Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, first published in 1938 in England. Anthem is taking place at some unspecified future date. Mankind has entered another dark age as a result of what Rand saw as the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur, if at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word "I" has disappeared from the language). As is common in her work, Rand draws a clear distinction between the "socialist/communal" values of equality and brotherhood and the "productive/capitalist" values of achievement and individuality. The story also parallels Stalinist Russia, which was currently going on at the time as the story was published. Rooted in her own experiences fleeing from the communist Russia of the 1920’s, as well as the rise of fascism in Italy and National Socialism in Germany, Rand wrote Anthem as a warning to all concerned with losing personal identity in an ever changing and rapidly developing world. Ayn Rand (1905-1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.

Anthem

The World That Couldn't Be is a science fiction short story by American author Clifford D. Simak. Layard was a curiosity to sociologists. The planet supported thriving tribes of natives but they were genderless. How could tribes form without families? But Gavin Duncan didn’t care. He had come to Layard to farm vua plants. Their berries cured mental illnesses and were one of the most expensive commodities in the galaxy. He was going to make his fortune if he could just keep the Cytha at bay, a big, dumb animal that could munch through 10 rows of vua in a night. Despite native superstitions he was going to have to hunt and kill the pest if he was to protect his crop. It was a dim-witted beast. How hard could it be? – The World That Couldn’t Be was first published in the January 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 30 min. Clifford Donald Simak (1904 -1988) was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo Awards and by colleagues with one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The World That Couldn't Be

Planet of the Damned is a Hugo nominated science fiction novel by Harry Harrison. Brion Brandd lives on the planet Anvhar which due to an elliptical orbit experiences a year with a long cold winter and a short hot summer to which the population have become adapted. To avoid social problems during the winter period Anvhar has initiated a planet wide series of mental and physical global competition to test achievements in 20 categories of human activities, called the Twenties. Once in a generation, a man is born with a heightened sense of empathy. Brion Brandd used this gift to win the Twenties, an annual physical and mental -- among the best and smartest people on Anvhar. But before he can enjoy his victory he's forced to leave his homeworld to help salvage Dis, the most hellish planet in the galaxy, where he must use his heightened sense of empathy to help avert a global nuclear holocaust by negotiating with the blockading fleet, traversing the Disan underworld, and cracking the mystery of the savagely ruthless magter. Planet of the Damned was Hugo nominated in 1962, originally published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction, as "Sense of Obligation." AUDIO: Reading by Phil Chenevert, running time: 6 hours, 27 min. Unabridged full version. E-book: ePUB, 56,000 words, reading time approximately 4 hours 40 min. Harry Max Harrison (1925-2012) was an American science fiction author. Harrison is known for his writing, particularly his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Bill, the Galactic Hero (which satirises Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers). Harrison is also known for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The novel was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973).

Planet of the Damned

His Master's Voice is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett first published in 1962. This is a follow up story to Randall Garrett's original story, A Spaceship Named McGyer. The intrepid protagonist, now that he has become the completely unintended and unwilling master of the robot spaceship McGyer, is called in by the owners, very reluctantly, to see if he can help their experts fix the problem. Since he is the only human McGyer will listen to they must have him there to get the ship to comply with any request at all. But there are rival corporations that wish the ship and the project, robot spaceships, to fail so he is indeed in great danger. But the real question of this story revolves around Asimov's three laws of robotics and the messy problems of how to define a human being. That can get very messy indeed. Enjoy another fascinating story by Randall Garrett. His Master’s Voice was first published in Analog March 1962. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 56 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

His Master’s Voice

A Spaceship Named McGuire is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett, first published in 1961. The basic trouble with McGuire was that, though "he" was a robot spaceship, nevertheless "he" had a definite weakness that a man might understand.... Can a spaceship go crazy? Well, yes it can if it has a brain. And the new MG (MagnetoGravitic drive) experimental robot space ship does indeed have a 'brain'. Completely bewildered as to why the first six models of their supposedly perfect new ship model, the MG-YR, nicknamed the McGuire, have gone totally bonkers after activation and before they could ever be used, the company has called in the services of Daniel Oak. They suspect sabotage of course. Daniel Oak is the hard boiled private investigator with nerves of steel and a mind of the same substance. He is extremely expensive to hire but gets results; and he knows his way around crime, space ships and especially women. What he finds out is surprising! Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 42 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

A Spaceship Named McGuire

Equation of Doom is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett, first published in 1957 under the pen-name Gerald Vance. They grounded Ramsey’s ship on a hostile planet hoping he would starve to death, so the first thing he did was give most of his money away and lose the rest gambling. Then he picked a fight with the Chief of Police and joined forces with a half-naked dream-chick who was seemingly bent on self-destruction. The stakes were big--a planet or two-but it all added up to an----Equation of Doom What starts out as a battle of wits between an Earthman on an alien world and that world's police force turns into a chase across hyperspace with a couple of sex-objects to the primal inhuman source of all human life in the universe. And a love story. As far as a story with a brave Earthman and evil aliens goes, this one is better than average. Good characters, and women who do more than simper. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 44 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

