The Bradbury Chronicles

I read this at roughly one story a day and I am exceptionally pleased with this collection from 1991. 22 original stories paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of Ray Bradbury's first published story. I was unfamiliar with about half the authors. I'm surprised this is not rated higher and heaped with praise. Most of the original stories here are directly related to one of Bradbury's own stories, whether it is the setting or character. Some might say that some are a pastiche but that wasn't the vibe I got. The vibe that I got was that each author loved Ray Bradbury's work and felt honored to be able to write in or around his milieu.

I think my favorite story (of many favorites) in here was by Bruce Francis, 'The Inheritance'. It takes show more one of Ray's earliest short stories that was called "The Lake" (1944). "The Lake" appeared in Bradbury's first collection, Dark Carnival, and much later was included in the collection October Country. The original story was not much more than a sketch but was very powerful in just a few pages. I'll quote a bit of editor William Nolan's introduction to this story: "In his contribution to the anthology, Bruce uses Bradbury's story "The Lake" as his takeoff point. Yet this work is not a pastiche. it is sharply original in answering the question of what really happened to Tully when she failed to return from the dark waters of the lake."

Orson Scott Card is an author I no longer read for a variety of reasons, but back in the late 80's and early 90's I enjoyed his writing. His novella here, 'Feed the Baby of Love' is probably my second favorite story. It is quite different from the other stories here but still keeps a Bradbury link. We meet Douglas Spaulding and his descendants not in the 1928 setting of Dandelion Wine but in 1990. They are not the initial focus of the story but they are there for the finish.

The editor really writes excellent introductions to the authors and stories. I think this is the best "tribute' collection I have ever come across. For some of the stories after I finished I went and found the story it jumped off from and read it afterwards (never before it). Just a very good experience and a book I highly recommend to Bradbury fans.

As an FYI, the editor was the co-author of Logan's Run. Surely you remember that mid 70's film ...

The included material:
1 • Introduction: A Half-Century of Creativity • essay by William F. Nolan
4 • Ray: An Appreciation • essay by Isaac Asimov
6 • The Troll • short story by Ray Bradbury
14 • The Awakening • short story by Cameron Nolan
23 • The Wind from Midnight • novelette by Ed Gorman
44 • May 2000: The Tombstones • short story by James Kisner
60 • One Life, in an Hourglass • short story by Charles L. Grant
73 • Two O'Clock Session • short story by Richard Matheson
78 • A Lake of Summer • short story by Chad Oliver
93 • The Obsession • short story by William Relling, Jr.
105 • Something in the Earth • (1963) • short story by Charles Beaumont
116 • The Muse • short story by Norman Corwin
121 • The Late Arrivals • short story by Roberta Lannes
134 • Hiding • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
139 • Salome • short story by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
155 • The Inheritance • novelette by Bruce Francis
177 • The Man with the Power Tie • short story by Christopher Beaumont
190 • Centigrade 233 • (1990) • short story by Gregory Benford
203 • Filling Out Fannie • short story by John Maclay
208 • Land of the Second Chance • short story by J. N. Williamson
222 • The November Game • short story by F. Paul Wilson
232 • The Other Mars • short story by Robert Sheckley
248 • Feed the Baby of Love • novella by Orson Scott Card
306 • The Dandelion Chronicles • (1984) • short story by William F. Nolan
317 • Afterword: Fifty Years, Fifty Friends • essay by Ray Bradbury

Looking back over these stories I think there were maybe three that didn't work for me. But I can see that they tried. However, the final "story" by the editor titled "The Dandelion Chronicles" is a parody in extreme excess that was amusing for about 30 seconds. Sort of a crummy way to close out the collection of stories. Overall this anthology had a big success rate for me. Just about every one of Bradbury's own story collections had a few "duds" in it. Bradbury writes a very entertaining afterword talking briefly about many people from throughout his life. It was rather touching.

I should add that I think this collection is most relevant to readers who are already fans of Bradbury and who have read a number of his stories. show less

Ray Bradbury’s first published work appeared in 1941, and this collection of 22 stories was produced to acknowledge his half-century of developing his unique blend of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and coming-of-age nostalgia.

The contributors range from Isaac Asimov, who penned “An Appreciation” as an introduction to the collection, to then-relative newcomers Orson Scott Card and Christopher Beaumont. Many are direct sequels to Bradbury tales, others pick up characters he created, many years after their first appearances, and a couple are good-hearted parodies of themes he visited often. But the real treasures here are those few tales that manage to re-create the magic, putting new flesh on the bones and new images in the show more mind’s eye.

For this reviewer, "A Lake of Summer" is the standout of the collection. It touches on themes Bradbury often visited – that time in a young boy’s life when the magic of childhood is first sullied by the harsh reality of the world. A reader picking up this story without looking at the byline would willingly swear it came from The Master’s typewriter, yet it’s marked by author Chad Oliver’s own incandescent talent.

Completely different in tone is "Salome", by veteran Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, who re-visits a grown-up member of Uncle Einar’s family, but looks at him with a very different set of eyes. A lighter touch is provided by Norman Corwin’s short and sassy "The Muse", in which a Greek goddess kvetches about the difficult of inspiring a writer who has plenty of ideas of his own.

No Bradbury tribute would be complete without a sample of the slowly-building horror Bradbury was capable of creating. Author R. Paul Wilson ratchets up the gooseflesh in ‘The November Game’ by picking up a nasty character from [The October Country] and dealing out a punishment-fits-the-crime revenge chiller.

Fans of Bradbury and students of late 20th century fantasy/horror/science fiction will want to put this volume firmly on the Keeper shelf. show less

Contains:
A half-century of creativity / William F. Nolan --
Ray: an appreciation / Isaac Asimov --
The troll / Ray Bradbury --
The awakening / Cameron Nolan --
The wind from midnight / Ed Gorman --
May 2000: the tombstones / James Kisner --
One life, in an hourglass / Charles L. Grant --
Two o'clock session / Richard Matheson --
A lake of summer / Chad Oliver --
The obsession / William Relling Jr. --
Something in the earth / Charles Beaumont --
The muse / Norman Corwin --
The late arrivals / Roberta Lannes --
Hiding / Richard Christian Matheson --
Salome / Chelsea Quinn Yarbro --
The inheritance / Bruce Francis --
The man with the power tie / Christopher Beaumont --
Centigrade 233 / Gregory Benford --
Filling out Fannie / John Maclay --
Land of the show more second chance / J.N. Williamson --
The November game / F. Paul Wilson --
The other Mars / Robert Sheckley --
Feed the baby of love / Orson Scott Card --
The dandelion chronicles / William F. Nolan --
Afterword: Fifty Years, Fifty Friends / Ray Bradbury. show less