The Martian Chronicles is a collection of science fiction short stories that recount the colonization of Mars, told both from the perspective of refugee humans from Earth and from the viewpoint of native Martians. This series of vignettes depicts an Earth devastated by atomic weapons, the difficulties of early settlers to a new planet, and the strange powers of aliens. As one of the first science fiction books to gain mainstream success, The Martian Chronicles has been extremely influential on both the sci-fi genre and widespread perceptions of alien life.