Martian Chronicles

Rating:
Summary: Amazing... Works Your Mind!
Review: Clever, intriguing, and suprising! This is truly the work of a genius. It really opens up your mind and makes you want to sit down and write a science fiction masterpiece of your own! It's books like this that make me love reading the works of genius authors such as Bradbury!

If you pass up this book, you're passing up days of amazing reading. This book is, without a doubt, worth all of your time!


Rating:
Summary: The Martian Chronicles
Review: Bradbury has a very interesting approach to sci-fi. He seems to to place all his stories within the reachable, not completely detatched from real life or the future. (like, ironically, most futuristic sci-fi works are)

I'd definately recommend this book even to those who are normally uninteresting in sci-fi. It is short and if you end up not liking it you won't have wasted much time.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional must-read
Review: This is a chilling good read and a great introduction to Ray Bradbury. Although the book is divided into short stories, they all piece together to make a complete -- and completely gripping -- whole story. Even people who don't like science fiction or aren't familiar with Bradbury's other stories should love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, thought provoking
Review: A perfectly crafted collection of interwoven stories. A social commentary made up of flawless story telling that makes us look into ourselves and just say "woah." And it's not just for science fiction fans- I'm definitely not one. I'm just a huge Bradbury fan.

Rating:
Summary: Bradbury is My Favorite Martian
Review: In the 1940's a little-known writer penned a look at life, technology, and culture in the distant future of 2002. Bradbury has assembled a collection of generally unrelated vignettes that explore Earth more than Mars.

Some are outrageously hilarious, such as the tale of the first explorers who are greeted with total indifference by housewives more concerned with baking and cleaning, and minor politicians immersed in righting old wrongs. Finally they are locked up with the other space travellers.

A key theme seems to be the lack of space planning. People randomly decide to emmigrate, or leave their homes under duress. Upon arrival on Mars, they have no idea how to build the society, beyond bringing some of their familiar Earth items, such as luggage shops and hot dog stands.

The most interesting line followed by several vignettes is the ultimate journey for technology. Robots outlive their designers and computer programs continue to initiate automated devices to fry bacon and make martinis long after the home is deserted.

Bradbury also deals with the response of the Martians to the invasion. Many are killed by disease as occurred in the colonies in the 17th century. Others fight back with telepathic weapons, conjuring up images of 1920's Ohio, complete with doting grandparents, lemonaide, and trolleys, to disarm the explorers. Less easily comprehended is that many continue to thrive in a parallel world where they are not visible to their rivals.

This is a good read, everyone needs a chance to reflect on our human journey of exploration and implementation of technology. For those like me, who don't care for science fiction, there is not much of it here, despite the title.