Equation of Doom

No Great Magic is a science fiction novella by Fritz Leiber published in 1963. Sequel to The Big Time (1958) featuring amnesiac, agoraphobic Greta who plays wardrobe mistress to a company of actors between bouts of dizziness. But the troupers play even more roles than at first appears. A deftly written story. They were a traveling group of Shakespearean players; perfectly harmless, right? wrong. For one thing, why did they have spacemen costumes in their wardrobes, next to caveman ones? Why was the girl in charge of backstage suffering from amnesia and agoraphobia? No Great Magic is needed to perform the plays they put on, but sometimes great science. No matter where, or when. No Great Magic was first published in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1953. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 53 min. Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. (1910-1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber can be regarded as one of the fathers of sword and sorcery fantasy, having in fact created the term. Moreover, he excelled in all fields of speculative fiction, writing award-winning work in fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

No Great Magic

The Happy Unfortunate is a science fiction novella by Robert Silverberg, first published in 1957. The story explores the angst caused when the human race reaches into space but at the cost of needing to breed a new species; specialized 'spacers' who can withstand the tremendous rigors of acceleration. Dekker, back from space, found great physical changes in the people of Earth; changes that would have horrified him five years before. But now, he wanted to be like the rest--even if he had to lose an eye and both ears to do it. Spacers had been bred for big bodies and thick bones. Those stuck on the Earth called them apes, and decorated their puny bodies with plastic surgery. They did't mix, and when they did, someone got hurt. The Happy Unfortunate was published first in Amazing Stories in 1957. Total Running Time (TRT): 51 min. Robert Silverberg (born 1935) is a prolific American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF.

The Happy Unfortunate

Mr. Spaceship is a science fiction novella by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953. Humanity is at war with "Yuks," an alien life form which does not use mechanical spaceships nor constructions. Instead, it relies on life forms. The war with the Yuks from Proxima Centauri was claimed to be a stalemate but they were really winning. The mine belts they laid seemed to propagate themselves and were slowly strangling Terran planets. How did they do that? What was their secret? The answer was baffling and the best human minds could only conclude that their ships and mines were somehow alive. So, the next desperate step was to ask "If they are using organic ships, why can't we do the same?". Thus Mr. Spaceship was conceived and carried out. But will a conscious warship do what the generals wish? Mr. Spaceship was first published in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy, January 1953. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 11 min. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

Mr. Spaceship

The Destroyers is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett first published in 1959. Any war is made up of a horde of personal tragedies--but the greater picture is the tragedy of the death of a way of life. For a way of life--good, bad, or indifferent--exists because it is dearly loved.... Xedii, an agrarian, feudal planet is attacked by a technologically advanced planet, which offers the inhabitants of Xedii "freedom"--a word the farmers of Xedii don't know and can't understand when it's explained to them. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 6 min. Reading by Phil Chenevert. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

The Destroyers

Anchorite is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett first published in 1959. There are two basic kinds of fools--the ones who know they are fools, and the kind that, because they do not know that, are utterly deadly menaces! Randall Garrett sticks a sharp needle into our government and society in this wonderful story. He projects the current trends towards paternalistic government into the future. Yes, we have attained a world government and everyone is equal whether they want to be or not; everyone is taken care of no matter how incompetent, stupid or sleazy they are and everyone is out to undermine everyone else. The author predicts (sadly only too well) what the trends of today will eventually produce if allowed to continue. But wait! There is hope in the asteroid belt where hard physical laws weed out jerks and incompetents and only those who possess common sense and the ability to actually survive are allowed to govern. But will the Earth government allow this to continue? Of course not. Listen to this great story to have a peek into the future. Total Running Time (TRT): 2 hours, 14 min. Reading by Phil Chenevert. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

Anchorite

Temple Trouble is a science fiction short story written by H. Beam Piper, originally published in 1951. Miracles to order was a fine way for the paratimers to get mining concessions--but Nature can sometimes pull counter-miracles. And so can men, for that matter.... Did you know that our little earth is not limited to the single time line on which we happen to live? There are actually thousands, no millions of parallel times, each existing alongside all the rest. Some extremely primitive, some very advanced, bot all unaware of the others. Of course this does not affect us at all, unless ... unless one of these time lines discovers the existence of the others and then a way to move easily back and forth from one to the other. Then a few problems might happen. Well, it has happened and the ParaPolice are kept busy sorting out things like what happened here ... Temple Trouble was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1951. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 20 min. Henry Beam Piper (1904-1964) was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales. Piper's stories fall into two camps: stark space opera, such as Space Viking, or stories of cultural conflict or misunderstanding, such as Little Fuzzy or the Paratime stories.

