Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson Episode #74
Poul Anderson | June 6, 2023-
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Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson Episode #74
Poul Anderson
DUEL ON SYRTIS
Episode #74 · Written by Poul Anderson · Narrated by Scott Miller
A forbidden hunt on Mars becomes a prolonged test of endurance, knowledge, and restraint. This is not a story of quick violence, but of distance measured in breath and days, where each step forward narrows the options for both pursuer and prey.
The landscape is not neutral ground. Canyons, cold nights, and living terrain press inward as tools fail and advantages erode. What begins as confidence slowly becomes effort, then strain, and finally something far more dangerous when escape is no longer possible.
Duel on Syrtis unfolds as a contest shaped by patience and consequence rather than speed. Every choice carries weight, and every delay changes the balance, until the outcome rests on an understanding of what Mars will tolerate—and what it will not.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Poul Anderson was one of the most versatile and prolific voices in twentieth-century speculative fiction, publishing in Astounding Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and other leading magazines for decades. His work spans planetary adventure, hard science fiction, historical fantasy, and space opera, with novels such as Brain Wave, The High Crusade, and the Polesotechnic League series establishing his reputation for combining action with rigor.
Duel on Syrtis reflects Anderson’s ability to fuse environment, culture, and physical reality into a single narrative engine. Rather than relying on abstract conflict, the story builds pressure through terrain, biology, and time, creating a confrontation that feels earned long before its final decision is reached.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson — a vintage science fiction short story about a relentless chase on Mars that pits endurance and terrain against forbidden ambition.
RELATED STORIES
Mars has always been the most familiar of alien worlds, close enough to imagine and distant enough to remain dangerous. Vintage science fiction turned the red planet into a testing ground for human ambition—an empty frontier, a dying world, or a civilization older and stranger than Earth itself.
These stories send explorers, settlers, soldiers, and scientists across the void to a place where survival is never guaranteed. Thin air, vast deserts, and abandoned cities create a landscape that is both harsh and haunting.
Whether the planet is home to ancient Martians, fragile colonies, or the last hope after Earth’s decline, Mars stories are about adaptation.
- Dwellers in Silence by Ray Bradbury
- Death-Wish by Ray Bradbury
- Defense Mech by Ray Bradbury
- The Visitor by Ray Bradbury
- The One Who Waits by Ray Bradbury
- The Crystal Egg by H. G. Wells
- Never on Mars by John Wyndham
- Return of a Legend by Raymond Z. Gallun
- Message From Mars by Clifford D. Simak
- The Monsters Came By Night by Robert Silverberg
- The Martians and the Coys by Mack Reynolds
- A Zloor For Your Trouble by Mack Reynolds
- The Weapon by Isaac Asimov
- Arm of the Law by Harry Harrison
- Monster by William Morrison
- Fee of the Frontier by H. B. Fyfe
- A Message From Our Sponsor by Henry Slesar
- Two Weeks in August by Frank M. Robinson
- Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson
- We're Off to Mars by Joe Gibson
- Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm
- The Old Timer by Richard R. Smith
- Trainee for Mars by Harry Harrison
- The Hermit of Mars by Stephen Bartholomew
- Martian Homecoming by Frank Belknap Long
- Lake of Fire by Frank Belknap Long
- The Hated by Frederik Pohl
- The Old Martians by Rog Phillips
- The Martian Shore by Charles L. Fontenay
- Madmen of Mars by Erik Fennel
- Martians Never Die by Lucius Daniel
- What's He Doing in There? by Fritz Leiber
- Don't Look Now by Henry Kuttner
- Jonah of the Jove-Run by Ray Bradbury
- The Goggles of Dr Dragonet by Fritz Leiber
- The Foxholes of Mars by Fritz Leiber
- Alien Equivalent by Richard R. Smith
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