The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
waldowade's review against another edition
4.0
The Rocket
A Sound of Thunder
Frost and Fire
Uncle Einar
A Sound of Thunder
Frost and Fire
Uncle Einar
grrr8_catsby's review against another edition
2.5
R Is For Rocket is a collection of 17 (17!) short stories by acclaimed science fiction author Ray Bradbury.
Bradbury's writing style throughout is unparalleled and remains a pioneer of the science fiction genre to date. This collection of short stories spans from the 1940's and 1950's and, while often showing multiple instances of aging, captures the heart and excitement of exploration. The volume includes all short stories about rocket ships, except for the ones that inexplicably... do not.Â
Consistency is the biggest fault with this book; 17 short stories in only 184 pages does not grant much room for full thought expansion. Some of the stories contained in this book are truly delightful and charming and fully deserve their inclusion; others feel like a shoo-in solely for their mention of a rocket ship.Â
Notable entries include the titular "R Is For Rocket", the bittersweet "The Rocket Man", and the longest story included in this book, "Frost And Fire."
Bradbury's writing style throughout is unparalleled and remains a pioneer of the science fiction genre to date. This collection of short stories spans from the 1940's and 1950's and, while often showing multiple instances of aging, captures the heart and excitement of exploration. The volume includes all short stories about rocket ships, except for the ones that inexplicably... do not.Â
Consistency is the biggest fault with this book; 17 short stories in only 184 pages does not grant much room for full thought expansion. Some of the stories contained in this book are truly delightful and charming and fully deserve their inclusion; others feel like a shoo-in solely for their mention of a rocket ship.Â
Notable entries include the titular "R Is For Rocket", the bittersweet "The Rocket Man", and the longest story included in this book, "Frost And Fire."
fruitkate's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
margaritaville's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
blchandler9000's review against another edition
4.0
Ray Bradbury was my first "favorite author."
I'm sure that's true for lots of people.
There was a bookstore in Milwaukee, somewhere on the East Side, called Webster's Bookstore, the only bookstore during my childhood to have a special section just for dinosaur books. I pestered my father often to take me there, and sometimes he acquiesced, and I would slowly make my way through the shelf devoted to prehistoric things, trying to narrow down the collection to just one book I could ask my father to buy me. (And, if I was lucky, he would say, "Yes.")
One of those times the dinosaur book was "Dinosaur Tales" by Ray Bradbury. I remember debating between choosing that book or another, and later, on the way home in the car, I started to wonder if I'd made the wrong choice. (I no longer remember what the other book was I wanted, maybe one of the Greg Irons illustrated dinosaur coloring books.) That afternoon, back at home, my father took me on the deck in the shadow of our house, and read "A Sound of Thunder" to me. The William Stout illustrations were perfect, as was my father's reading, though I wished the Tyrannosaurus didn't have to die. The surprise ending did blow my mind, though, and I've probably reread that single story more times than I can remember. Some of it I have by heart. And when I write about dinosaurs today, "A Sound of Thunder" is always in my mind.
As influential as that story was, I hadn't read much Bradbury in the past twenty years. New "favorite authors' came and went, and when I'd return to Bradbury I wasn't always happy with what I found. I'd been burned a bit by some of his later works that felt hackneyed and saccharine. My recent revisit of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was not as magical as I'd hoped. But still, something about Bradbury is attractive. I love the lyricism, the way he plays with words, the awe that he expresses—and inspires—so effortlessly.
So, I sat down with this book. It had some of the dinosaur stories in it—my precious "Sound of Thunder" and "The Fog Horn"—plus a number of scifi-ish things about rockets, and a couple tales about summer in Green Town.
When Bradbury is good, he's amazing. I still was caught up in "A Sound of Thunder." "The Fog Horn" and "The Golden Apples of the Sun" were both equally beautiful and evocative. One of the longer stories, "Frost and Fire," had a very Edgar Rice Burroughs feel to it, with savage people lost on another world, running around naked, fighting, surviving; I enjoyed it. I didn't love everything, though. Sometimes his stories teetered too deep into sentimentality. "The Rocket," "The Strawberry Window," and "The Exiles" especially did not move me. But those were just three stories out of seventeen.
One thing I'd never remembered noticing before about Bradbury's stories is how hopeful they are. There's hardly a drop of cynicism in them. He's very earnest. Of course we will fly rockets! Of course we will settle on Mars! Of course we will zip from world to world as surely as a kid zips in new summer sneakers. His spaceships are fueled by fantasy; his dinosaurs feed on magic. He makes no conceits that any of his stories could happen. They're just marvelous ideas. And I liked that. It makes it easier to dream that way.
I'm sure that's true for lots of people.
