A Titan of Fiction
Ray Bradbury was one of the great American novelists of the 20th century, not to mention an accomplished short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. While many people label him as a science fiction writer, Bradbury disagreed, stating he was in fact, a fantasy, horror, and mystery writer whose work people confuse with science fiction.
Most agree however, that he was a writer of courage and conviction whose works won awards including the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Background
Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1920 but spent most his early years in Los Angeles. He graduated high school in 1938 and spent the next few years selling newspapers on the street corners of L.A. With no formal higher education he spent his nights in the public library absorbing as much literature as he could.
In 1943 he became a full-time writer, starting by contributing various short stories to local periodicals. In 1950 he published his first major work, The Martian Chronicles, releasing hit after hit over the next few years, the rest is history.
Best Ray Bradbury Books
Fahrenheit 451
Flaming Success
Considered the best Ray Bradbury book by many, Fahrenheit 451 was also one of his first. The novel follows Guy Montag, a fireman who lives in a dystopian future America where the printed word has become the worst kind of contraband.
It’s Guy’s job to destroy not just books, but the houses in which they’ve been stashed away. Montag performs his duty unquestioningly, every day returning to his boring suburban life and his TV-obsessed wife. Then one day Guy meets a woman who challenges his outlook on life, showing him the beauty of the written word. Before he knows it, Montag is challenging everything he thought he once knew.
Dystopian Censorship
It’s easy to see why so many people consider this to be Ray Bradbury’s best book. This is the book that gained Bradbury his reputation as a great science fiction writer and is the only one of his works that Bradbury himself viewed as science fiction. A scathing indictment of censorship, this is a book all about Bradbury’s love of literature and literature’s value to society.
Some modern readers take umbrage with Bradbury’s comments on modern technology, especially TV, but I feel it’s important to remember the book was written in the 50s when the technology was relatively new. The book may feel slightly dated in places but it is still a modern great and a must-read for any science fiction fan.
The Green Town Series
A Shared Universe
For anyone looking for the best Ray Bradbury book series the only real choice is his Green Town collection. Not really a series in the traditional sense, instead, the books are all set in the same setting and share a handful of recurring characters. In this way, the books are less a series and more part of a shared universe, much like the works of Stephen King and his books set in the town of Castle Rock. The “series” is made up of four but only two of these Ray Bradbury books need to be read in order.
The first book in the series is Dandelion Wine which is a coming-of-age story about a 12-year-old boy and his family as they experience the highs and lows of living in a small town. The second book, Something Wicked This Way Comes, is a complete tonal shift. While the first book is a bittersweet story about childhood and growing up, this one is a dark fantasy horror that follows two boys as they take on a mysterious evil that has come to town in the shape of a carnival.
Shared Themes
The third entry is Farewell Summer which is a sequel to Dandelion Wine. It takes place just a few weeks after the first book and continues the story of the first. The final entry in the series is a bit of a cheat. Summer Morning, Summer Night is a collection of short stories, some of which revisit the Greentown characters. All of these books share a similar blend of nostalgia, wonder, and melancholy, exploring the passage of time and its effects on us.
The Martian Chronicles
The Debut
Although Bradbury had already released his fair share of short stories, The Martian Chronicles is the book that saw him enter the big time. Any Ray Bradbury book list would be incomplete without it. Not a novel in the traditional sense, the book is instead a chronological set of short stories that follow mankind’s numerous attempts at colonizing Mars.
Many people label the Martian Chronicles as science fiction, but Bradbury disagreed, I can see why. The book might be set in the future and largely set on Mars but neither is the focus of the book. The book is really about the human psyche and what makes us tick as a species.
Not Science Fiction
With a mixture of tragedy and humor, Bradbury delves into the best and worst characteristics of human nature and asks profound questions about our role in the universe. Bradbury could have set his book in the past or a fantasy world and besides changing some character names, little would have to change. The Martian Chronicles continues to be one of the best-rated Ray Bradbury books and it’s easy to see why.
