"Seedling of Mars" / A Mars Cycle Story by Clark Ashton Smith

[@lillianwhite760]

Clark Aston Smith is my favorite pulp writer. He just threads in this sardonic humor that rubs me the right way. "Some people were excited. Some people were scared. Some people were annoyed that it was inturrupting football."

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Fantastic story and narration. C.A.S. really knew how to write. The words just flow! He had such a wonderful imagination! This is like a show I imagine Ray Bradbury would do. The Martian is awesome! This story is really cool and has an amazing ending. Thanks for narrating this fantastic story for us.

[@joyceeverson5777]

Thank you for this upload! These are so much better than movies! I can spend 30 minutes searching for a good movie and never find one, then spend 1 minute here looking for your uploads and am never disappointed.

[@ADITADDICTS]

This is why I love this channel. M.D. Vickers a couple days ago and today another of my favorites, who was a local in my neck of the woods C.A. Smith.

[@carolowen6705]

L m

[@ADITADDICTS]

@Carol owen Ladies man? Why thank you.🤣

[@AcornElectron]

“After uncovering the entire surface, which consisted of three immense granite slabs, we stepped back some distance to survey the charnel scene; and Warren appeared to make some mental calculations. “ Keep up the good work fella and lass and, as always, stay safe!

[@justicepie314]

You fool, Warren is dead!

[@awarningtothecuriouswerewolves]

All my calculations are mental! Warren!

[@Eris123451]

What Warren had noticed and what presumably had caught his attention was; in the corner of each one of those great granite slabs was a yellow triangle with the words, DO NOT REMOVE COVER and WARNING, DANGER OF DEATH inscribed inside it in large black letters.

[@laurelsilberman5705]

You select the absolute best reads.

[@awarningtothecuriouswerewolves]

Finally, the origins of Mars bars explained! Cheers Warren, who has a sweet tooth -- he only has one, but it is sweet!

[@Arwcwb]

Didn't even know this existed until now - thank you.

[@maurice5402]

Yes yes yes!! More Mars cycle stories please!

[@Orgruk]

That was very unsettling. Humans are helpless pawns of this cosmic monster, which cannot be denied.

[@gohboy56]

Why do you consider him a monster? He was a good host to the earthlings, proposed a mutually beneficial proposal and most of all, rescued his followers in the nick of time. Prefers to stay on Mars alone, didn't enslave the human race. It might come across as arrogant by our standards, but really he just stated facts about his powers and omnipotence. It isn't bound by our human ( false) modesty!

[@ClipperHorizon]

@@gohboy56 Uh... the part where he exterminated the entire sentient population of a planet, who were no possible threat to him, simply because they wouldn't bow down and accept him as their overlord? How is he a good guy because he massacred the humans instead of enslaving them? A good creature would have accepted their refusal and left them alone.

[@Michaeljack81sk]

@@gohboy56 The part where the plant is an egotistical, messianic mass murderer who allowed the 'unbelievers' to return to Earth first with the express intention of starting a war so he could uplift his "chosen ones" and in all likelihood will eat them too when they've terraformed it enough? Though not before he's created a schism among them so he can repeat the process all over again

[@jaymeVos]

@@gohboy56 Because we, as humans, think think that is monstrous. To kill a bunch ov people because they will not submit to one's will. You, uh, wouldn't happen to be a cosmic monster hiding inside a human being, would you?! I just wanted to ask.

[@gohboy56]

@@jaymeVos Are we still on this topic?! You have just given me a couple of thoughts...From ancient history onwards leaders termed merciless ( Genghis Khan e.g ) were probably Martian Monsters in human skins. Stalin killed millions who didn't accept communism.I could go on and on but I am busy eating a juicy steak listening to Steven King's The Stand.

[@DrBrothBaist]

C.A.S. is one of my favorites good job digging this 1 up never came across this before

[@Eris123451]

Nor I.

[@stevepalpatine2828]

I thought I knew all Clarke Aston Smiths stories but this is a new one to me. Brilliant as always, thankyou.

[@andreac5724]

Good night...thx for helping me sleep.