Temple Trouble

That Sweet Little Old Lady (Brain Twister) is a science fiction novel by Randal Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer under the pen-name of ”Mark Phillips”, first published in 1959. It was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1960 under the name Brain Twister. In the not too distant future, Ken Malone, young but promising FBI agent, is given the most important and difficult assignment of his career: find a spy who is stealing information from the Ultra Top Absolute Secret project to develop a non-rocket space ship at Yucca Flats Labs in Nevada. But this is not a normal spy, this spy laughs at the FBI and all attempts to find him or her because they use an unknown new method to steal the information directly from the minds of the scientists. And then of course, there is the Sweet Little Old Lady who is immortal and the stunning nurse and the Las Vegas gangsters and ... well, you had better listen to the story to find out the details. His first problem: how do you find a telepath to catch the first telepath? Brain Twister is the first part of their ”Psi-Power series”. The first story they wrote in the series was "That Sweet Little Old Lady," published in the Sept./Oct. 1959 edition of Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact and published in book-form as Brain Twister in 1962. Subsequent stories include The Impossibles (first published as Out Like a Light in Analog, April/May/June 1960), and Supermind (first published as Occasion for Disaster in Analog, November/December 1960 and January/February 1961. This series is one of the highlights of 1960s SF, and still highly recommended. Total Running Time (TRT): 4 hours, 23 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet. Laurence M. Janifer (1933-2002) was an American science fiction author, with a career spanning over 50 years. Though his first published work was a short story in Cosmos magazine in 1953, his career as a writer can be said to have started in 1959 when he began writing for Astounding and Galaxy Science Fiction. He co-wrote the first novel in the "Psi-Power" series: Brain Twister, written with Randall Garrett under the joint pseudonym Mark Phillips.

That Sweet Little Old Lady (Brain Twister)

The Judas Valley is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett and Robert Silverberg (under the pen-name “Gerald Vance”) first published in 1962. Fifty-nine men and one love interest land on a world that killed most of the first scout ship that landed. Why did everybody step off the ship in this strange valley and promptly drop dead? How could a well-equipped corps of tough spacemen become a field of rotting skeletons in this quiet world of peace and contentment? It was a mystery Peter and Sherri had to solve. If they could live long enough! Originally published in Amazing Stories October 1956. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 17 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet. Robert Silverberg (born 1935) is a prolific American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF.

The Judas Valley

Nor Iron Bars A Cage.... is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett first published in 1962. Iron bars do not confine a Man—only his body. There are more subtle, and more confining bindings, however.... Police methods of the future will naturally use complex new technology but police will still need to deal with the same old sad human nature, forever doing horrible deeds. The night stick may be replaced by the hypo-gun but is prison the only solution? First published in Analog Science Fact & Fiction May 1962. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 43 min. Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

Nor Iron Bars A Cage....

Project Mastodon is a science fiction short story by Clifford D. Simak, first published in March 1955 in the Galaxy magazine. Clifford Simak deals with the implications of time travel in his own unique way in this story. What if a group of guys did it on their own, without any help from government or industry? On a shoestring,so to speak? Would anyone believe them? What would you do if you could go back 150,000 years to a time when mastodons and saber toothed tigers roamed North America? And what happens when they run out of money? All these questions are explored in the usual humorous, wry Simak way in this story. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 10 min. Clifford Donald Simak (1904 -1988) was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo Awards and by colleagues with one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Project Mastodon

The Misplaced Battleship is a science fiction short story by Harry Harrison first published in 1960. The world class con man and thief known as the Stainless Steel Rat (diGriz) has another very big problem to solve. In this science fiction novella by the great Harry Harrison will see if he can solve it and perhaps four or five more like it before this fascinating and funny tale is finished. 'Use a thief to catch a thief' sounds great but it sometimes has unexpected results. "It might seem a little careless to lose track of something as big as a battleship ... but interstellar space is on a different scale of magnitude. But a misplaced battleship—in the wrong hands!—can be most dangerous." The Misplaced Battleship first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction April 1960. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hours, 11 min. Harry Max Harrison (1925-2012) was an American science fiction author. Harrison is known for his writing, particularly his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Bill, the Galactic Hero (which satirises Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers). Harrison is also known for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The novel was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973).

The Misplaced Battleship

The K-Factor is a science fiction short story by Harry Harrison, first published in 1960. The human race has reached the stars, colonized many planets and done amazing things in all areas of scientific progress. But humans are still humans and remain both honorable and not so honorable; some with high ideals and others with very low ones indeed. So why hasn't war occurred in several centuries among the hundreds of planets? Has man really changed? Not on your life it hasn't! Science has given man peace but at what cost? “Speed never hurt anybody--it's the sudden stop at the end. It's not how much change that signals danger, but how fast it's changing.... “ The K-Factor first appeared in Analog December 1960. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 2 min. Harry Max Harrison (1925-2012) was an American science fiction author. Harrison is known for his writing, particularly his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Bill, the Galactic Hero (which satirises Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers). Harrison is also known for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The novel was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973).