The Illustrated Man
A Strange Collection
Short stories often get a bad rap and there is a strange misconception that those who write them only do so because their ideas aren’t good enough to carry an entire novel. Bradbury repeatedly proved this strange misconception wrong. Published in 1951, The Illustrated Man was his second collection of stories and is one of the best-selling Ray Bradbury books, having stayed in print continuously since its original release.
The stories within the Illustrated Man are mostly science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Bradbury plays the role of an anonymous narrator who comes across the Illustrated Man, a wanderer covered in exotic tattoos. Amazingly each tattoo comes alive and tells its own story.
Tales from the Wanderer
Some of these are cautionary tales, like The Veldt, which follows rowdy children who take a VR game too far. Some are tragic, like Kaleidoscope, which is about stranded astronauts who are about to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere without the benefit of a ship. And some are straight-up horror stories, like Zero Hour, in which earth is invaded by aliens who use people’s children against them. Although most of these stories were written in the 1940s and 50s all 18 of these terrible tales hit just as hard as they did when first written.
Zen in the Art of Writing
A Lesson
After reading the best books by Ray Bradbury two things immediately become clear. The man was a gifted writer, and he loved what he did. Zen in the Art of Writing is a collection of essays in which Bradbury attempts to teach his reader how they too can become a writer, while also talking about his love of writing.
As a lesson on creative writing, this collection of essays is perhaps a little dated and a little limited. The world of publishing has changed a lot over the years and much of Bradbury’s advice boils down to “be imaginative” and “don’t give up”. Which is true, but also not very specific.
Motivation
As a motivator, however, the book is excellent. Bradbury’s words leap off the page, infused with his joy of writing. For any aspiring writer who finds themselves lacking the energy, or confidence to put their bum in a chair and actually write, this is the book for them. I’ve read a lot of successful writers who stress how much hard work the job is, how much perseverance it takes, and how you have to be ready to accept constant criticism. It’s all a bit demotivating.
But Bradbury takes a different approach. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that writing is hard, but he makes it sound fun and most importantly, worthwhile. For fans of Bradbury, this is a fascinating insight into his process, for fans of writing, this is an invaluable tool. If I ranked Ray Bradbury’s books on how they’ve affected me, Zen in the Art of Writing would probably be right at the top.
The October Country
Chillers
The October Country is another collection of Bradbury short stories. While the book is often described as a collection of horror stories, I tend to disagree. Rather than finding the stories scary, I’d say they’re more chilling and very weird. In many ways, these shorts reminded me more of old episodes of the Twilight Zone or perhaps Black Mirror. Each story is chilling for different reasons, but all examine different aspects of the human condition.
For example, the only thing terrifying about The Dwarf is how it examines how needlessly and pointlessly cruel people can be. The only monsters here are us. On the other hand, The Lake is a touching story about a man revisiting his childhood home. While there he is flooded by memories of a lost friend. The story is written in the style of a ghost story, but there are no ghosts, just recollections.
A Mixed Bag
Perhaps the weirdest story in the collection is The Skeleton, which is all about a man who thinks his skeleton is trying to kill him, so he decides to fight it. While some of the stories within are certainly better than others, this is a great collection for fans of Bradbury or anyone who likes feeling chills run down their spine.
The Veldt
A Virtual Warning
The Veldt is a short story about a futuristic house that is fully automated, responding to its occupants’ every whim. Its most impressive feature is the virtual reality nursery that simulates the African veldt and can create any environment the family’s children can imagine.
Throughout the book, the parents become increasingly concerned as they witness the disturbing images their children are conjuring up/ being exposed to. When they try to restrict their children’s exposure to the nursery things quickly escalate. To anyone who has seen a child fly into a rage after being separated from their iPad screen, this book feels downright prophetic.
Timeless
One of the things that can make older science fiction stories so hard to read is how off the mark their writer’s predictions can be. A classic example is that the authors of the 50s and 60s expected us all to have flying cars and robot maids by now, but never foresaw mobile phones or the laptop computer.
These criticisms can even be leveled at some of the top Ray Bradbury books, not all of his ideas have aged well. This being said, it feels like The Veldt gets everything right and the book continues to be a timeless warning about the dangers of technology.
