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kierrang1990's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the_scribbling_man's review
3.0
Fahrenheit 451 was my first experience of Bradbury and I found it to be a good read; Something Wicked This Way Comes was my second and I found it to be both ridiculous, pretentious and, at times, poorly written. S Is For Space is a short story collection which touches both ends of the spectrum. There's the good, the bad and the worth reading. I've decided I don't much like Bradbury's style as a writer, and even in the good stories I found myself rolling my eyes at his quirks and whimsy, but there are definitely some interesting and thought provoking ideas as well as some amusement to be had among the inconsistency.
The Good: Pillar of Fire, Zero Hour, The Man, The Pedestrian, The Screaming Woman, Dark They Were With Golden Eyes
The Bad: Time In Thy Flight, Invisible Boy, Million Year Picnic, Icarus Montgolfier Wright, Hail and Farewell, The Trolley
The Worth Reading: Chrysalis, Come Into My Cellar, The Smile, The Flying Machine
The Good: Pillar of Fire, Zero Hour, The Man, The Pedestrian, The Screaming Woman, Dark They Were With Golden Eyes
The Bad: Time In Thy Flight, Invisible Boy, Million Year Picnic, Icarus Montgolfier Wright, Hail and Farewell, The Trolley
The Worth Reading: Chrysalis, Come Into My Cellar, The Smile, The Flying Machine
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
This collection of short stories was a companion piece to [b:R is for Rocket|886229|R is for Rocket|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1230561617s/886229.jpg|1142993] which I read last year and adored. I found this cheap on Ebay and was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, I came away somewhat disappointed. This is almost the antithesis of Rocket in that where that book looked to the future joyously and used the rocket as a symbol of exploration and freedom, this book feels dystopian, and almost bitter and anti-scientific in a way. I wondered if it was because of when the stories were written, in the '40s and '50s and the influence of the War, but looking back at Rocket the stories there were from about the same time.
Technically these stories are great, perhaps not all Bradbury at his best but stories like Time in Thy Flight (about a school trip in a time machine), The Million-Year Picnic (a family escape Earth for Mars just before the atomic war breaks out) and The Smile (a boy is touched by art in a post-apocalyptic future) show Bradbury's talent in full swing but are also all, in their own way, somewhat dystopian.
Overall, these are more cautionary tales and backward-looking fables than the exciting, forward-looking Rocket. I preferred the former the former, but depending on your temperament you may prefer this one.
Technically these stories are great, perhaps not all Bradbury at his best but stories like Time in Thy Flight (about a school trip in a time machine), The Million-Year Picnic (a family escape Earth for Mars just before the atomic war breaks out) and The Smile (a boy is touched by art in a post-apocalyptic future) show Bradbury's talent in full swing but are also all, in their own way, somewhat dystopian.
Overall, these are more cautionary tales and backward-looking fables than the exciting, forward-looking Rocket. I preferred the former the former, but depending on your temperament you may prefer this one.
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