The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories in Honor of Ray Bradbury

by William F. Nolan (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

A collection of 22 stories gathered together in tribute to Ray Bradbury, including a story of his own, "The Troll". Other stories featured include "Feed the Baby of Love" by Orson Scott Card, "Centigrade 233" by Gregory Benford, and "The November Game" by F. Paul Wilson.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

328 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1991

About the author

William F. Nolan is best known as the co-author (with George Clayton Johnson) of Logan's Run -- a science fiction novel that went on to become a movie, a television series and is about to become a movie again -- and as single author of its sequels. His short stories have been selected for scores of anthologies and textbooks and he is twice winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Nolan was born in 1928 in Kansas City Missouri. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards. He moved to California in the late 1940s and studied at San Diego State College. He began concentrating on writing rather than art and, in 1952, was introduced by fellow Missouri native (and established writer) Ray Bradbury to another young up-and-coming author, Charles Beaumont. Moving to the Los Angeles area in 1953, Nolan became along with Bradbury, Beaumont, and Richard Matheson part of the "inner core" of the soon-to-be highly influential "Southern California Group" of writers. By 1956 Nolan was a full-time writer. Since 1951 he has sold more than 1500 stories, articles, books, and other works.

Although Nolan wrote roughly 2000 pieces, to include biographies, short stories, poetry, and novels, Logan’s Run retains its hold on the public consciousness as a political fable and dystopian warning. As Nolan has stated: “That I am known at all is still astonishing to me... "

He passed away at the age of 93 due to complications from an infection.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this at roughly one story a day I am exceptionally pleased with this collection from 1991. 22 original stories paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of Ray Bradbury's first published story. I was unfamiliar with about half the authors. I'm surprised this is not rated higher and heaped with praise. Most of the original stories here are directly related to one of Bradbury's own stories, whether it is the setting or character. Some might say that some are a pastiche but that wasn't the vibe I got. The vibe that I got was that each author loved Ray Bradbury's work and felt honored to be able to write in or around his milieu.

I think my favorite story (of many favorites) in here was by Bruce Francis, 'The Inheritance'. It takes one of Ray's earliest short stories that was called "The Lake" (1944). "The Lake" appeared in Bradbury's first collection, Dark Carnival, and much later was included in the collection October Country. The original story was not much more than a sketch but was very powerful in just a few pages. I'll quote a bit of editor William Nolan's introduction to this story: "In his contribution to the anthology, Bruce uses Bradbury's story "The Lake" as his takeoff point. Yet this work is not a pastiche. it is sharply original in answering the question of what really happened to Tully when she failed to return from the dark waters of the lake."

Orson Scott Card is an author I no longer read for a variety of reasons, but back in the late 80's and early 90's I enjoyed his writing. His novella here, 'Feed the Baby of Love' is probably my second favorite story. It is quite different from the other stories here but still keeps a Bradbury link. We meet Douglas Spaulding and his descendants not in the 1928 setting of Dandelion Wine but in 1990. They are not the initial focus of the story but they are there for the finish.

The editor really writes excellent introductions to the authors and stories. I think this is the best "tribute' collection I have ever come across. For some of the stories after I finished I went and found the story it jumped off from and read it afterwards (never before it). Just a very good experience and a book I highly recommend to Bradbury fans.

As an FYI, the editor was the co-author of Logan's Run. Surely you remember that mid 70's film ...

The included material:
1 • Introduction: A Half-Century of Creativity • essay by William F. Nolan
4 • Ray: An Appreciation • essay by Isaac Asimov
6 • The Troll • short story by Ray Bradbury
14 • The Awakening • short story by Cameron Nolan
23 • The Wind from Midnight • novelette by Ed Gorman
44 • May 2000: The Tombstones • short story by James Kisner
60 • One Life, in an Hourglass • short story by Charles L. Grant
73 • Two O'Clock Session • short story by Richard Matheson
78 • A Lake of Summer • short story by Chad Oliver
93 • The Obsession • short story by William Relling, Jr.
105 • Something in the Earth • (1963) • short story by Charles Beaumont
116 • The Muse • short story by Norman Corwin
121 • The Late Arrivals • short story by Roberta Lannes
134 • Hiding • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
139 • Salome • short story by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
155 • The Inheritance • novelette by Bruce Francis
177 • The Man with the Power Tie • short story by Christopher Beaumont
190 • Centigrade 233 • (1990) • short story by Gregory Benford
203 • Filling Out Fannie • short story by John Maclay
208 • Land of the Second Chance • short story by J. N. Williamson
222 • The November Game • short story by F. Paul Wilson
232 • The Other Mars • short story by Robert Sheckley
248 • Feed the Baby of Love • novella by Orson Scott Card
306 • The Dandelion Chronicles • (1984) • short story by William F. Nolan
317 • Afterword: Fifty Years, Fifty Friends • essay by Ray Bradbury

