The Martian Chronicles (1950)

by Ray Bradbury

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars--and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever.… (more)

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262
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (jpers36, moietmoi)
70
Kaleidoscope by Ray Bradbury (rionka)
rionka: a lot of pictures from the same world. or from the world we have in our heads.
82
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (bertilak)
bertilak: Bradbury has said that Winesburg, Ohio was one of the inspirations for The Martian Chronicles (grotesque characters in Ohio versus on Mars).
31
Desolation Road by Ian McDonald (Sethgsamuel)
21
Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (lewbs)
lewbs: Borges admired The Martian Chronicles. The two books have much in common.
21
Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem (CGlanovsky)
CGlanovsky: Visions of humans colonizing planets with declining civilizations
11
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein (fulner)
fulner: A trip from Luna to Mars then off to the Asteroid Belt to mine. The Sapce Family Stone has fantastic story telling. Emotial respnose. REAL MATH! and a story that keeps you truning pages. Highly recommended.
11
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (mike_frank)
mike_frank: Similar story telling, short stories tying together a grander story arch.
12
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (andomck)
andomck: Both books are about colonization. One is from the perspective of colonizer, the other the colonized.

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English (261) Spanish (11) Danish (5) French (3) Catalan (2) Swedish (2) Dutch (1) German (1) Italian (1) Romanian (1) All languages (288)

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Showing 1-5 of 261 (next | show all)

For years and years my favorite book, since supplanted by many others but I still cherish this magical book. (

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Gumbywan | Jun 24, 2022 |

Told in a series of short stories that add up to the invasion of Mars by the people of Earth.
Facing the threat of war on Earth, several expeditions arrive to determine if Mars is inhabitable, if the Martians will coexist with people from Earth. The Martians don't want to lose their civilization to the domineering humans who come by the thousands.
I can count on one hand the number of sci-fi novels I've read, it's just not my thing, but this is some of Bradbury's finest writing. (

)

mstrust | Jun 15, 2022 |

Great start, even gave me some nightmares, but didn’t like the 2nd half so much. (

)

ds_db | Apr 25, 2022 |

A compelling and exhilarating read for a 12 year old, as all Bradbury's books were. (

)

sfj2 | Mar 13, 2022 |

Wonderful time and time again.

This has always been one of my favorite books.
Stories linked together but still wonderful tales in their own right.

ravenshaman | Feb 21, 2022 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Ray Bradbury	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Bacon, C.W.	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Borges, Jorge Luis	Foreword	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Brick, Scott	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Chambon, Jacques	Traduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Eckardt, Hans	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
豊樹, 小笠原	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gardner, Martin	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Goodfellow, Peter	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Hoye, Stephen	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Hoyle, Fred	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jones, Marie	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Knight, Damon	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lehnig, Hans-Joachim	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Marinker, Peter	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Miller, Edward	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Miller, Ian	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Monzó, Quim	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mugnaini, Joseph A.	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
O'Brien, Tim	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pennington, Bruce	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Robillot, Henri	Traduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Scalzi, John	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Snow, George	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Viskupic, Gary	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Watson, Robert	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Whelan, Michael	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Is contained in

Fahrenheit 451 - The Illustrated Man - Dandelion Wine - The Golden Apples of the Sun & the Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The October Country / Dandelion Wine / The Martian Chronicles / The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles / The Illustrated Man / The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 | The Martian Chronicles | The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury

Фантастика Рэя Бредбери by Рэй Брэдбери

Space Opera: Der illustrierte Mann. Die Mars-Chroniken. Fahrenheit 451: 3 Bde. by Ray Bradbury

(show 6 more)

Kroniki marsjanskie Czlowiek ilustrowany Zlociste jablka slonca (Polish Edition) by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles / Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles / The Shores of Another Sea by Ray Bradbury

Cronache marziane, Fahrenheit 451 e 20 racconti by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury: Novels & Story Cycles (LOA #347): The Martian Chronicles / Fahrenheit 451 / Dandelion Wine / Something Wicked This Way Comes (Library of America) by Ray Bradbury

Contains

The Million-Year Picnic [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Rocket Summer [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Ylla [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Summer Night [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Earth Men [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Taxpayer [short story] by Ray Bradbury

(show 22 more)

Mars Is Heaven! [short story] by Ray Bradbury

And The Moon Be Still As Bright [novelette] by Ray Bradbury

The Settlers [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Green Morning [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Locusts [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Night Meeting [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Fire Balloons [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Shore [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Interim [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Musicians {short story} by Ray Bradbury

The Wilderness [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Way in the Middle of the Air [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Naming of Names [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Usher II by Ray Bradbury

The Old Ones [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Martian {short story} by Ray Bradbury

The Luggage Store [short story] by Ray Bradbury

The Off Season {short story} by Ray Bradbury

The Watchers by Ray Bradbury

The Silent Towns {short story} by Ray Bradbury

The Long Years [short story] by Ray Bradbury

There Will Come Soft Rains [short story] by Ray Bradbury

Has the adaptation

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles: The Authorized Adaptation by Dennis Calero

The Martian Chronicles (A Full Length Play) by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles: A Radio Dramatization (Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air) by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles CD-ROM Adventure Game by Ray Bradbury

(show 1 more)

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles by Richard Kurti

Has as a student's study guide

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles (Monarch Notes) by Walter James Miller

A Study Guide for Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" by Sara Constantakis

view history

▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Martian Chronicles

Original title

The Martian Chronicles

Alternative titles

The Silver Locusts

Original publication date

1950-05-04 (collection)

People/Characters

Important places

Mars

Earth

Important events

World War III

Related movies

The Martian Chronicles (1980 | IMDb)

Awards and honors

Locus 1987 Poll, All-Time Best SF Novel (20)

Locus 1975 Poll, All-Time Best Novel (24)

Astounding/Analog Science Fiction and Fact 1952 All-Time Poll (7)

Astounding/Analog Science Fiction and Fact 1956 All-Time Poll (3)

thisrecording.com 100 Greatest Science Fiction or Fantasy Novels of All Time (70)

(show all 20 items)

Epigraph

"It is good to renew one's wonder," said the philosopher. "Space travel has again made children of us all."

Dedication

For My Wife Marguerite
with all my love

First words

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.

Quotations

"No matter how we touch Mars, we'll never touch it. And then we'll get mad at it, and you know what we'll do? We'll rip it up, rip the skin off, and change it to fit ourselves."

They blended religion and art and science because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.

They began by controlling books of cartoons and then detective books and, of course, films, one way or another, one group or another, political bias, religious prejudice, union pressures; there was always a minority afraid of something, and a great majority afraid of the dark, afraid of the future, afraid of the past, afraid of the present, afraid of themselves and shadows of themselves.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

US title: The Martian Chronicles

UK title: The Silver Locusts

(according to Worldcat.org)

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Isherwood, Christopher

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.54

Canonical LCC

PS3503.R167

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars--and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever.

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