[@claudemarillier6258]

Another great story, and so well read, thank you. And once again, I can only think that Mars and Venus were far more hospitable in those days... Reality can be disheartening. As French poet Guy Béart sang, « L'avenir, c'était plus beau hier. » Future looked better yesterday.

[@MrsCaranAmy]

This is going to be amazing. I'm using this nice long science fiction story as my end of the night listening. Thank you so much. Have a great Tuesday 🌟🌙🌌 💖

[@joz6683]

I cannot believe that I am 1st. I have never been 1st to any video! And as always thanks Ian & Jennifer and anyone else involved for all your tireless work and great content...Love the C.A.S. stories, thanks for choosing another one...

[@Sailontodawn]

Great! I remember a book I read about a billionaire wanting a meteor dug out of South America. It fell out of the ship...and started to grow. Thanks for great entertainment!

[@danbrown2908]

The great, yet underrated mind of C A Smith lives, and amazes...still, thanks to a great 👍 channel.

[@KT-fy6bl]

I really enjoyed this story. The tone was perfect because it both felt terrifying and awe inspiring which is exactly how the people felt when learning of the creature.

[@blakmajk3512]

Top shelf, Ian! 👍🏼👍🏼

[@josephodonnell7038]

Gordon, please consider reading CAS's "The Colossus of Ylourgne". It's an awesome story.

[@HorrorBabble]

Who's Gordon? ;)

[@DocZ82]

You mean Ian lolz..

[@Wombats555]

/Brian Blessed GORDON IS ALIIIIVE! Warren is dead. We are ewe fuel!

[@theoolison5128]

@@Wombats555 by

[@thefisherking78]

What an amazing story. I loved it

[@lifewladye]

I must add this story to my collection 😍 I really enjoyed it 😊 thanks Ian for another great read 👏🏿

[@grannykiminalaska]

I love the long ones, that wS really good. Thanks for your hard work, I know I couldn't do it.

[@gohboy56]

Saved the best for the last of the Martian saga! I was so into it from beginning till end and in a week or so will listen again. Many thanks O great masters of the unrivaled HB.

[@jessicac.9992]

As always another wonderful reading. Such pleasure your channel brings to myself as well as so many others. Thank you.

[@danielorbell4517]

Fantastic! Lots of provocation for thought.

[@marinakaiser7639]

It was worth waiting as always 😁my creepy lullaby 🤣🖤❤must work tomorrow and just on time 😘

[@oldsynner]

Well, it’s a long time since I read that one, so long that I pretty much had forgotten about it. Thatw as back in the days of the Panther (?) paperback series, which remains the best CAS collections, themed as they were around locations, mythical and ultra-terrene (there is a story of that name by the great man, who evidently coined this term). Interesting to see such a “large scale” story from CAS. From a more recent perspective, I can’t help seeing comparisons with Pert F Hamilton’s MorningLightMountain. Great stuff as usual.

[@chrisu7022]

Absolutely LOVED IT thank you hb

[@soulreaver1983]

Another outstanding video to enjoy thanks Ian!!!!🙂👍👍👍👍👍

[@craigbounous2948]

I love this story! I have never heard it before and, being a fan of philosophy and (good) Star Trek, it was both thought provoking and multifaceted. Good find!

[@Shineon83]

What a great idea this Sci-Fi magazine had : To have an “Interplanetary Expeditions” contest among their readers-for their best writers to write ( and at the height of the Depression)….

[@gohboy56]

I am back to this narrative that proved to be rather controversial...by some responses from other readers.I f I had the energy I could have responded to each one but I felt we are all entitled to our feelings and reactions. Goes to show that this is a great channel 👏 👍 Thanks for such interesting choices and of course excellent narrators.

[@DocZ82]

Dont usually like the Mars/sci fi sort of stuff but this was brilliant! Thanks mate.

[@jshaw4757]

Most off it is exactly like this..I think your a closet Sci fi fan lol

[@earthcat]

Good story but now I have Claatu playing on a loop in my head

[@austinm3377]

Almost 2 hours of C.A.S? Alright awesome

[@jaredmatthews252]

I like the sci fi

[@AAron-gr3jk]

Dweller in the vault was haunting... wonder if this is equally good

[@1701EarlGrey]

So, after all this Plant Lord was a monster - he preferred genocide, rather than leaving mankind alone...