Looking back over these stories I think there were maybe three that didn't work for me. But I can see that they tried. However, the final "story" by the editor titled "The Dandelion Chronicles" is a parody in extreme excess that was amusing for about 30 seconds. Sort of a crummy way to close out the collection of stories. Overall this anthology had a big success rate for me. Just about every one of Bradbury's own story collections had a few "duds" in it. Bradbury writes a very entertaining afterword talking briefly about many people from throughout his life. It was rather touching.

I should add that I think this collection is most relevant to readers who are already fans of Bradbury and who have read a number of his stories. 4 1/2 stars

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twenty-two authors paid tribute to Ray Bradbury in 1991 by contributing stories to this collection. Most are inspired by or extensions of other Bradbury stories, like The Martian Chronicles or Fahrenheit 451. Some even try to ape his style, with mixed results. I enjoyed the volume, though there are only a few standouts: Bradbury's own contribution "The Troll," about a bridge warden who meets up with a skeptic; Gregory Benford's "Centigrade 233," about another dystopian reason to burn books; and Orson Scott Card's "Feed the Baby of Love," about someone coming to a little Illinois town for winsome self-discovery. One or two stories were too dark for my taste (and one had a surprising amount of R-rated language), but the good definitely outweighs the bad here.

Recommended for Bradbury fans.

[Sarah Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. Quite a few of the stories was “continuations” or supposed outcomes of some of Bradbury’s own works, which I loved! The story about Fannie (from Death is a Lonely Business) was heartbreaking, and gave an interesting perspective to her life. Feed the Baby of Love was one of the best stories in the book. As another reviewer mentioned, it was very Bradbury, with no outerspace needed. If you enjoy his work, I would add this to your reading list.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this collection of stories reminds me that it's been years since I've read any of Ray Bradbury's books. I need to do some rereading, as he's always been one of my favorite writers. Like all short story collections, some stories were better than others. I really didn't have a favorite, though The Late Arrivals does stand out as one of the memorable ones.

[Paul (formerly known as Current) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a fine set of short stories, some of which are quite good, others which did not hit the spot for me. But that is almost always the way with short story collections by many different authors. My only wish is that more of these stories had truly been fully stand alone rather than built on existing Bradbury characters.

[Kerrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this a 3 and not a 4 because some of the stories in here were objectively terrible. Those were usually sequels written based on Bradbury's stories. However, a couple of those were good.

I did discover a couple good writers reading this, so I would still recommend it.

[Daniel Moskowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still judge a writer by his short fiction. The better you can make 10 pages read the higher on the food chain you are. It was not a surprise that the authors i've never heard of wrote mediocre stories while the ones with accolades wrote with captivation.
Further more I don't know who you are William F. Nolan and I am glad you put this book together but putting your short story after one by sci-fi giant Orson Scott Card is a bad move. I did not give your 6 pages the time of day because Card's was the perfect ending. He strayed away from space and still produced a piece that SCREAMED Bradbury. Innocent and playful, captivating and rewarding. A wonderful 50 pages that puts him as the next author I NEED to read more of. Anyone got Ender's Game?
But fear not William F. Nolan you put together a great book smartly put Asimov to write the foreword and Bradbury to close it out. So thank you.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of tributes to Ray Bradbury. My favorite was "A Lake of Summer" by Chad Oliver about a boy in a boat on a lake, chasing turtles, being a boy in summertime. What made it so good was how the author captured the magic of childhood in mesmerizing detail. The images he painted were so clear. It reminded me of Bradbury's beautiful writing. Many other fine stories, but some stories lost me with their strangeness. Yet, Bradbury could invoke a sense of horror in a charming world, so they fit in this collection somehow.

[David Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

At various points I would stop and wonder why I was reading stories in honor of Ray Bradbury rather than stories by Ray Bradbury. (Although there is a story by RB here, and an afterword. His lack of embarrassment at participating in his own tribute is typical, but kind of charming.) Uneven, but not bad. Favorites: James Kisner, Roberta Lannes, R.C. Matheson, Bruce Francis, Gregory Benford, Robert Sheckley and Orson Scott Card.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's one story and one essay by Ray Bradbury in this collection. The rest of the stories in this tribute anthology are by other established science fiction writers.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought most of the short stories were okay. With Listia backed up, I guess this volume is headed for eBay. =)

[Guillermo Galvan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Bradbury, but these stories couldn't hold my interest.