An early scene in Alexander Bogdanov’s novel Red Star describes a meeting between a mysterious character and a revolutionary scientist. The scientist is Lenni, a mathematician, sometime surgeon, and active fighter in the first of the twentieth-century Russian revolutions, in 1905. Lenni has been contacted by Metti, another scientist, philosopher, and social critic.

What starts as a seeming invitation to join an earthly secret society quickly escalates into a trip off of the planet. Metti, we learn, has come from Mars to find a suitable human ambassador between the two planets and the societies they host. The Martians in the book recognize that the bloody conflict in which Lenni, and the Russian working class, is engaged will help lead to the establishment of socialism.

Metti discusses with Lenni the idea that organisms, and indeed societies, tend to converge on certain characteristics as they evolve along with their worlds. The Martians and the Earthling humans, it turns out, don’t look so different from one another.