Mars, the God of War
As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination—it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting man, it had always held the power of irresistible enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void, to lure me to it, to draw me as the lodestone attracts a particle of iron.
My longing was beyond the power of opposition; I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms toward the god of my vocation and felt myself drawn with the suddenness of thought through the trackless immensity of space.
Get the book at Bookshop.org Supports independent bookstores. We earn a small commission.
Context: Standing under the Arizona night sky, Carter looks up at the red planet.
Source: Chapter II, The Escape of the Dead