The K-Factor

When Ms. Stoner comes to Sherlock Holmes with a strange story that a mysterious whistle caused her sisters death, Holmes is ready to take on the case. After examining the clues, Watson is sure the gypsies are to blame. Can Holmes prove there is a more sinister plot in play? Follow the clues with Sherlock Holmes in the adventure of the speckled band!

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen (Danish: Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. The tale was first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The original story has been a subject of multiple analyses by scholars such as Jacob Bøggild and Pernille Heegaard as well as the folklorist Maria Tatar. These analyses cover various aspects of the story from interpreting the themes to discussing why Andersen chose to write a tragic story with a happy ending. It has been adapted to various media, including musical theatre, anime, ballet, opera, and film. There is also a statue portraying the mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the story was written and first published. Plot summary The Little Mermaid lives in an underwater kingdom with her widowed father (Mer-King), her dowager grandmother, and her five older sisters, each of whom had been born one year apart. When a mermaid turns fifteen, she is permitted to swim to the surface for the first time to catch a glimpse of the world above, and when the sisters become old enough, each of them visits the upper world one at a time every 365 days. As each returns, the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their various descriptions of the world inhabited by human beings. When the Little Mermaid's turn comes, she rises up to the surface, watches a birthday celebration being held on a ship in honor of a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a safe distance. Then a violent storm hits, sinking the ship, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here, the Little Mermaid waits until a young woman from the temple and her ladies in waiting find him. To her dismay, the prince never sees the Little Mermaid or even realizes that it was she who had originally saved his life.

The Little Mermaid

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton by Arthur Conan Doyle Audiobook is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally published in Collier's in the United States on 26 March 1904, and in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in April 1904. It is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905). Plot: Holmes is hired by the débutante Lady Eva Blackwell to retrieve compromising letters from a blackmailer: Milverton, who causes Holmes more revulsion than any of the 50-odd murderers in his career. Milverton is "the king of blackmailers". He demands £7,000 (equivalent to £838,304 in 2021) for the letters, which if given to third parties would cause a scandal that would end Lady Eva's marriage engagement. Holmes offers £2,000, all Lady Eva can pay, but Milverton insists on £7,000. It is worth £7,000 to him, he explains, to make an example of Lady Eva; it is in his long-term interest to ensure that his future blackmail victims would be more "open to reason" and pay him what he wants, knowing he will destroy them if they do not. Holmes resolves to recover the letters by whatever means necessary, as Milverton has placed himself outside the bounds of morality. Holmes visits Milverton's Hampstead house, disguised as a plumber, in order to learn the plan of the house and Milverton's daily routine. He cultivates the acquaintance of Milverton's housemaid and even becomes engaged to marry her. This rather shocks Watson, but Holmes assures him that he has a hated rival who will step in when the plumber disappears. Holmes has learned where Milverton keeps his blackmail papers (a safe in his study), and plans to burgle Milverton's house that night. Watson comes along. They break into the study, but just as Holmes opens the safe, Milverton enters the study, even though he should be in bed asleep. Holmes and Watson hide behind a curtain, while Milverton has a midnight meeting with a supposed maidservant offering to sell letters that would compromise her mistress. Milverton's death, 1904 illustration by Sidney Paget The woman is actually one of Milverton's former victims, whose broken-hearted husband died when she wouldn't pay Milverton and he revealed her secret. Now she avenges her husband by shooting Milverton to death, then stamps on his face.

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches by Arthur Conan Doyle Audiobook one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the last of the twelve collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in June 1892. Plot summary: Violet Hunter visits Holmes, asking whether she should accept a job as governess—a job with extraordinary conditions. She is enticed by the phenomenal salary which, as originally offered, is £100 a year, later increased to £120 when Miss Hunter balks at having to cut her long copper-coloured hair short (her previous position paid £48 a year). This is only one of many peculiar provisos to which she must agree. The employer, Jephro Rucastle, seems pleasant enough, yet Miss Hunter obviously has her suspicions. She announces to Holmes, after the raised salary offer, that she will take the job, and Holmes suggests that if he is needed, a telegram will bring him to Hampshire, where Mr. Rucastle's country estate, the Copper Beeches, is situated. After a fortnight, Holmes receives such a message, beseeching him to come and see her in Winchester. Miss Hunter tells them one of the most singular stories that they have ever heard. Mr. Rucastle would sometimes have Miss Hunter wear a particular electric blue dress and sit in the front room reading, with her back to the front window. She began to suspect that she was not supposed to see something outside the window, and a small mirror shard hidden in her handkerchief showed her that she was right: a man was standing there on the road looking towards the house. At another such session, Mr. Rucastle told a series of funny stories that made Miss Hunter laugh until she was quite weary. The one astonishing thing about this was that Mrs. Rucastle not only did not laugh but did not even smile. There were other unsavoury things about the household. The six-year-old child that she was supposed to look after was astonishingly cruel to small animals. The servants, Mr. and Mrs. Toller, were quite a sour pair. A great mastiff was kept on the property and always kept hungry. It was let out to prowl the grounds at night, and Miss Hunter was warned not to cross the threshold after dark. Also, Mr. Toller, who was quite often drunk, was the only one who had control over the dog.

