Buy The Martian Chronicles and get A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories at an additional 5% off Amazon.com's everyday low price.

Buy Together Today: $21.45

The Illustrated Man (Grand Master Editions) by Ray Bradbury  (202)  $7.99

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury  (1,241)  $6.99

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury  (202)  $7.99

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury  (254)

Bradbury Stories : 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales by Ray Bradbury  (10)

› Explore similar items : Books (49) Movies & TV (1)

Amazon.com
From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced.

Bradbury's quiet exploration of a future that looks so much like the past is sprinkled with lighter material. In "The Silent Towns," the last man on Mars hears the phone ring and ends up on a comical blind date. But in most of these stories, Bradbury holds up a mirror to humanity that reflects a shameful treatment of "the other," yielding, time after time, a harvest of loneliness and isolation. Yet the collection ends with hope for renewal, as a colonist family turns away from the demise of the Earth towards a new future on Mars. Bradbury is a master fantasist and The Martian Chronicles are an unforgettable work of art. --Blaise Selby --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From AudioFile
The Martian Chronicles was probably never intended to represent the real planet. Bradbury's Mars is a shifting metaphor for "the frontier" or for mystery. This lush prose poem was obviously composed in terms of sound; even the production uses purely aural devices, such as echoing repetition. Peter Marinker demonstrates a clear understanding of the writer's intention, and he has the vocal technique to project it effectively. He makes it easy for the listener to become engulfed in the dreamy, luminous atmosphere that is as much Bradbury's message as the story line. J.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

First Sentence:
One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fire balloons, sand ships Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Father Peregrine, Father Stone, Earth Men, Captain Wilder, Captain John Black, Fire Balloons, New York, Sam Parkhill, Captain Black, Earth Man, Walter Gripp, Genevieve Selsor, House of Usher, Marlin Village, Miss Blunt, Brother Mathias,