ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – This highly detailed account of life in Montalluyah (“God’s own city”), the capitol city of Mars, was written by British author Benjamin Lumley under the pen name Hermes. The book is presented as excerpts from historical accounts, including a biography of the Great Martian Reformer Tootmanyoso.
Mars is depicted as geographically similar – but far from identical – to Earth. Water on Mars is violet colored, hills are more numerous, and there are several species of plants, animals and insects not found on Earth. Technology on the Red Planet is far beyond Earth’s, due largely to the way Martian science learned to extract the “innate electricity” in every object, even unliving ones.
As the Earthling “Hermes” translates Martian documents, he finds that much is made of the historical figure Tootmanyoso. Before the coming of that great man, Mars was prone to war, crime, poverty and disease.
Tootmanyoso took advantage of advances in technology to revolutionize every aspect of Martian life. He reformed medicine, education, the law, the rearing of children and much more. The Earth translator presents Tootmanyoso’s central tenet as a variation of our saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Martian science, now wielding nearly infinite reservoirs of electricity (which Benjamin Lumley presents as a miracle force), can microscopically detect germs and other physical ailments very early on. Diseases and other potential medical issues are nipped in the bud.
Tootmanyoso applied a similar approach to child rearing. Any potential behavioral or mental problems in children are addressed right away until any errant child is forced to conform to Martian society’s acceptable norms. (Dystopian if you ask me, but it’s presented as a positive.)
As children reach adulthood, Martian scientific instruments and customized aptitude tests dictate what everyone’s career will be. This is one of those sci-fi tales that ignores free will and pretends that such dictatorial scientific approaches are perfectible.
Ever since Tootmanyoso, the planet is ruled by an Emperor, who resides in Montalluyah and has twelve kings called Tshialosoli who govern subdivisions of Mars for him. The word emperor on Mars was named after Tootmanyoso and now means “Father of the World.”
Through scientific study, the best economic system was decided on – a combination of limited socialism and limited capitalism in balance. Communism is strongly condemned.
Technology has eliminated not just disease and other ailments but is used for casual cosmetic surgery if one is not satisfied with one’s physical appearance. And that extends to weight loss. Similarly, crops and livestock can also be kept impeccably healthy. (On Mars only male livestock are used for food. The females are used only for reproduction.)
Buildings are curved, rather than square, and all cities rest on the top of hills or mountains. Each city has 200 subdivisions.
Another World is not very well written and consists of page after page of exposition broken up only occasionally with anecdotes from Martian life or history. One example is a look at Elikoia, an ancient sage who pioneered Montalluyan culture in the millennia before its current “perfect” state.
Here are some scattershot items of interest I selected from the mind-numbing deluge of dry information:
*** A fundamental religious principle on Mars is “You forsake this earthly form which goes to dust, but you still live on for ever and ever … This life is but the shadow of what your future lives will be.” Another is “The humble and the proud are equally subject to the decrees of Heaven; and often one is raised and the other brought low.”
*** Mars has “electric harps” which accentuate the sounds generated just like our modern-day electric guitars can do. Moreover, the electric harps produce music that can be used for communication in lieu of spoken language.
*** Much is made about the way Montalluyan medical science has cured tuberculosis.
*** All lightning is collected and its energy stored for societal use, as is sunlight itself. Electrical lighting is everywhere.
*** The sky on Mars can appear as red, golden, green or pink.
*** Houses are constructed from white and blue stones which perfectly conduct heat so that residences are always perfect inside, temperature-wise.
*** All the plant life on Mars give off marvelous aromas and the birds make sounds as delightful as music.
*** The hides of Martian livestock absorb most sounds, eliminating any chance of noise pollution.
BALLADEER’S BLOG
*** One of the odd examples of animal life is the species called Camel-Leopards. Hippopotami are present and greatly feared on Mars. Unicorns also exist.
*** Electricity has made anti-gravity possible, but it is used mostly in construction, transport, and to support bridges and overhanging mountains.
*** Photography is much more advanced than on Earth of the 1870s.
*** Women are educated like the men, but Another World’s narrative is often very condescending toward women. They are praised and exalted, even to the point of getting to elect an Empress of the World, but women are depicted as being so easily fooled they never notice that the Empress is merely a figurehead with no power.
*** When a woman is ready to marry, 85 men are “scientifically” selected for her, and over a period of 31 days she decides which one she wants to marry. Wedding gowns are as colorful as rainbows. After each child is born, the mother and father renew their vows in another marriage ceremony.
*** Flowers on Mars have a language of their own and sending certain types can convey positive or negative meaning to humanoid Martians.
*** Old age is revered, as is physical fitness, and Martians are each as fit and agile as acrobats on Earth. A training regimen is introduced in childhood and is adjusted as one ages.
*** Repetition is frowned upon in religious services on Mars, so the word “rituals” doesn’t really apply as there are no strict formulae.
*** Sea vessels are shaped like swans and are, of course, powered by electricity.
I was able to get through Another World only through sheer willpower. Sadly, it’s not a book that hooks you in and keeps you riveted. For every minute of genuinely interesting or entertaining material a reader has to wade through a lot of extraneous details for several more minutes.
If you’re as obsessive as I am about reading as many of these “ancient” works of science fiction as possible then by all means give this novel a try. Otherwise, stay clear.
FOR WASHINGTON IRVING’S 1809 depiction of an invasion from the moon click here: https://glitternight.com/2014/05/05/ancient-science-fiction-the-men-of-the-moon-1809-by-washington-irving/
FOR TEN MORE EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2014/03/03/ten-neglected-examples-of-ancient-science-fiction/
Balladeer's Blog 
Clever imagination. Violet water–interesting.
I agree.
Thanks for sharing this idea
Glad to!
Why Mars I ask? Imagine all these radical changes except for the violet water perhaps ending on a future earth.
Believe it or not there are a lot of old works like this that do set things on a far future Earth, like https://glitternight.com/2021/06/15/the-year-2440-1771-ancient-science-fiction/ set in the year 2440 but written in 1771 https://glitternight.com/2023/05/02/five-hundred-years-hence-1818-ancient-science-fiction/ Five Hundred Years Hence set in 2318 https://glitternight.com/2022/02/12/meda-a-tale-of-the-future-1891-ancient-science-fiction/ Meda: A Tale of the Future set in 5575 https://glitternight.com/2021/08/31/a-journey-in-the-twenty-ninth-century-1824-ancient-science-fiction/ Set in the 2800s And https://glitternight.com/2021/08/25/the-year-4338-letters-from-petersburg-1835-ancient-science-fiction/ Not trying to spam you, just wanted to present you with a few that have very unusual things happening on future Earth.
Which one of these do you recommend most? Thanks for the list.
Glad to provide it! If you’re clicking on just one of the reviews, I would say do The Year 2440 from 1771, partly for the historical kitsch fact that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned first editions of The Year 2440.
Much appreciated
Glad to do it!