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Rocket Summer
The story begins with the ascention of a rocket in Ohio in the middle of winter. A small town that is iced over quickly feels a blast of heat and summer appears for a short time. -
Ylla
We learn of these two Martians, Yll and Ylla, who are unhappily married. Ylla begins to have dreams of this handsome creature from the "thrid planet" who arrives on their planet by a large tin ship. She dreams of this man sweeping her off her feet and taking her away to her planet. Yll takes this dream harshly and becomes jealous. At the end of the chapter Yll goes out to "hunt" in the Green Valley, the same one that the man in the ship is supposed to land. (Side note: Martians are telepathic) -
Summer Night
The Martians have now started to dream just like Ylla. They are reciting American pop music in the 1940s and this can only be explained by their telepathic ability. The humans must be getting close due to most of the race receiving these dreams. -
The Earth Men
Humans finally land on Mars. Captain Jonathan Williams and the rest of the astronauts from Earth are amazed by the Martians lack of hospitality. The Martians believe that the men are only hallucinations. The men are inspected by a Martian psychologist. The psychologist thinks that if he shoots the Captain that the other three men will disappear and so will the rocket but when nothing happens, the doctor believes that the best course of action is to shoot them all. -
The Taxpayer
A man approaches a intercom that is at the enterance of the rocket field. He yells into the intercom and demands permission to be on the next rocket to Mars. The Earth, he claims, will be gone soon due to an upcoming nuclear war. The police were contacted and the man is taken away. As they drive away, the rocket flies into the air, destination Mars, the third expedition. -
The Third Expedition
A 16 man expedition led by Captain John Black lands on Mars with 15 remaining. The men soon see that Mars is not the "red planet" every speaks of. It is actually an American town that looks like the one from their childhood. The Martians are still living in the town but they are disgused as the mens' dead family members. They use their telepathy power to lure the men into the town and then they kill them. The Martians then hold a human style funeral for the austronauts and they even cry. -
And The Moon Be Still As Bright
The crew of this 4th expedition is dysfuncitonal with a drunk, sympathizer, leader, and a part Cherokee American. The crew lands and notices that there is not a single Martian in sight. The Martians have been killed by human chicken-pox (much like the Native Americans and mall-pox). Jeff Spender sees that humans will destroy this planet just like they did on Earth and wants to stop it so his best idea is to kill the crew. Spender kills Biggs but Captain Wilder stops him and puts an end to him. -
The Settlers
90,000 humans have flocked to Mars to settle its land. This is quite similar to Americans moving west. -
The Green Morning
Benjamin Driscoll, along with his fellow humans, is having difficulty breathing on Mars. Along with this issue, Driscroll cannot find a job for himself and he feels useless without one. Driscoll planting trees to expand the oxygen in the atmosphere. The humans are changing Mars from red to green. -
The Locusts
People are arriving on Mars like swarms of locusts. The humans build their houses and even start to sell land on Mars. -
Night Meeting
Meet Tomas Gomez and Muhe Ca, a human and a martian. The two communicate under a special circumstance in time where they cannot touch one another but they can speak all they want. They speak of their lives and they discuss how their races are the best. This was the first human-martian contact that did not end with one of the two dying or being injured. -
The Shore
This wave of humans consists of all Americans. These humans are moving to Mars "in the name of God." This chapter connects to that of the American West. -
Interim
Humans are bringing wood from Earth to build cities and towns on Mars. They are recreating Earth when they were trying to get away from it. -
The Musicians
Children find corpses of deab Martians in this chapter. They play with their bones are men come to burn the bodies. -
The Naming of Names
A short chronicle where humans begin to name and rename the towns and natural wonders on Mars (such as the mountains and lakes). -
Usher II
William Stendahl is a wealthy individual who comes to Mars to build the second House of Usher. However, Stendahl has been banned from building the house on Mars by the Office of Moral Climate, a group who is to ban and destroy anything which suggests "ghosts, vampires, fairies, or any creature of the imagination." The man is locked in the cellar and left to die as the house is dismantled just as in Poe's "The House of Usher." -
The Old Ones
Since Mars has now developed to become like Earth, old people begin to fly out. Mars is now the new Florida -
The Martian
The LaFarges are middle aged humans that make their trip to Mars after a despressing life on Earth. They have been mourning the lose of their son since he died at the age of 14. One night, a shadow like figure is wandering in the distance as Mr. LaFarges looks out the door. The figure turns out to be their dead son, Tom (which we know is a Martian). The mother is so excited to see him and she pressures him to go into town with them. The Martian takes form of whatever relative people want to see. -
The Luggage Store
Father Peregrine and the luggage store owner have a conversation about the nuclear war that will soon engluf Earth. The luggage store owner said that he is only staying open because humans will soon rush back home as the war starts. -
The Off Season
Sam Parkhill is an owner of a hot dog stand. He encounters some Martians but instead of listening to them he shoots one. He begins to run from the Martian party but they catch up to him. Instead of punishing the man, the Martians give him half of Mars. The war on Earth begins that night and all the land gained is worth nothing to Parkhill. -
The Watchers
At nine o’clock in the evening, Earth explodes. A morse code message is sent to them, with news that the atomic stockpile of Australia prematurely explode, wiping out the continent; further, London and Los Angeles have been bombed and the settlers should come home. At 3 a.m. , a crowd flocks to the luggage store, whose proprietor stayed open for this eventuality; he sells out of his goods by dawn. -
The Silent Towns
Meet Walter Gripp, a man on the search for love. He is a young gentleman that has lived in isolation for some years now and occasionally takes a trip down to Marlin Village. To his surprise, no one is left in the town. All the other humans had left for Earth when the war broke out. Mr. Gripp hears a telephone ringing in one of the homes. Sooner or later, Walter gets in touch with a Miss Genevieve Selsor. Genevieve showing Walter her wedding dress. Walter runs away in fear. -
The Long Years
Dr. Hathaway is one of the last humans on Mars and he and his family live a happy life in isolation. Hathaway is visited by Captain Wilder and he soon finds out that Hathaway's family is actually dead. He had created robots to take the place of his real family members. He programed them to not feel sadness or be able to cry so when he passes (which he did in this chapter) they would not feel the pain he felt. -
There Will Come Soft Rains
The reader is back on Earth with a house that is abandoned in a pool of radiation. The house is automated and takes care of the daily chores and activities needed for the family but seeing as the family is dead, the house has no one to serve. One night a window breaks and the house catches fire. It tries its hardest to contain the fire but it loses the battle. -
The Million Year Picnic
This is one of the more confusing chapters for me but here's the summary:Timothy and his family travel to Mars, they are one of the last families alive on Earth. Mom and Dad take the boys on a fishing trip which turns into finding the perfect city for them to settle in. They pick one and they speak of a second family coming, one with 4 daughters. Timothy begs his father to show him a Martian. His father takes him to the canal where they look into the water. There were the Martians, looking back. -
The Fire Balloons
Father Stone and Father Peregrine head to Mars to convert Martians (just like the Native Americans). The priests run into one little problem, the Martians are mostly dead. They find these blue spheres however and the priests decide to try and convert them. His mission fails but the priests still feel better about themselves. -
The Wilderness
This chronicle is one of the only successful love stories in the novel. Janice and Will are in love but the problem is that Janice is still on Earth and Will is on Mars. Janice is worried about going to Mars and space travel, in general, scares her. While Janice is on the spaceship, she calls Will but the connection is terrible in space, the only word that makes it through is "love."
