Start Here | Mars Codex

Mars Codex is an imagined future history of humanity’s first 150 years on Mars — from the first human landing in 2040 to the emergence of a functioning Martian civilization in 2190.

The series explores a deceptively simple question: How does humanity actually build a new world?

Not merely how we get there, but how we stay. How we produce food and fuel, build settlements, organize people, establish institutions, move between worlds, and eventually create a society capable of standing on its own.

The books combine hard science fiction, historical storytelling and planetary engineering. They are written as if assembled centuries in the future by JayBe, a long-lived humanoid operations droid who witnessed the earliest decades of Martian settlement and subsequently became a historian and archivist of its development.

Each volume explores a different aspect of that history. Together, they form an interconnected account of how Mars develops from a temporary outpost into a permanent home for humanity.

Where should you begin?

For the complete story, start with A Brief History of Mars. It traces the development of Martian civilization through ten distinct eras, from 2040 to 2190.

For a particular subject, explore the specialist books. Calendar & Cadence examines Martian timekeeping; Surface & Settlement explores geographical planning and city-building; People & Pioneers examines the settlement workforce and emerging society; Rockets & Retardation covers interplanetary transportation; and Independence & Insurance explores the path toward a self-sustaining civilization.

The books can be read independently and in any order. Additional volumes are planned, with their subjects and positions shown in the complete collection.

All completed volumes are available to read freely on this website. Paperback and ebook editions are also available through Amazon.

A note on dates

Common Era (CE) refers to conventional Earth calendar years, such as 2040 or 2190.

Human Era (HE) measures Earth-duration years from humanity’s first arrival on Mars, designated Year 0.

The freely available books are primarily presented as Terran editions, using familiar Earth years and dates.

A fictional history, built around real questions

Mars Codex is speculative fiction, not a prediction or official plan for human settlement. Its future events, fictional records, characters and historical institutions belong to an imagined timeline.

But many of the engineering, organizational and civilizational questions it explores are real.

You don’t need to be a scientist or engineer to enjoy the books. Curiosity about how humanity might make another planet home is enough.

Welcome to Mars Codex.