I was wondering what the difference is between the books "The Martian Chronicles" and "The Silver Locusts." At the local library I was in search for a copy of Martain Chronicles and came across The Silver Locusts. When I compared the two it turned out that the only differences were two entries. There is one entry in each of these books that is not in the other one. I was wondering if anyone knew how this came about and if there was a copy of the book that had all of the entries included. I appreciate all help provided.

-The one with the glasses

I can't help. I've never seen a copy of "Silver Locusts".

As I understand it.... ""The Silver Locusts
""... is the British edition of ""The Martian Chronicles"...

This sounds like one the resident Brit should answer - that's me!

"The Silver Locusts" is indeed the title of the British edition of "The Martian Chronicles". For some reason, the first British publisher (Rupert Hart-Davis) decided that "Chronicles" wasn't a fitting title.

The principal difference seems to be that "Locusts" usually has the story "The Fire Balloons" included, and usually doesn't contain "Usher II". I have no idea why this should be. It may be that some of the linking passages are different, too, but I've never compared them that closely.

I say "usually", because I believe there are some variant editions of both "Locusts" and "Chronicles". In fact, sometimes the "Chronicles" title has been used here in the UK, but with the contents of "Locusts".

It's a bit of a mess, really, with no apparent logic to it.

- Phil

Thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate the information.

Yes there are variant editions of MC as far as which stories are included and the dates on the stories.

It seems as if "The Silver Locusts" title has been mothballed. Recent British editions have been titled "The Martian Chronicles". I have two copies of "The Silver Locusts" - one has "The Fire Balloons" instead of "Usher II", and the other one has "Usher II" instead of the other story (like the US 1st edition).

The reasons (this is a guess)probably have to do with copyright or publishing exclusivity. I think the early albums of the Beatles were different on the American side of the Atlantic for the same reason.

You're right, douglasSP. I've just looked on amazon.co.uk, and the most recent listed edition of The Silver Locusts is from 1975 whereas, there are several UK editions of The Martian Chronicles from 1980 onwards. (Not a conclusive survey, but slightly interesting nonetheless.)

- Phil

[This message has been edited by philnic (edited 03-29-2004).]