Science fiction · Short story
A Martian Odyssey
Reading level: we suggest CEFR B2 for reading A Martian Odyssey. Length: short story, about 10,000 words.
- Suggested levelB2
- Lengthshort story, about 10,000 words
- Original languageEnglish
The story
Chemist Dick Jarvis crash-lands on Mars, far from his expedition's base, and has to walk back across the desert. On the way he rescues a strange, bird-like Martian he names Tweel.
Tweel and Jarvis cannot share a language, yet they become friends — while passing pyramid-building silicon creatures, a barrel-shaped cart race and a dream-beast that shows you whatever you most desire.
Themes: first contact, communication across difference, friendship, exploration.
Why it's a good book for language learners
At about 10,000 words this is the shortest book in the PageWalker library, so you can finish it in a few sittings. It is also, fittingly, a story about two beings trying to communicate without a shared language — a perfect read for anyone learning one.
How hard is the English in A Martian Odyssey?
- Flesch Reading Ease82.7
- Flesch–Kincaid grade4.7
- Words per sentence12.1
Measured by PageWalker on the full English text of the book. Flesch Reading Ease runs from 0 to 100 (higher is easier; 60–70 is plain English) and the Flesch–Kincaid grade is a US school grade. These formulas only count sentence and word length, so they miss old-fashioned vocabulary, wordplay and style. That is why our CEFR level, which takes those into account, can be higher than the formula suggests.
What you'll practise
- Space and science vocabulary
- Storytelling in the first person, with humour
- Explaining and guessing meaning
- American colloquial English of the 1930s
Reading tip
Notice how Jarvis and Tweel build a tiny shared vocabulary. Try the same trick with ten words of your target language a day.
Did you know?
Readers and writers such as Isaac Asimov praised it as one of the first stories with an alien that thinks as well as a human, but not like a human.
The PageWalker adventure
In the adventure you cross Mars with Tweel and decide how to communicate with whatever you meet. You can try the first page in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.
A Martian Odyssey in other languages
- EnglishA Martian Odyssey
- العربيةأوديسة المريخ
- DeutschEine Mars-Odyssee
- EspañolUna Odisea Marciana
- FrançaisUne Odyssée Martienne
- हिन्दीएक मंगल ओडिसी
- ItalianoUn'odissea marziana
- 日本語火星のオデッセイ
- 한국어화성 오디세이
- PortuguêsUma Odisseia Marciana
- РусскийМарсианская одиссея
- TürkçeMars Macerası
- 简体中文火星奥德赛
Questions about A Martian Odyssey
What reading level is A Martian Odyssey?
We suggest CEFR B2 for reading A Martian Odyssey. At about 10,000 words this is the shortest book in the PageWalker library, so you can finish it in a few sittings. On readability formulas the English text scores a Flesch Reading Ease of 82.7 and a Flesch–Kincaid grade of 4.7, with an average of 12.1 words per sentence.
How long is A Martian Odyssey?
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum (1934). Length: short story, about 10,000 words.
Can I play A Martian Odyssey as an interactive adventure?
Yes. In the adventure you cross Mars with Tweel and decide how to communicate with whatever you meet. You can try the first page in your browser, in 13 languages.
Updated 16 October 2026