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed 1892 in London. The play was first published in 1893. Like many of Wilde's comedies, it bitingly satirizes the morals of Victorian society, particularly marriage and attitudes between the sexes. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband, but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs. Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. Or does she? Is it really possible to trust delicious gossip? Are all men really bad? These and many other questions are raised and if not answered, then held up for public scrutiny in this biting satire of morals and proper behavior. The best-known line of the play sums up the central theme: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. —Lord Darlington Audiobook (solo recording of the play, meaning that all parts including stage directions are performed by one person), read by Phil Chenevert, running time 2 hours, 28 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as E-Book, ePUB, length 20,100 words, average reading time 1 hour, 40 min.

Lady Windermere's Fan

The Complete Works of James Allen includes the 17 full-length inspirational books of James Allen. James Allen (28 November 1864 - 24 January 1912) was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been mass-produced since its publication in 1903. It has been a source of inspiration to motivational and self-help authors. Included in this collection: 1. The Path to Prosperity (1901) 2. The Way of Peace (1901) 3. All These Things Added (1903) 4. As a Man Thinketh (1903) 5. Byways of Blessedness (1904) 6. Out from the Heart (1904) 7. The Life Triumphant - Mastering the Heart and Mind (1908) 8. Morning and Evening Thoughts (1909) 9. The Mastery of Destiny (1909) 10. Above Lif's Turmoil (1910) 11. From Passion to Peace (1910) 12. Eight Pillars of Prosperity (1911) 13. Man - King of Mind, Body and Circumstance (1911) 14. Light on Life's Difficulties (1912) 15. Foundation Stones to Happiness and Success (1913) 16. The Shining Gateway (1915) 17. The Divine Companion (1919)

The Complete Works of James Allen

The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法; lit. 'Sun Tzu's Military Method') is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills (or "art") related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years it was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both Far Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, lifestyles and beyond. The book contains a detailed explanation and analysis of the 5th-century BC Chinese military, from weapons and strategy to rank and discipline. Sun also stressed the importance of intelligence operatives and espionage to the war effort. Considered one of history's finest military tacticians and analysts, his teachings and strategies formed the basis of advanced military training for millennia to come. The book was translated into French and published in 1772 (re-published in 1782) by the French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot. A partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905 under the title The Book of War. The first annotated English translation was completed and published by Lionel Giles in 1910. Military and political leaders such as the Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, Japanese daimyō Takeda Shingen, Vietnamese general Võ Nguyên Giáp, and American military general Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. are all cited as having drawn inspiration from the book.

The Art of War

The Last Letter is a science fiction short story by Fritz Leiber published in 1958. It was a day like any other, except for that one letter in the mail - a hand written letter that paralyzed the postal service. “Who or what was the scoundrel that kept these couriers from the swift completion of their handsomely appointed rondos?” The Last Letter was first published in Galaxy Science Fiction June 1958. Total Running Time (TRT): 30 min. Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. (1910-1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber can be regarded as one of the fathers of sword and sorcery fantasy, having in fact created the term. Moreover, he excelled in all fields of speculative fiction, writing award-winning work in fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

The Last Letter

"True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid..." Dorothy is in a bit of a pickle. Her house has been swept away in a vicious tornado with just herself and her dog inside, and when she walks out the front door again, she finds that she is not in Kansas anymore. She is in the mysterious lands of Oz. Along with her new friends, a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion, she sets out to find the Wizard, who is said to know how to get her home. But the Wicked Witch of the West has other plans for her. Inspired in part by 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', `The Wonderful Wizard of Oz‘ (1900) is one of the most beloved children‘s books of all time. It is highly associated with the iconic 1939 movie adaptation staring Judy Garland in which she sings the Oscar-winning song "Over the Rainbow". L. Frank Baum (1956-1919) was an American author, actor, and filmmaker best known for his children‘s books, particularly `The Wonderful Wizard of Oz‘ (1900) and its thirteen sequels. He started writing young and created a journal with his brother, which they handed out for free.

The Original OZ series

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

This collection of 35 short poems was first published in 1927, and is a sequel to When We Were Very Young, which was the first anthology of verse dealing with the domestic adventures of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. As the author explains in the introduction: “We have been nearly three years writing this book. We began it when we were very young … and now we are six. So, of course, bits of it seem rather baby-ish to us, almost as if they had slipped out of some other book by mistake. So we want you to know that the name of the book doesn’t mean that this is us being six all the time, but that it is about as far as we’ve got at present, and we half think of stopping there.”