[@sindarpeacheyeisacommie8688]

Warren is publishing horror stories on Kindle under an assumed name.

[@Wombats555]

Ewe fuel! Warren is dead. So is William Hope Hodgson but it doesn't stop Ian using his cadaver as puppet and writing new stories. The rozzers call it grave robbing but I call it post-humous collaboration.

[@sindarpeacheyeisacommie8688]

@@Wombats555 Warren may be dead, but he is still publishing under a pen name on kindle. He is not the first character on horrorbabble to do stuff after getting dead.

[@entrepreneursfinest]

Makes one wonder if the "plantanimal" creatures are just causing war and then moving ever inward as the planets cool down and the sun dims.

[@Michaeljack81sk]

Yep, pretty sure once the slaves have terraformed Venus enough they'll be next. Though probably not before the plantbrain forments another war as an excuse to take another group of "Chosen" to the next place

[@JamesMC04]

Oh dear. That needs to become a film. And it would not be a re-make.

[@nathanharper5670]

Anyone else getting a strong "Don't Look Up" vibe from this story? Not a literal beat-for-beat parallel, but they definitely share themes of opposite reactions from the same incidences, and ideological divisions from seemingly impartial events.

[@Michaeljack81sk]

The big difference is that it was engineered. The hilariously strawmanned doubters were allowed to fly back home specifically because they would sow anti-mars sentiment so the Seeding could have his own army of submissive, worshipful slaves. An alien Machiavelli creating enemies to distract the population from the real threat

[@nathanharper5670]

@@Michaeljack81sk Machiavalien, indeed.

[@lillianwhite760]

Magic god plant: "we are going to form a continent based on science and discovery instead of brutality." Also magic god plant: "Im going to burn all the dinosaurs from this planet so there aren't even bones left."

[@tishahouse846]

listening from the ukwales 2022❤️

[@guilledcf1547]

"Warren is dead". -- Friedich Nietzsche

[@sindarpeacheyeisacommie8688]

Nietzsche is dead. --Warren

[@stevepalpatine2828]

I give you - the Super-Warren!

[@Deverud]

The beginning of the story reminds me a lot of The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951). May the movie have been inspired a bit by this story?

[@ImCarolB]

I'm so reminded of the 1950s space movies, where all the so-called experts and authorities are called out to investigate. They all end up being blustering fools, demanding that "somebody has to do something!! The military are the worst.

[@Angel-fo6oo]

What a twist!!!

[@richardportman8912]

I fell asleep listening to the first part. It was so interesting. I was astonished and horrified by that great monstrous Martian plant thing. I left the story about halfway through. Now i am safe again, i wonder what will happen next?

[@jerichothirteen1134]

Where is the ending? You know...the bit where the plant finds it inconvenient to continue supporting mankind at all and wipes us out entirely.

[@alswann2702]

Poor Warren

[@vanessawyatt]

Please don't forget about us on podcast 😅

[@HorrorBabble]

All recent KZbin uploads are heading over to the podcast this week, Vanessa! :)

[@vanessawyatt]

@@HorrorBabble 🥰😍🤩

[@awarningtothecuriouswerewolves]

You know what's really freaky about this story -- The spaceship arrives in 1947! The year of the coming of the UFOs! Talk about seeing the future! Cheers Warren, who lives in the past, the present & the future -- all at the same time!

[@00Boogie]

Y'know, as bad a rap they get in the characterization, I think it gets missed the anti-Martians had a point

[@eponymousmann5088]

I myself kept wondering: who would history prove to be in the right? What is the moral of this story? Unconventional as the tale is, can any moral be derived?

[@Michaeljack81sk]

Yeah, the story really doesn't make sense to me: While Stilton was almost comically stubborn and stupid he was 100% right about the Plantbrain being bad news for earth. I really can't figure out what point CAS was trying to make

[@asdfasdf5695]

@@Michaeljack81sk Well, the fact that the overall plot wasn't his idea might have something to do with it. It was part of a contest where readers at a certain magazine wrote their own plots and then the contributors would build a story around it.