A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories
The Bradbury Blend
The best Ray Bradbury books and stories usually contain a blend of science fiction, fantasy, and horror while exploring themes related to human nature. A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories fits this description to a tee. It’s everything people tend to love about Bradbury’s writing.
This collection of short stories’ title story, A Medicine for Melancholy, is surprisingly upbeat. It follows the story of a man who after enjoying one too many drinks wakes up to discover he has married a stranger. Bradbury uses this amusing premise to explore modern ideas about love and the role of chance in our relationships.
Philosophical
Other stories within are equally philosophical. The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone explores the idea of human mortality when its main character discovers there is life after death. The End of the Beginning, on the other hand, is about time travelers who go back to witness the big bang. This being said, some stories could be deeper.
In particular, a handful take us back to Green Town and are relatively simple supernatural chillers. This might not be a terrible thing; the lighter stories prevent the collection from getting overly deep. Overall, this is a diverse collection of Bradbury’s short stories that highlights his writing style and ability to delve into the human experience in a few short pages.
The Halloween Tree
Underrated
The Halloween Tree may not be one of the most popular Ray Bradbury books, but it deserves to be. It should be a Halloween tradition in the same way A Christmas Carol or The Snowman are Christmas traditions. From its title, one might think it was a classic Bradbury horror story, but they’d be wrong.
Eight costumed boys head out for a night of trick or treating when they are stopped by the mystical Mr. Moundshroud. It turns out their friend, Pipkin, has been kidnapped by a mysterious menace and it’s up to the boys to rescue him. Mr. Moundshroud then takes the boys on a terrifying ride through space and time on their mission to rescue their friend.
The True Meaning of Halloween
As a children’s story, the book is brilliant, chilling enough to excite readers of all ages but not scary enough to truly terrify them. Bradbury gets the balance exactly right. What makes the book truly brilliant however is how it also acts as a history lesson.
In the course of the book, Bradbury teaches the boys (and his readers) about the true meaning of Halloween. Not a corporate holiday designed to sell sweets and plastic costumes, but a spiritual celebration with roots in druidic rituals and Mexico’s Day of the Dead Celebrations. The Halloween Tree is an absolute classic and one of my top Ray Bradbury books.
Crumley Mysteries Series
A Fictionalized Autobiography
The Crumley Mysteries is the best Ray Bradbury series for lovers of crime mystery novels. It’s also really weird. The series is a kind of fictionalized autobiography of Bradbury that answers the question, what if Bradbury solved murders in his spare time?
The main character and narrator of each book is an unnamed writer who just so happens to live in places where Bradbury once lived, at the same time he lived there. For example, the first book, Death Is a Lonely Business, is set in Venice California in 1949. Bradbury also lived there in 1949. The subsequent books are set during two later periods of Bradbury’s career.
Bizarre Whodunits
Each book follows the classic whodunit formula. The “definitely not Bradbury” narrator moves to a new town, discovers a murder or series of murders, meets a beautiful woman, and then solves the murders with the help of his detective friend, Crumley. On top of this rather straightforward formula, Bradbury then throws in a whole host of weird twists and turns.
If one looks at Ray Bradbury book reviews, the books in this series tend to be towards the bottom of the pile. A lot of readers struggle to connect with the weirdness of the series and the mysteries themselves are a little too easy to guess. This means that compared to some of Bradbury’s other works this series may not be for everyone. But fans of Bradbury will still find the same beautiful prose and fierce imagination evident in his other works.
Final Thoughts
It is easy to see why Ray Bradbury is so highly regarded. Choosing the best Ray Bradbury novel is next to impossible. Each one has something to love. Some critics have tried to pigeonhole Bradbury as a science fiction writer, but he was so much more.
The best Ray Bradbury novels examined themes outside the realms of normal science fiction. He spent a lot of time exploring themes of childhood and aging as well as the human condition. He could make you cry, shriek, and laugh all in the course of a single page. When choosing a Ray Bradbury book you can’t go wrong.
Michael Englert
Michael is a graduate of cultural studies and history. He enjoys a good bottle of wine and (surprise, surprise) reading. As a small-town librarian, he is currently relishing the silence and peaceful atmosphere that is prevailing.