Now We Are Six

The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping — rapping at my chamber door. "Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door — Only this and nothing more."". Those sonorous and somber words of Edgar Allan Poe that begin The Raven are part of most everyone's fond educational memories. Beautiful and haunting to hear and even more fun to read aloud. In this recording I have just attempted to express my enjoyment of the beauty in some favorite Poe poems. Beside The Raven, there are Alone; A Dream Within A Dream; Annabel Lee; City In the Sea; The Bells; A Dream Within a Dream; Annabel Lee; Dreamland; Evening Star; Lenore; Eldorado; A Valentine and "The Happiest Day". Hopefully listeners will enjoy hearing them half as much as I enjoyed the selfish pleasure of recording them. Audiobook Summary: 01 - The Raven 02 - Alone 03 - The City in the Sea 04 - The Bells 05 - A Dream Within A Dream 06 - Annabel Lee 07 - Dreamland 08 - Evening Star 09 - Lenore 10 - Eldorado 11 - A Valentine 12 - The Happiest Day

The Raven and Other Poems

The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection includes the 14 original Oz stories written by L. Frank Baum. The Oz books form a book series that begins with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and relate the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books. Even while he was alive, Baum was styled as the Royal Historian of Oz to emphasize the concept that Oz is an actual place. The illusion created was that characters such as Dorothy and Princess Ozma related their adventures in Oz to Baum themselves, by means of wireless telegraph. Included in this collection: 1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) 2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) 3. Ozma of Oz (1907) 4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) 5. The Road to Oz (1909) 6. The Emerald City of Oz (1910) 7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913) 8. Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) 9. The Scarecrow of Oz (1915) 10. Rinkitink in Oz (1916) 11. The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) 12. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918) 13. The Magic of Oz (1919) 14. Glinda of Oz (1920)

The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection

This is the handwritten book that Carroll wrote for private use before being urged to develop it later into Alice in Wonderland. It was generously illustrated by Carrol and meant to entertain his family and friends. When a sick child in a hospital enjoyed it so much, the mother wrote him saying it had distracted her for a bit from her pain and led eventually to Carroll expanding the story.       I. Down the Rabbit-Hole. The Pool of Tears,   II. A Long Tale. The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill,   III. Advice From a Caterpillar,   IV. The Queen's Croquet-Ground.

Alice's Adventures Underground

As the title indicates, here are three science fiction stories by Frank Herbert: Missing Link, originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, 1959; Operation Haystack, also published in Astounding Science Fiction 1959; and Old Rambling House, published in Galaxy Science Fiction 1958.

3 Science Fiction Stories

The Complete Alice in Wonderland Collection includes the four original stories about Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a young girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course, structure, characters, and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. Included in this collection: 1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) 2. Through the Looking-Glass (1871) 3. The Hunting of the Snark (1876) 4. Alice's Adventures Under Ground (1886)

The Complete Alice in Wonderland Collection

Second Variety is a science fiction novella by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953. "The claws were bad enough in the first place—nasty, crawling little death-robots. But when they began to imitate their creators, it was time for the human race to make peace—if it could!" When future war becomes so horrific that humans turn to machines and computers to design ways to kill each other strange things may happen. And DO in this classic Philip K. Dick story! Early victories by the USSR in a global nuclear war cause the United Nations government to retreat to the moon leaving behind troops and fierce autonomous robots called “Claws”, which reproduce and redesign themselves in unmanned subterranean factories. After six bloody years of conflict the Soviets call for an urgent conference and UN Major Joseph Hendricks sets out to meet them. Along the way he will discover what the Claws have been up to, and it isn’t good… Second Variety was first published in the May 1953 edition of Space Science Fiction Magazine. Total Running Time (TRT): 1 hour, 54 min. Reading by Phil Chenevert. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

Second Variety

"The Homely Heroine" is a short story by American author Edna Ferber. It features a writer whose heroines are generally extremely beautiful. But one day, whilst she is out shopping, a shop-keeper asks her why she doesn’t write stories about a homelier heroine. "The Homely Heroine" is followed by "A Bush League Hero," "What she Wore," and "The Man Who Came Back." Edna Ferber (1885-1968) was an American author. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and of Jewish descent, she suffered a lot from antisemitism, especially as a child, and was riddled with fear as she witness the Nazi Party party rise in Germany and gain followers across the Western world. Ferber won the Pulitzer Prize twice, in 1924 with her novel "So Big" and in 1926 with "Show Boat". Furthermore, her novels "Cimarron" (1930), "Giant" (1952), "Ice Palace" (1958) were each adapted to film. Her novels are remembered and celebrated for their strong female characters and their unique rendering of their American setting.

World Classics

The Homely Heroine

"The Willows" is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction.

