The War of the Worlds is, of course, his best known work... but the short story "The Crystal Egg" indicates that H.G.Wells had more than a passing interest in the red planet. Without giving too much away, the artifact that is the subject of the title would not seem too extraordinary today but this brilliant prediction would seem fantastic in the early twentieth century.

Quatermass and the Pit, a BBC television science-fiction play that appeared in the late fifties, may have been inspired by this little gem of a narrative.