Plaything

Author:

Niven, Larry

Publication date:

1974-08

Publication type:

Short Story

Published:

Worlds of If, August 1974

Opus No.:

Setting:

Stand Alone

Summary:

First printed in Worlds of If, August 1974. An automated Martian lander is set upon by playful Martian children, in a loving tribute to Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.

Notes:

Alien adolescents encounter a probe from Earth

Reprints:

anthology, The Best from If, Volume III, ed. James Baen, Award 1976;
anthology, 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander;
Convergent Series