The Willows

Common Sense is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776 at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it remains the all-time best-selling American title and is still in print today. Common Sense made public a persuasive and impassioned case for independence, which had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration. Paine connected independence with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to present a distinctly American political identity and structured Common Sense as if it were a sermon. Historian Gordon S. Wood described Common Sense as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era."

Common Sense

The Night of the Long Knives is a science fiction novel by Fritz Leiber published in 1960. "I was one hundred miles from Nowhere—and I mean that literally—when I spotted this girl out of the corner of my eye. I'd been keeping an extra lookout because I still expected the other undead bugger left over from the murder party at Nowhere to be stalking me." In a Post apocalyptic world, the few people left must be strong. And must not hesitate to kill. Of course, killing another Deathlander was one of the chief pleasures and urges of all the solitary wanders in this vast wasteland. Kill and kill again. But this other was a girl and that brought up the second great urge: sex. Which was it to be today? Perhaps both? And who would walk away afterward? The Night of the Long Knives was first published in Amazing Science Fiction Stories, January 1960. Total Running Time (TRT): 3 hours, 19 min. Reading by Phil Chenevert. Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. (1910-1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber can be regarded as one of the fathers of sword and sorcery fantasy, having in fact created the term. Moreover, he excelled in all fields of speculative fiction, writing award-winning work in fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

The Night of the Long Knives

The Skull is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1952. Conger agreed to kill a stranger he had never seen. He wasn't concerned about getting the wrong man. He knew what the man looked like. There was no way he could make a mistake about his target's identity -- he had the man's skull under his shoulder. The Skull is a skilful mesh of time travel, unscrupulous governments, prisoners, and religion. With an assassin thrown in for good measure. The Skull was first published in If Worlds of Science Fiction September 1952. Total Running Time (TRT): 52 min. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

The Skull

The Crystal Crypt is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1954. In the Crystal Crypt, taken from the 1954 Planet Stories, the war between Mars and Terra is about to erupt and earth has only merchants and salesmen to fight; can they carry out their mission? Stark terror ruled the Inner-Flight ship on that last Mars-Terra run. For the black-clad Leiters were on the prowl ... and the grim red planet was not far behind. The Crystal Crypt was first published in Planet Stories January 1954. Total Running Time (TRT): 48 min. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

The Crystal Crypt

The Defenders is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953. The terrible destruction of total nuclear war between the Western and Eastern Blocks has succeeded in sterilizing the surface of the earth. No living creature can now exist there and all humans on both sides have fled to the hives, built miles below the surface, where they constantly work to produce the war materials necessary to carry on the battle. For 8 years now, the actual fighting between these super powers has been conducted by robots known as Ledeys since only they can sustain the terrible levels of radiation caused by the constant bombardment. They are the Defenders, standing between the combatant’s far below and ultimate victory or defeat. Life is hard in the tunnels, but liveable, while it is lethal on the surface. The Ledeys keep the generals informed on everything through vids and pictures; but how can this continue? What will happen? Who will win? The Defenders was first published in Galaxy Science Fiction January 1953. Total Running Time (TRT): 58 min. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

The Defenders

The Vortex Blaster is a science fiction novella by American author E. E. ”Doc” Smith. It was first published in 1930. The novella is part of E.E. "Doc" Smith's classic Lensman series. Uncontrolled, terribly violent Atomic Vortices are slowly destroying civilization on every human planet throughout the galaxy. Nothing can contain or stop them despite the lensmen's best efforts until one destroys the home and family of "Storm" Cloud, the brilliant atomic physicist. The tragedy triggers actions on his part that pit him one-on-one against the horrible vortices. Introducing "Storm" Cloud as The Vortex Blaster. Total Running Time (TRT): 55 min. Edward Elmer Smith (also E. E. Smith or E. E. "Doc" Smith; 1890-1965) was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and an early science-fiction author, best known for the Lensman and Skylark series. Smith's novels are generally considered to be classic space operas, and he is sometimes called the first of the three "novas" of 20th-century science fiction (with Stanley G. Weinbaum and Robert A. Heinlein as the second and third novas).

The Vortex Blaster

Watchbird is a science fiction novella by Robert Sheckley, first published in 1953. Strange how often the Millennium has been at hand. The idea is peace on Earth, see, and the way to do it is by figuring out angles. Watchbird was first published in Galaxy Science Fiction February 1953. Total Running Time (TRT): 51 min. Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical. Sheckley was nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards and was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.

