Book Review ~~ Here There Be Tygers ~~

Today I read the short story “Here There Be Tygers,” by Ray Bradbury. Set many years in the future, the story describes a group of astronauts who arrive at a planet that behaves like a sentient human, a woman who wants to be admired for her beauty and what she can give the astronauts who go to the planet — but not for her wealth. She provides the astronauts who believe that she is beautiful and love her for who she is with rare white wine, the ability to fly, and anything else they want — when one of them is thirsty, she splashes rain on his lips. However, Chatterton, who only wants to drill for metals and other riches in her core, is killed by tigers. When the astronauts leave the planet, however, she is angry, and her surface is filled with tigers, cyclones, and other dangers, but the captain remarks that Driscoll, who stayed, was probably being treated well and given all he wanted, the tigers and cyclones only seen by those who left. I really enjoyed reading this story, which depicted a thinking planet behaving much like a woman, and showed how thinking, sentient life could be found in many forms. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to read a short story about a thinking planet and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ Uncle Einar ~~

Today I read “Uncle Einar,” by Ray Bradbury, which is about a person — Uncle Einar — who has wings and can fly, but doesn’t dare to in the day, afraid that someone will see his wings. Originally, he had night-vision and could sense everything, perfectly, in the night, but one day, he crashed into a high-tension tower and lost his night-perception. He is unable to fly at night again, and for many years, he has no way to fly, as he loves. At first, he busies himself with marrying his wife, Brunilla, and taking care of their children, but eventually, his desire to fly again becomes an obsession. He mourns for his lost night-perception, which once allowed him to fly at night, until he experiences an epiphany upon seeing his children’s kites. Tying the string of a kite to his belt, he takes off into the air, pretending to be a kite and hiding in plain sight. His children enjoy having the grandest “kite,” which flies wonderfully, and he finally regains his ability to fly at night. I enjoyed this tale about Uncle Einar and learning about his transformation from an almost-carefree man who flew happily around the night skies, to a lonely man who could no longer fly, to someone who was able to fly again, but in daylight. I would rate it 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in a good short story.

Book Review ~~ Frost and Fire ~~

Today I read the short story “Frost and Fire,” by Ray Bradbury. The story is set on a different planet, where the sun’s radiation has sped up life so much that a person dies only eight days after his or her birth. The sun’s rays are too dangerous during the day for people to go out, while at night it is too cold, so there is only one hour a day in which they can leave their dwellings, which protects them (slightly) from the sun’s rays. People on the cliffs live eleven days — three days more than those who are not — because they are better-shielded from the sun’s radiation, but there is limited space, and only three hundred people can live there at a time. There are also rumors of a metal ship that can take them to a different place, where people can live for many years, but no one has ever reached it. Sim, however, is determined to reach it, and he fights passionately to do so. I really enjoyed reading this story and learning of Sim’s determination to reach the ship and go to a different planet. If humans today were thrown into a situation like this, I wonder what we would do — try to escape and find something better, like Sim, or choose not to do anything and accept our fate, like the thousands of other people who never tried to reach the ship? I would rate this book 9.8/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in a good short story that will catch your attention and leave you thinking about what you would do.