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Rocket Summer
In this chronicle we are put in an Ohio setting. It is a cold winter time when the chronicle takes place. The story tells of the rocket summer where the reader can imagine a rocket taking off in the middle of winter and the huge distribution of heat from the rockets melting everything around it. -
Ylla
In this chronicle we look at the relationship between two martians named Yll and Ylla. Ylla starts to recieve telepathic images and memories from the incoming astronauts. Ylla starts to act in weird ways and speak in the english language which is foreign to the martians. She also speaks in her sleep about where and when then will come. Yll starts to get jealous of the way Ylla is acting because Ylla starts to "like" the humans. Yll gets the details of the humans and finds and kills them. -
The Summer Night
In this chronicle we see a different side to the martians. They start to sing and talk in a totally foreign language which is english. We can infer as readers that the other expidition of earth people are getting closer because they are starting to recieve their thoughts with their telepathic abilities. -
The Earth Men
In this chronicle Captain Johnathan Williams and his crew arrive to mars expecting to be heros for their journey. Instead they are ignored and not appreciated. The Martians believe that the humans are just hallucinations the other Martians are doing with their telepathy. The only person that finally acknowledges them is Mr. Xxx who believes that he can cure them. His idea of curing them is killing them off. After he kills Captain Williams the others don't disapear, so he kills off everyone else. -
The Taxpayer
In this chronicle we see a hectic man at the fence of the launch site. He is trying to convince the others that he should get the chance to go to mars because he's a taxpayer like everyone else. It ends will him being hauled off and the workers laughting at his departure. -
The Third Expedition
In this chronicle we see Captain Black and his 15 men. When they arrive to Mars they are astounded by the sight becuase the Martians used their telepathic abilities to think the explorers are with their families back at home. This drives the humans crazy and the Martians end up killing the humans. What was weird about it,however, is that the Martians hold a human like funeral to bury the explorers. -
And the Moon be Still as Bright
In this chronicle we see the fourth expidition to Mars. When the 15 men arrive to Mars they find out that most of the Martians have been killed off by chicken pox. Because of this the explorers focus their attention on each other. Spender is seen as the antagonist in this story as he is the one who kills other people. Biggs is the one who really sets him off. First he leaves and stays away for awhile until he returns one night and starts his killing rampage. -
The Settlers
In this short chronicle we see the first settlers of Mars. It goes into explaining that these people are very lonely bcause there is nothing to really do in the barren land of Mars quite yet. -
The Green Morning
In this chronicle we see a character named Benjamin who gets the idea to plant trees on Mars. At first they do not grow because of the dry land of Mars, but one night when rain finally falls the tress spring up over night. -
The Locusts
In this chronicle humans are compared to locusts. It describes how our rockets swarmed the planet and colonized it just like the homes on Earth. -
Night Meeting
In this chronicle we look at another explorer named Thomas Gomez. He rides around on Mars looking for signs of life and runs into a Martian named Muhe Ca. The meeting is slow and awkward at first until Muhe Ca uses his telepathy to communicate. They talk and Muhe Ca believes that Thomas is not real and still beleives his race is alive, which is totally wrong. The two part ways like nothing happened. -
The Shore
This is the chronicle where we see the mass movement to Mars. More and more people are colonizing the planet and it is compared to the colonization of America. It also talks about the "first women" on Mars who were the prostitutes just like in colonial America. -
The Fire Ballons
In this chronicle we see a couple priests named Father Peregrine, Father Stone, and a couple of other scattered priests. Their objective is to convert the Martians over to christianity, but too bad for them that all of the Martians are dead. They continue on, however, to find another kind of Martians that is roumered to be alive. These blue balls end up saving the priests on their expidition. The priests then build a church off of them, but the spheres are already holy. -
Interim
This chronicle is yet another interchapter where the humans begin to colonize Mars even futher. They begin to create towns on Mars that are the same as the ones on Earth, so really they are just making another Earth. -
The Musicians
In this chapter we see young children playing with the dead bodies of the Martians. They think of the bodies as toys and disrespect the dead bodies. We also see people called "firemen" who go around buring the towns of the Martians to get rid of the dead bodies. -
The Wilderness
