The Toynbee Convector

By Ray Bradbury

One of Ray Bradbury’s classic short story collections, available in ebook for the first time.

THE TOYNBEE CONVECTOR is a brilliant short story collection from one of the genre’s master storytellers. Several of the stories are original to this collection. Others originally appeared in the magazines Playboy, Omni, Gallery, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Woman's Day, and Weird Tales.

Bradbury displays the unclassifiable versatility of his imagination in this collection of twenty stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Aug 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9780007539802

Ray Bradbury

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. An Emmy Award winner for his teleplay The Halloween Tree and an Academy Award nominee, he was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.

Reviews for The Toynbee Convector

[scolgo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some fun short stories in this collection. Emphasis on the 'short' as there is not an overly lengthy tale in the bunch.

[mrgan-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just-average Bradbury; too many obvious and derivative stories. But, this is only in comparison to his masterful works like The October Country. If this is the first Bradbury you read, you ought to like it just fine.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like his earlier work better, when he wasn't so (apparently) self-conscious. This seemed like he was trying too hard, or something - more forced than natural & sincere. I wish I could remember it better so I could explain what I mean better.

[lyndainoregon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This fine collection of Ray Bradbury short stories (is that a redundant statement?) was published in 1988, and includes 23 pieces written during that late-80s period. Many are anthologized here for the first time, so it’s a worthwhile addition for Bradbury collectors and fans.Subjects range from whimsy to fantasy to time travel to love stories to straight-up horror – and some are an amalgam of those genres that only Bradbury could pull off.Favorites include “Trapdoor”, which proves yet again that a good writer of horror can rise the hair on the reader’s neck without ever spilling a drop of blood; “The Love Affair”, which returns to the Martian Chronicles setting with a truly creepy tale; “At Midnight in the Month of June” is a skeevy follow-up to radbury’s classic “The Ravine”; and “One for His Lordship and One for the Road”, which is a whimsical set-up to an old shaggy-dog story, but Bradbury restrains himself from actually quoting the punchline. If you know the story, you’ll figure it out. If not, it’s still delightful.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This collection of short stories was originally published in 1988. At the time I heard an interview with Bradbury – probably on NPR – and one story in particular was mentioned. A tender love story titled The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair. I was surprised, knowing, and loving, Bradbury as a science fiction writer. I shouldn’t have been; Bradbury’s writing has always tapped into emotions, and love and regret are two that we all come across in our lives. I’d forgotten the name of the collection, but remembered the story and last year I decided to find it again. I’m so glad I did.

Most of the stories are the type that we more typically associate with Bradbury – time travel, science fiction, paranormal, horror. A couple of the stories reminded me of Something Wicked This Way Comes, with a lurking evil and a tension that made me want to jump into bed so whatever lurks under there couldn’t grab my ankles.

Some of the stories combine genres. The Love Affair has a lonely Martian willing to face certain doom for the sound of music and the hope of companionship. Colonel Stonesteel’s Genuine Home-made Truly Egyptian Mummy gives us a wonderful young/old generational story combined with adventure, wonder and fright.

One completely delightful surprise was Junior featuring a group of senior citizens with healthy libidos. But for me, the star of this book remains The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair. It’s the story that forced me to look at Bradbury with new eyes and to appreciate his skill at crafting a story that engages, entertains, and kindles the reader’s emotions.


NOTE: Second reading 07January2016

[bostonian71 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not among Bradbury's best, but this still has some interesting stories, and his prose is as lively as ever. My two favorite stories are probably the funniest ones: "One for His Lordship, and One for the Road!", a comic rebuke to wine snobs who don't want to share (even after death), and "Colonel Stonesteel’s Genuine Home-Made Truly Egyptian Mummy", which is as good an explanation as any for Bradbury's birth as a writer.