Anti-Individualism
The subtitle of Red Star indicates that Martian life should be viewed as a communist utopia, but in reality all is not quite perfect for the earthling from Russia taken there as emissary to observe and learn. Sure enough, Leonid looks around and see the efficiency of a socialist system for which he has been an active revolutionary in early 20th century Russia. Still, even one as committed as he finds he cannot but help but naturally rebel against the shackles the Martian society puts upon expression of simple human individuality.
Gender Neutrality
The author was way ahead of the game when it comes to expressing support for gender neutrality as a fundamental basis of utopian socialism. In fact, he takes this idea to its most logical extreme, far surpassing the simplicity of genderless fashion and style. The protagonist of the novel eventually develops a romance with one of the Martians, but only after first confusing the character as being a male. The Martians look very much like humans except for oversized eyes and among them, gender differentiation is eradicated.
Climate Change
Somewhat amazingly, perhaps, for a novel written in the first decade of the 20th century, one of the themes which drives the narrative is climate change. Even more to the point: the Martians admit that their actions are directly responsible. One might well expect to find the following excerpt in a modern day novel science fiction novel attempting to create an allegorical representation of the earth’s own pressing issues facing climate change, but to come across in a novel written decades before it became recognized as a problem and a century before it would somehow be corrupted into a debate over political ideology is almost enough to cause a shock to the system. Here is how a Martian explains the crisis to the visitor from earth:
“Only seventy years ago, when our coal reserves were exhausted and the transition to hydroelectric power was still far from complete, we were forced to destroy a considerable portion of our beloved forests in order to give us time to redesign our machines. This disfigured the planet and worsened our climate for decades.”
