I first read this book by Ray Bradbury over 30 years ago and just finished re-reading it. I still enjoyed it but I believe it can hardly be considered science fiction anymore, it's more like fantasy. It describes our colonization of Mars, how the Martians killed off the first couple of expeditions and how we accidentally wiped them out with chicken pox, which turned out to be a deadly disease to the Martians. It was first published in 1950 when we could only explore Mars with telescopes. Since then we've landed probes there and have proven it to be a dead planet, a freezing cold desert with no surface water except at the ice caps. Even the Martian canals turned out to be an optical illusion produced by observing Mars through Earth's atmosphere. Granted, this is what we figured all along Mars is probably like, but the red planet still had a mystique to it. The possibility of a Martian civilization appealed to our imaginations, and Bradbury's book brought that fantasy to life. Now we think of Mars as just a red rock in space, and the fantasy is dead. Even in the new movie version of War of the Worlds the invaders are never referred to as Martians. Okay, there are some parts of the book that require a lot of suspension of disbelief, like when "atomic war" breaks out on Earth and nearly all the human settlers of Mars drop everything to go back to Earth to help fight the war, leaving Mars virtually deserted. Seems to me there would have been more passenger rockets than ever coming to Mars and the population would have exploded. BTW, according to the book, that war is being fought in the year 2005. It's also fun to read things that may have been relevant in 1950 but no longer apply. Martian bugs are killed off with DDT....A guy on Mars fills his tank with gas for $1.50....and Black people go to Mars in 2003 to escape segregation and lynching. Yes, the book is very dated but it's still an enjoyable read. Just keep an open mind.
I love that book and anything by Ray Bradbury for that matter. I got hooked on him when someone shoved 'Fahrenhiet 451' in my hands - read it in one sitting. And "Something wicked this way comes" and "Dandelion Wine" are AWESOME books.
Yes, it's dated, but still an excellent read. I remember reading this book when I was about 16 (which is a long time ago) and being absolutely carried away. I really like the part about the blue orbs. Remember the super cheesy TV mini-series starring Rock Hudson. I guess Bradbury was not pleased about that. www.ironghost.wordpress.com www.starcopywriter.com
I saw the mini-series when it was first broadcast in 1979 and as a matter of fact, soon after I started this thread I rented the tape of it just to do a comparison. Some parts of it were okay but too many were poorly written and acted. The special effects were especially disappointing, as if it were done on a shoestring budget. When a mini-series is so bad that the sci-fi channel never rebroadcasts it, that says it all.
I'm about the worst "reality-Nazi" ever- that is, if it's not scientifically reasonable, I dont' like it in an SF novel. Bradury's the one exception. When he talks about being a kid, outside on a summer night under the stars, I hear the crickets, I smell the cut grass, I feel the cool night air- so when we walk back to the house and see dad building a rocket ship or something, and remember my own childhood nights of magic under the stars amidst the sounds of crickets, when anything was possible and when dreams were just an arm's reach away- and it's all believeable. I have no trouble at all ignoring what's not possible, and I cannot do that with any other writer that veers off-science (I like Kim Stanley Robinson, for instance, for keeping his stuff truly scientific).
I didn't think much of it I don't like Bradbury's books much in general though his short stories are grand, but his books never seem to please me
