The Martian Chronicles
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
I didn’t know much about this book going in, and I think that’s absolutely the best way to read it. Ray Bradbury’s fantastic fix-up novel The Martian Chronicles reads as a bunch of short stories set in a speculative future where we travel to Mars at the turn of the century and begin to make the planet our home. Earth is on the brink of yet another war, and Mars offers a potential future for humanity.
Having been written back in the fifties Bradbury’s presentation of Mars can’t be considered remotely accurate, nor our means of getting there considering we still haven’t (get a move on NASA) but it doesn't matter a jot. It’s a collection of exciting fantasy stories based on how human’s could, and do, behave. It’s a book about people, not a scientific journal. In that regards, it’s closer to something like Princess of Mars, despite being completely different.
The stories are presented in chronological order as we follow the first few expeditions to Mars, and then eventually our settlement on the Red Planet, and the events occurring on Earth as we begin to build this new frontier.
Every story is unique, with mostly new characters throughout. A few get another mention late on, but really, every story and situation is different. There’s a consistency to plenty of it which from what i’ve read was built in after the original short stories where published, but there are still some things that don’t really make sense, but honestly, just go with it.
I think Spender’s story as part of the fourth expedition to Mars is my favourite, but there wasn't really any stories I disliked. Spender’s concerns about our present on Mars is definitely something I’d believe myself, although hopefully I’d deal with it in a better manner than him.
Martian Chronicles is one of those books however where I think everyone will have a different favourite. It could be be the insane asylum one, the religious story with the blue sphere’s, the pathom memories, any of them really. As said, they’re all good, and I can see why this collection was encouraged.
Due to the nature of the book being a collection of short stories The Martian Chronicles is an easy and enjoyable read. If you don’t like a story, you’ll soon be on to the next one, and the same goes for characters. But, I do think ever story has something about it, even the few that may be considered dated by a modern reader. It’s a great collection overall, and one i’m happy I read.
