plains.

Sidney Phillips — A spirited younger member of the expedition who works tirelessly alongside Colonel Smith to learn Aina’s language. Driven by romantic devotion and defensive pride, Phillips eagerly shields Aina from danger and ultimately wins her heart, ending the voyage transformed into a devoted husband grounded in a historic union.

Aina — A fair human survivor born on Mars, descended from an ancient earthly lineage taken from the Valley of Cashmere eons ago. Trapped in fear and servitude under giant oppressors, she provides critical intelligence regarding Martian power grids and flood mechanisms, emerging as the symbolic bridge uniting Earth’s forgotten past with its triumphant present.

Professor Moissan — An enthusiastic French chemist whose scientific passion brings moments of uninhibited wonder to the expedition. Driven by curiosity, he dances with joy upon discovering mountains of diamond crystals on the moon and actively aids in translating Aina's ancient human dialect.

In Its Own Voice

When Edison turns his vibratory weapon upon a leaning brick wall during public trials in Washington, spectators witness the instantaneous reduction of solid matter into raw atoms:

"The wall was gone! But high above and all around the place where it had hung over the street with its threat of death there appeared, swiftly billowing outward in every direction, a faint, bluish cloud."

Returning from a stealth reconnaissance mission behind Martian lines, Colonel Smith presents his commanders with captured alien food rations:

"'If we have not captured their provision train,' said Colonel Smith, 'we have done something just about as good.'"

Following the expedition's successful return to Earth, the narrator reflects on the deeper historical meaning of the marriage between Sidney Phillips and Aina:

"And thus was united, for all future time, the first stem of the Aryan race, which had been long lost, but not destroyed, with the latest offspring of that great family, and the link which had served to bring them together was the far-away planet of Mars."

What It's Really About

Edison's Conquest of Mars is fundamentally an exercise in unbridled technological triumph, absolute vengeance, and late nineteenth-century Western jingoism. Beneath its interplanetary adventure lies a firm conviction that human ingenuity—specifically American industrial power personified by Thomas Edison—can master any natural law and subdue any foreign threat. The text explores themes of global unification under industrialized warfare, where national rivalries dissolve into a single economic and military juggernaut. Simultaneously, the discovery of lost human ancestors on Mars embeds Victorian racial theories into space exploration, framing the conquest not merely as a military defense, but as a providential reclamation of lost heritage and an assertion of human supremacy across the solar system.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers intrigued by early science fiction, Victorian futurism, and the history of space opera will find this novel a fascinating literary time capsule. Reading it feels like stepping directly into an 1890s newspaper serial, brimming with sensational headlines, breathless mechanical enthusiasm, and a total absence of self-doubt. Serviss writes with a rapid, journalistic pace that conveys genuine awe toward early electrical theories, lunar geology, and orbital mechanics.

However, modern readers must navigate significant period difficulties visible throughout the text. The narrative relies heavily on melodramatic stock characters, dated scientific assumptions, and an explicit adherence to nineteenth-century racial theories regarding human origins. Furthermore, the casual brutality with which the human forces employ mass destruction—drowning entire Martian cities without lingering remorse—presents a stark, unvarnished look at the era's imperialist mindset. Despite these uncomfortable elements, the book remains a compelling historical artifact. It captures the exact moment when Victorian society began projecting its industrial confidence, technological anxieties, and global ambitions outward toward the stars.