Ray Bradbury wrote two very different novels at the start of the Cold War. The first was The Martian Chronicles (1950) followed by Fahrenheit 451 (1953). The thematic similarities of Mars coupled with the state of the American mentality during the Cold War era interweave the two novels on the surface. Additionally, Bradbury was "preventing the future", as he stated in an interview with David Mogen in 1980. A dystopian society was also a main theme in both books, but in a juxtaposed way that makes the reader aware of the Bradbury's optimism in stories. . A society completely frightened by a nuclear bomb, for example, will inevitably become polite to others. Bradbury used his life to formulate his writings, from his opinions about people to the books he read and this has been identified by critics such as: Paradowski, Buchenberger, Hoskinson et al. Bradbury used fantasy science to criticize humans themselves and the pioneers' attitude of destroying the very beauty they find in civilizing it. This annotated bibliography explores Hoskinson's essay as a cynosure, showing the similarities of the novels' themes and how they lead to the self-contained house "There Will Come Soft Rains" and its final moments as it is overrun by the fire. Buchenberger, Stefan. “The Martian Chronicles”. Masterplots, fourth edition. Ed. Laurence W. Mazzeno, 4th ed. Salem Press, 2010. Salem Literary Web. November 16, 2013. Stefan Buchenberger begins his essay with an analysis of the Martian Chronicles. It begins with "Rocket Summer" and how the rocket takes them from a cold winter to a hot summer. He ends his summary with "The Picnic of a Million Years" which shows a family escaping nuclear war on earth and the new life they will start on Ma...... middle of paper ......f ideas thrown at Bradbury's characters can inspire and open readers to new experiences and new worlds. From the dark and macabre “Dark Carnival” that uses the motif of death to move readers to another level and see reality in a new and enlightening way. Paradowski explores The Martian Chronicles, considered by many to be his most prolific. It was here, in this group of Bradbury's writings, that his colleague Christopher Isherwood praised Bradbury for his penetrating analysis of human beings. To his book of stories entitled “Faster Than the Eye” where “psychic connections with the past and the future are recurring themes”. As the essay draws to a close, he leaves talking about Summer Morning, Summer Night, a collection of short stories published in 1998 that seems to accompany the summer vibe of Dandelion Wine. Paradowski comes full circle in small-town Americana.