In this chronicle we take a look at the story of Janice and Leonora. They are preparing themselves for the expidition to Mars to see their loved ones. They talk about the old west which is ironic because it is the same idea on Mars. They say one last goodbye to their towns and prepare for the long journey to Mars. -
Way In the Middle of the Air
In this chronicle we see the idea of racism come into play. Word had got out that the African Americans have banded together to start their own journey to Mars with rockets they built. A man named Mr. Teece does not like this idea because it will take away his favorite activity which is antagonizing black people. He tries to keep Belter back because he owes Teece money, but they find the money to pay it off, so Teece is left alone. -
The Naming of Names
In this chronicle we see yet another set of expiditions to Mars. In this set we see all of the busy bodies and bureaucrats making their way to the planet. We also see the naming of different towns and cities on the planet such as Iron town, Steel town, and Aluminum City. -
Usher II
In this chronicle we look at the story of William Stendahl and his dreams coming true. He creates a haunted mansion that he has dreamed of his entire life. Back on Earth anything that dealt with fantasy ideas or creatures was banned, so on Mars he takes the opportunity. An investigator named Garrett comes and tries to condem the house, but Stendahl kills him. He then invites the politicians responsible for the ban on Earth and systematically kills and replaces them with robot look alikes. -
The Old Ones
In this chronicle we see the last wave of people coming to Mars and it is the elderly and retired. Bradbury throws in some comedic language as he describes them as mummy's and old dried apricot people. -
The Martian
This chronicle looks at the life of Lafe and Anna LaFarge, who are elderly. Here they encounter a strange occourance when they are met by their son Tom who had died already. Anna accepts him in little time as her own son, but Lafe has the feeling that it is a Martian. They began to witness Tom change into other people as he got close to others giving away his disguise. Tom runs through town and starts to change into everyone that people want him to be, and eventually dies from it. -
The Off Season
In this chronicle we take another look at Sam Parkhill from -And the Moon Be Still As Bright and his wife Elma. Sam has the great idea to open up a hotdog stand and believes it will make him very wealthy. He comes encountered with some of the Martians still left and reacts quickly by shooting one then stealing his sand ship. The other Martians catch up with him and offer Sam half of the planet. Too bad for Sam, however, because the nuclear war on Earth starts that very night. -
The Luggage Store
In this chronicle we see Father Peregrine again who is now talking with a luggage store owner. They talk about the upcoming nuclear war and what it will do to the Earth. The store owner says that he will keep the store open because he feels that more people are going to go back to Earth. -
The Watchers
In this chronicle we see the people on Mars watch the nuclear explosions light up Earth. The people on Earth radio up to Mars and tell their families to come back to Earth. Of course they go because of the emotional drive that feuls them. -
The Silent Towns
In this chronicle we see the story of Walter Gripp and Genevieve. Walter is the last man on Mars, so when he makes contact wiht Genevieve he is very excited. He rushes off to find her, but she is not the perfect woman that he had invisioned. When she pulls out a wedding dress he runs for the hills and lives alone again once more. -
The Long Years
In this expidition we look at Mr. Hathaway from the fourth expidition and Captain Wilder. Hathaway is living on Mars with his family when Wilder comes in on his rocket. Hathaway lights an entire city on fire just to get his attention, so he's pretty desperate. Wilder and his crew notice that Hathaway looks a lot older than his family and soon discover that his family actually died and he replaced them with robots. Hathaway then dies and Wilder talks to his robotic wife who shows no emotion. -
There Will Come Soft Rains
In this chronicle we take a look back on Earth in California and our main character is actually a house. The weird part about this house is that it is automated to treat a family although the family has been dead for many years. It still makes breakfast and cleans up although no one is in the house. The haunting aspect of the family is that their figures are vaporized on the side of the house from the nuclear blasts. The house then burns to the ground from a simple wind. -
The Million-Year Picnic
In this chronicle we see a child named Timothy and his family who live on Mars. The father says that the family is going to go fishing but gives of a depressive mood as he talks about the condition of Earth. The dad has other plans for the family as he says that they are never going to leave Mars and he sets fire to all of their Earth papers including a map. The son still wants to see Martians, so the father takes his family to a canal and makes them look at their reflections in the water.
