If there's one writer who is responsible for bringing science fiction to the general masses, it's Ray Bradbury. He was an American writer who wrote many of the classics of the genre, including Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles.

Bradbury's influence is so huge that there's actually a crater on the moon—Dandelion Crater—named after one of his novels, Dandelion Wine. And we know he's definitely in the Sci-Fi Major Leagues if there are craters in outer space named after him.

The Martian Chronicles (1950)

Somewhere between a novel and a short story collection, The Martian Chronicles is one of Bradbury's most famous. It's about humans going off to explore and colonize Mars. But it's not just about humans. We'll also find depictions of Martian characters that lead lives just as complicated and messy as ours here on earth.

The book's beautiful depiction of outer space, aliens, and fantastic voyages make this one of the greatest works of sci-fi ever published. And even though a lot of it is set in a far-off planet, the great earth-bound literary themes of love and violence and loss are all there.

Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Bradbury's dystopian novel is his most famous work. It's set in the future in the U.S., where people aren't allowed to read anything. Yup. No reading whatsoever. (Us at Shmoop wouldn't last long in that society, now would we?)

This is a good old-fashioned sci-fi novel on one level, but on another it's also a commentary on the terrible consequences of the suppression of free thought and speech. It's also a great example of dystopian sci-fi.

Chew On This

Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a great example of a dystopian sci-fi novel. And how do we know it's a dystopia? Well, for one thing, everyone is miserable.

In The Martian Chronicles, characters shuttle back and forth between Earth and Mars. There is so much shuttling back and forth that the poor humans get all confused about where home is. Is it Earth? Is it Mars? Here's an analysis of the theme of home in this book.