Ylla's Premonition and Yll's Killing the Earthman

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Reviewed by Aaron DeWeese

Mysterious aboriginal Martians and colonists fleeing a turbulent Earth...  I really didn't like the first few chapters. They had the feel that Bradbury had read lots of poetry, become inebriated on wine, and sat down to write prose. I now understand why Frederik Pohl stated that:

"If you don't care about science enough to be interested in it on its own, you shouldn't try to write hard science fiction. You can write like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison as much as you want."

In defense of Bradbury, I must say that Bradbury himself called "The Martian Chronicles" fantasy, and not sci fi; and that its staying power was due to the fact that his episodic novel was "Greek Myth".

Once I got use to Bradbury's occasional Seussesque use of alliteration, things got pretty interesting around "December 2001: The Green Morning". The absolute worst chapter in the book is on page 1—"January 1999: Rocket Summer". It made me throw up a little—it was 1950. I blame those hairy-chinned reefer-smoking beatniks for Bradbury's syntax, somehow.

I was pretty impressed with the reciprocal relationship between the short stories/chapters—many had been previously published independently. "April 2005: Usher II" was one of my favorites.

Really, what drew me to Bradbury of course was Mars. I like the idea of an unknown civilization being discovered, nearly wiped out, then the civilization that discovered the civilization nearly wiping itself out... I like the strangeness of Mars, the peculiarities that Martian telepathy manifest, the descriptions of Martian architecture, the Martian sand-ships, the rebellious and anarchistic nature of the Earth colonies...

I'm willing to once again taste of the vintage wine that is Bradbury, as yet I've not made up my mind if I'm a true fan or not.