"Martian Chronicles" - a cycle of short stories that brought Ray Bradbury world fame - tells about the conquest of the Red Planet by man, where the once highly developed civilization of the Martians lives out its last years. Mars doesn't give up right away. The first expedition dies without even landing ("Illa"). The second is declared crazy ("Earthlings"). The third is captured by his own illusions ("Third Expedition"). Finally, the fourth finds the Red Planet already dead ("And the expanse of the moon is still silver with rays")... Poetically sad novels are not at all outdated, they are still fresh and interesting, piercing and anxiously squinting. In his Martian stories, the writer actually talks about the earthly feelings of earthly people: about the attitude to life and death, about dreams and innermost desires, about daytime fears and nightmares, about mental torment and bodily temptations...