The desert planet as a setting is a recurring motif in science fiction movies, because of the popularity of science fiction symbolism representing isolation or self-reliance, and because of the relatively low cost of travelling out to a desolate part of New Mexico to film a scene set on a "desolate desert planet".
Before, and certainly after, the results sent back by the Viking Lander s, some science fiction set on Mars portrayed it as a desert planet. Science fiction stories that do so include:
- Leigh Brackett 's Martian stories, in which Mars is largely desert with sporadic oases of civilization.
- Larry Niven 's " Known Space " novels and short stories (including ''Eye of an Octopus'' and '' Protector ''), where water is completely alien to the biochemistry of the planet's inhabitants
- Kim Stanley Robinson 's Mars Trilogy , where Mars is gradually Terraformed from a frozen desert planet to a more hospitable Earthlike environment
- '' Martian Time-Slip '', by Philip K. Dick , in which Mars has been colonized by the United Nations. Scarce water is closely apportioned, and the president of the Water Workers Union is one of the more powerful figures.
- '' The Sands Of Mars '' by Arthur C. Clarke
- '' The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch '', also by Philip K. Dick , set primarily on Mars. Drafted colonists, such as those in the ironically-named Fineburg Crescent region, relieve the bleakness of Martian life by huddling in "hovels" and taking psychedelic drugs.
- Total Recall Mars is inhabited by mutants and labourers, air is supplied at a tax.
Other, fictional, desert planets have been used as story motifs:
- Abydos in the Film '' Stargate '' (though there is the possibility that this merely takes place in a desert on an Earth-like planet)
- Altair IV in the film '' Forbidden Planet '' (whilst Morbius' house has a cultivated garden, the backdrop of the starship landing area, presumably representative of the planet at large, is desert)
- Anarres in Ursula K. LeGuin 's '' The Dispossessed
- Arrakis in the Dune Series of novels by Frank Herbert
- Baal Secundus in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Beachworld in the short story of the same name by Stephen King
- Gunsmoke in the Manga and Anime series Trigun .
- Gorkamorka in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Luther McIntyre IX in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Marak's World in ''Hammerfall'', ''Forge of Heaven'', and other novels by C. J. Cherryh
- Salt, in the novel of the same name by Adam Roberts
- Tallarn in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Taros in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Tatooine in the '' Star Wars '' novels and movies.
- T'au in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Thoth in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Tophet in the ''''
- the planet in the movie '' Pitch Black ''
- the planet in ''Snare'' (ISBN 0312890451) by Katherine Kerr
- the planet Ceti Alpha V in (after Ceti Alpha VI had exploded and caused a change in orbit)
- Planets In Science Fiction
- '' Waterworld '' — an inversion of the desert planet motif, but with similar themes (such as the hydraulic despotism of The Deacon, doling out rations and cigarettes, and the scarcity of drinkable water)
|
