Rainbow Mars is a 1999science fictionshort story collection by American writerLarry Niven. It contains six stories of Hanville Svetz, five previously published and the longest, "Rainbow Mars", written for the collection. The setting of the Svetz stories is Earth in the distant future. The hereditary leader of the Earth, known as the Secretary General, is an inbred imbecile. In order to maintain the interest of the Secretary, different factions in the capitol use their advanced science to amuse him. Svetz's section uses time travel in an attempt to bring back long extinct animals from Earth's past. Unbeknownst to Svetz and his team, they are actually travelling back into fictional pasts, and returning withmythical creatures.
"Rainbow Mars". With a new Secretary General who is interested more in space travel than animals, Svetz uses his time machine to visit Mars, which he finds populated by the creations ofEdgar Rice Burroughs,Ray Bradbury,C. S. Lewis,H. G. Wells, andStanley G. Weinbaum. The story began as a collaboration withTerry Pratchett; a number of his ideas remain in the final draft, mainly the use ofYggdrasil.[1]
"Get a Horse!", first published inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1969. Svetz is sent back in time to capture a horse, but brings back a unicorn instead.
"Bird in the Hand", first published inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1970. Svetz is sent to get aroc, but returns with an ostrich, which he reverse engineers into a roc. A co-worker swipes a prototype ofthe very first automobile, causing a dangerous problem in the present.
"Leviathan!", first published inPlayboy, August 1970. Svetz is sent to capture the largest mythical creature that was ever imagined,Leviathan.
"There's a Wolf in My Time Machine", first published inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1970. Svetz falls in love with a woman who evolved from a wolf.
"Death in a Cage", first published in Niven's collectionThe Flight of the Horse (Ballantine, 1973). Svetz encounters thearchetype of theGrim Reaper.
"Svetz and the Beanstalk", an afterword in which Niven discusses the fictional sources forRainbow Mars.
