Showing results for "Rockets" in Short Stories

Step into the visionary imagination of Ray Bradbury with this powerful collection of classic science fiction and speculative tales that helped define the Golden Age of the genre. The Selected Works of Ray Bradbury brings together seven unforgettable short stories that explore humanity’s hopes, fears, and moral crossroads against the vast backdrop of space, time, and the unknown.

This story concerns a firework, who is one of many to be let off at the wedding of a prince and princess. The rocket is extremely pompous and self-important, and denigrates all the other fireworks, eventually bursting into tears to demonstrate his "sensitivity." As this makes him wet, he fails to ignite and, the next day, is thrown away into a ditch.

The world stands on the brink of the rocket age, and everyone is thrilled that humanity has attained this stunning achievement. But William Stanley isn’t convinced we should be here. Will he really stop the launch of this incredible rocket that he has helped to create?

Everything in the world revolves around just him. Or does it? A moral fable on delusions of self-importance. First published 1888 in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.

Set in a magical kingdom where a wealthy prince and a Russian princess meet for the first time and fall madly in love with each other. Their wedding is to be a huge celebration for the entire realm, with all sorts of entertainment, including fireworks as a grand finale. As soon as various firework elements are set in place, they start talking amongst each other, and we meet the very distinguished Remarkable Rocket, responsible for so many of Oscar Wilde's memorable epigrams.