There was a bookstore in Milwaukee, somewhere on the East Side, called Webster's Bookstore, the only bookstore during my childhood to have a special section just for dinosaur books. I pestered my father often to take me there, and sometimes he acquiesced, and I would slowly make my way through the shelf devoted to prehistoric things, trying to narrow down the collection to just one book I could ask my father to buy me. (And, if I was lucky, he would say, "Yes.")
One of those times the dinosaur book was "Dinosaur Tales" by Ray Bradbury. I remember debating between choosing that book or another, and later, on the way home in the car, I started to wonder if I'd made the wrong choice. (I no longer remember what the other book was I wanted, maybe one of the Greg Irons illustrated dinosaur coloring books.) That afternoon, back at home, my father took me on the deck in the shadow of our house, and read "A Sound of Thunder" to me. The William Stout illustrations were perfect, as was my father's reading, though I wished the Tyrannosaurus didn't have to die. The surprise ending did blow my mind, though, and I've probably reread that single story more times than I can remember. Some of it I have by heart. And when I write about dinosaurs today, "A Sound of Thunder" is always in my mind.
As influential as that story was, I hadn't read much Bradbury in the past twenty years. New "favorite authors' came and went, and when I'd return to Bradbury I wasn't always happy with what I found. I'd been burned a bit by some of his later works that felt hackneyed and saccharine. My recent revisit of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was not as magical as I'd hoped. But still, something about Bradbury is attractive. I love the lyricism, the way he plays with words, the awe that he expresses—and inspires—so effortlessly.
So, I sat down with this book. It had some of the dinosaur stories in it—my precious "Sound of Thunder" and "The Fog Horn"—plus a number of scifi-ish things about rockets, and a couple tales about summer in Green Town.
When Bradbury is good, he's amazing. I still was caught up in "A Sound of Thunder." "The Fog Horn" and "The Golden Apples of the Sun" were both equally beautiful and evocative. One of the longer stories, "Frost and Fire," had a very Edgar Rice Burroughs feel to it, with savage people lost on another world, running around naked, fighting, surviving; I enjoyed it. I didn't love everything, though. Sometimes his stories teetered too deep into sentimentality. "The Rocket," "The Strawberry Window," and "The Exiles" especially did not move me. But those were just three stories out of seventeen.
One thing I'd never remembered noticing before about Bradbury's stories is how hopeful they are. There's hardly a drop of cynicism in them. He's very earnest. Of course we will fly rockets! Of course we will settle on Mars! Of course we will zip from world to world as surely as a kid zips in new summer sneakers. His spaceships are fueled by fantasy; his dinosaurs feed on magic. He makes no conceits that any of his stories could happen. They're just marvelous ideas. And I liked that. It makes it easier to dream that way.
celestriakle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
kevinsmokler's review against another edition
3.0
Uneven. When it's great, its Bradbury's best. When it's not, it reads like "rockets, rockets, rockets, childhood wonder" and never breaks the pattern. Spotty great rather than sustainably good.
ellisknox's review against another edition
5.0
The Fog Horn, Rocket Man, Sound of Thunder, The Long Rain, The Dragon, The Golden Apples of the Sun, this is a hell of a collection.
bishopjoey's review against another edition
Good stuff. It's Bradbury, so no complaints.
silverthane's review against another edition
3.0
R is for Rocket is a small collection of 17 short stories written by Ray Bradbury.
Overall I was not very impressed with this book; it didn’t seem up to the usual standard I’ve come to expect from Bradbury’s imagination. Not all of the stories were science fiction which surprised me and many of those that were science fiction I had already read elsewhere. For example; The Rocket Man, The Long Rain and The Rocket were all featured in another (and vastly superior) collection of Bradbury’s short stories called ‘The Illustrated Man’ which is one of my favourite books.
Most of the stories weren’t very interesting and the few that were ended at the wrong time. Bradbury has been a prolific writer for such a long time and he has published so many short stories I suppose it is inevitable that sooner or later they would fail to make the grade. This book has been out of print for quite some time which doesn’t surprise me considering how many better books by Bradbury there are out there.
Overall I was not very impressed with this book; it didn’t seem up to the usual standard I’ve come to expect from Bradbury’s imagination. Not all of the stories were science fiction which surprised me and many of those that were science fiction I had already read elsewhere. For example; The Rocket Man, The Long Rain and The Rocket were all featured in another (and vastly superior) collection of Bradbury’s short stories called ‘The Illustrated Man’ which is one of my favourite books.
Most of the stories weren’t very interesting and the few that were ended at the wrong time. Bradbury has been a prolific writer for such a long time and he has published so many short stories I suppose it is inevitable that sooner or later they would fail to make the grade. This book has been out of print for quite some time which doesn’t surprise me considering how many better books by Bradbury there are out there.