Long before the Martian tales of Andy Weir and Kim Stanley Robinson, author Ray Bradbury foresaw a time when Earthlings would attempt to colonize the red planet. His 1949 novel The Martian Chronicles predicts with grim certainty that they would try to make Mars just like Earth.

Compiled from a series of magazine stories Bradbury wrote in the 1940s and 1950s, the book reads like a series of anecdotes about the first expeditions to Mars. A Martian woman dreams about a strange man coming to take her away. A Martian housewife reacts with annoyance when a crew of Earthlings interrupts her chores. The crew of another ship is astonished to find that Mars is exactly like Earth. The culture is shadowy and elusive. Nothing on Mars lives up to mankind’s limited expectations.

A thread of poignancy pervades the novel. The more immigrants infiltrate Mars, the more Martians recede into the background until their presence becomes ghostly. Bradbury’s comparison with the destruction of native Americans by European invaders is obvious. The few humans who respect the alien civilization cannot cope with the hoards bent on exploiting it. 

There’s a Garden of Eden quality to Bradbury’s prose, richly poetic and wistful, evoking emotions about the joyful aspects of Earth life, such as family ties, culture, and religion. An elderly couple’s long-dead son reappears. A wealthy man builds a haunted house to recapture his boyhood thrills. A priest seeks to bring Christianity to the planet. 

If humans do make it to Mars, I hope they will find it as noble and beautiful as Bradbury imagined it in 1949. The Martian Chronicles should be required reading for anyone hoping to visit the red planet someday.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.