A Martian Odyssey characters

Appears from the start

A member of the first human expedition to Mars and the speaker of the central account. After his small survey rocket fails far from the expedition ship, he must cross hundreds of miles of unfamiliar country on foot, relying on observation, improvised judgment, and an unexpected companion.

Appears from the start

An intelligent, birdlike Martian whom Jarvis sees rescue another creature from danger. Tweel joins the stranded human's long journey. The two can establish only a small shared vocabulary, but Tweel's gestures, choices, and quick reasoning allow trust to grow across the communication barrier.

Appears from the start

The leader of the Ares expedition and one of the men listening after Jarvis returns. He keeps the account moving with practical questions about the route, the Martian beings, and what Jarvis has brought back.

Appears from the start

The expedition's biologist. He listens to Jarvis's report with particular interest in the radically different forms of Martian life and tries to interpret their bodies and behavior in terrestrial scientific terms.

Appears from the start

The expedition's engineer and another member of the group hearing Jarvis's story aboard the Ares. His questions and reactions help test the traveler's explanations of what happened in the Martian desert.

Appears from the start

Members of a silicon-based Martian species encountered by Jarvis and Tweel. Each creature spends its life carrying out a fixed cycle around a growing structure, producing the material that extends it before eventually becoming part of the formation.

Appears from the start

A predatory Martian organism hidden in the ruins of an ancient city. It draws victims close by creating convincing mental images shaped from their desires, while its real body waits behind the illusion.

Appears from the start

A collective of barrel-shaped beings found moving through the ancient city. They follow a repeated procession involving small objects and a vast mechanism, and they respond as a group when Jarvis interferes.