[@blakmajk3512]

You fools! Like & Subscribe...

[@bradenalder9016]

What did we learn today we learned that when a giant plant monster says it wants to help you you say yes and go along with it you don't say no

[@Self-replicating_whatnot]

This doesn't seem to be the same Mars as in the other stories. Oh well, a cool story nontheless.

[@EricDaMAJ]

Warren definitely died trying to do stand up comedy last night. The audience acted like they were at a funeral for someone they didn’t care much for.

[@debacofzomb9889]

"The plant Lord began by dwelling at some length, on the monistic nature of all phenomena." This is a profoundly true, a universally true statement. It's implications go towards understanding the universe beyond the dreams of normal men. One large problem is that people seem to think that there are questions that cannot be answered.

[@feralbluee]

When was this written?? humans will never change. did anyone know that there was a huge group of people who were anti-maskers during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic? there were. i think it’s worse now though, because of how fast huge numbers of people can now communicate. things go so much faster with so many, many opinions and groups, both nutty and rational. Will there be a Colossus? sometimes i wonder. . . Oops, i commented 7 months ago. can’t help myself. LOL 😋

[@johannageisel5390]

Lol, I'm just trying to write a short story where it's creatures on Venus who need water. Only there humankind can simply fling them a couple of carbonaceous chondrites or comets.

[@Yig_al_Gaib4242]

Gotta love Clark Ashton Smith saying that Americans would be more concerned about football than an actual alien spacecraft, I repeat an ACTUAL ALIEN SPACECRAFT, landing on Earth.

[@miarencrowsdaughter6434]

I live in Pennsylvania. He might be right.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Funny you can date sci-fi by where they think alien life lives....

[@dickrichardson1804]

In our solar system indeed

[@Wombats555]

Old Mars is a sci fi collection of when we thought the canyons indicated water and naked lades asking what is this Earth thing you call kissing? John Carter flopped for a reason.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@Wombats555 and now we think distance from host star means life

[@scottheathco7323]

the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence..martians may live beneath the surface of the planet

[@Wombats555]

@@scottheathco7323 as per The Dweller in the Gulf

[@GusMichaelisnotreal]

F*** Stanfuurd! Roll on you BEARS!!!

[@Borishal]

The Martian is actually Hercule Poirot.

[@jimjohhnston9992]

A very good and thoughtful story Thank you for posting it Two personal observations ONE - the mind set of the anti Martian scientists put me very much in mind of the attitudes of the MAGA folks in the USA and the Brexiters in your own country TWO - I think it is interesting to note ( at 1:23:07 and 1:23:40 in the story ) when the religions of the world are shown to be rejecting the Martian overtures those of the Jewish faith do not stand with them

[@asdfasdf5695]

Found the moron suffering from TDS. I hope those grasshoppers taste good and that you're enjoying your pod!

[@thefisherking78]

Bruh. I'd listen to you read a phone book 😅

[@johnjones2nd667]

That's a god I would worship

[@angelaverbowski995]

#73-✅👍

[@Khultan]

*1000%*

[@shgnamaste7730]

Betcha not going to look at your houseplant in the same way again! 😉

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Weird stuff, man

[@vincentleeadams]

If you hadn’t already guessed it, this story was a parable tale of the eventual victory of science over dogmatic religion.

[@Michaeljack81sk]

Except it was a victory of Religion over common sense. The plantbrain was the new god and his worshippers were so blind to his real motives they became his willing slaves and didn't even notice when he ate the earth

[@ClipperHorizon]

I mean... it would be if the plant-faction hadn't started worshipping the plant creature as their deity... as it is, they simply traded one set of religions for another.

[@Nereidhar]

This was one fucked up story...

[@ingwersengrady]

Absolutely nothing like and indeed the worst of his mars stories...dumb doesn't even begin to describe it.

[@justicepie314]

Xenophobes, doing xenophobic things.