MARTIANS NEVER DIE
Episode #405 · Written by Lucius Daniel · Narrated by Scott Miller
Some science fiction stories thrill with invention. Others unsettle by holding up a mirror. Martians Never Die belongs firmly in the second category.
When a long-lost explorer returns from Mars, the event draws attention, speculation, and quiet desperation. Beneath the surface, private ambitions clash with something far more dangerous than alien technology: human selfishness. The story builds its tension through silence, observation, and emotional imbalance rather than action or spectacle.
This is a story about what happens when humanity meets something wiser—and kinder—than itself. As loyalties shift and intentions are revealed, the real conflict becomes moral rather than physical. Every choice carries weight, and every pause feels deliberate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucius Daniel wrote science fiction that leaned toward psychological consequence and ethical reflection. Rather than focusing on futuristic hardware, his stories examined how people behave when their assumptions are challenged. Martians Never Die is a standout example of that style, delivering a quiet but unforgettable judgment on human nature.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Martians Never Die by Lucius Daniel — a vintage science fiction short story about alien contact and the cost of human 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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The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.4 million listens.
Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.
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