Watchbird

Tony and the Beetles is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953. Tony and the Beetles takes place far in the future when Earth's enormous colonial empire is well established but the question is, how long can it last? Tony Rossi lives with his father Joseph Rossi and mother Leah Rossi in the Sun of Betelguese. Meanwhile at Orion, the earthlings are waging a fierce battle for power with the beetle fleet. When the tide of hostilities turn against the colonisers from earth, Toni's world begins taking a turn for the worse. Tony and the Beetles was first published in Orbit volume 1 number 2, 1953. Total Running Time (TRT): 34 min. Philip Kendrick Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction author. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Dick one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

Tony and the Beetles

The Citadel of Lost Ships is a science fiction novella by Leigh Brackett. This is pure space opera from the undisputed “Queen of Space Opera.” It was a Gypsy world, built of space flotsam and shipwrecks, peopled with the few free races of the Solar System. Roy Campbell, outcast prey of the Coalition, entered its depths to seek haven for the Kraylens of Venus – only to find that it had become a slave trap from which there was no escape. The Kraylens are a dying tribe, a scrap of old Venus, but Campbell is determined to help those that had helped him! "Roy Campbell woke painfully. His body made a blind, instinctive lunge for the control panel, and it was only when his hands struck the smooth, hard mud of the wall that he realized he wasn't in his ship any longer, and that the Guard wasn't chasing him, their guns hammering death.” The Citadel of Lost Ships was first published in Planet Stories magazine in 1943. In 1944 the novella was a finalist to Best Retro Novelette Hugo Award. Reading by Phil Chenevert, total running time (TRT): 1hour, 36 min. Also available as e-book (ePUB). Leigh Douglass Brackett (1915-1978) was an American author, particularly of science fiction, and has been referred to as the Queen of Space Opera. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on such films as The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959) and The Long Goodbye (1973). She was the first woman shortlisted for the Hugo Award.

The Citadel of Lost Ships

Six stores of OZ and it's wonderful inhabitants, told by the official Historian of Oz, L. Frank Baum. Lots of adventure here!! Dorothy and her little dog Toto get into lots of trouble; Ozma is tripped and falls into the water, the Tin Woodman falls overboard and rusts, Jack Pumpkinhead loses his head in a fight with some feisty squirrels, and oh, so many more exciting and fun things happen. The fairy country of OZ is never a dull place.

Little Wizard Stories of Oz

Nyarlathotep by H. P. Lovecraft Audiobook is a prose poem by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in 1920 and first saw publication in that year's November issue of The United Amateur. The poem itself is a bleak view of human civilization in decline, and it explores the mixed sensations of desperation and defiance in a dying society. Plot: The story is written in first person and begins by describing a strange and inexplicable sense of foreboding experienced by humanity in general, in anticipation of a great unknown evil. The story proceeds to describe the appearance in Egypt of Nyarlathotep, "of the old native blood" and resembling a Pharaoh, who claims to have "risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries," and to be receiving messages from other worlds. Coming to the West, he appears to have a profound command of the sciences, constructs marvelous and unfathomable devices, and gains great fame as he travels from city to city demonstrating his inventions and powers. Wherever Nyarlathotep goes, the inhabitants' sleep is plagued by vivid nightmares. The story describes Nyarlathotep's arrival in the narrator's city, and the narrator's attendance at one of Nyarlathotep's demonstrations, in which he defiantly dismisses Nyarlathotep's displays of power as mere tricks. The party of observers is driven out of the hall by Nyarlathotep, and hysterically insists to one another that they are not afraid, and that the city around them is unchanged and alive, even as the electric street lights begin to fail. Everyone falls into a trancelike state and wanders off, dividing into at least three columnal groups: the first of these disappears around a corner, from which there is then heard an echoing moan; another descends into a subway station with the sound of mad laughter; the third group, which contains the narrator, travels outward from the city toward the country. The narrator's party marches through unseasonable snows into a dark rift, with the narrator the last to enter. The story ends by describing a series of horrific, surreal vistas experienced by the narrator, in which chaos and insanity pervade an ancient, dying universe ruled by mindless, inhuman gods, whose messenger and "soul" is Nyarlathotep.

Nyarlathotep

Mowgli: is a collection of all 9 wonderful and exciting tales about Mowgli from the first and second Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling. In the Jungle Books, Kipling tells about Mowgli, the human baby raised by a pack of wolves in the jungles of India. His exploits and adventures are many and varied especially his dealing with the other animals such as his wolf mother and father and brother wolves, Baloo the wise bear who teaches him the Law of the Jungle, and in his life long battle with Shere-Kahn, the lame human killing tiger. The stories are put into a chronological order from when Mowgli was a baby in the wolf den (Mowgli's Brothers) to his teen age years when he hears the irresistable call of civilization and being with his own kind (Spring Running). Stories included are: Mowgli's Brothers, Kaa's Hunting, Tiger, Tiger, Mowgli's Song, How Fear Came, Let In the Jungle, Red Dog, Kaa's Ankus, Spring Running and finally ends with The Outsong. Audiobook read by Phil Chenevert, running time: 7 hours, 26 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as E-Book: ePUB, 63,600 words, average reading time 5 hours, 20 min. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling is regarded as a major "innovator in the art of the short story"; his children's books are enduring classics of children's literature; and his best works are said to exhibit "a versatile and luminous narrative gift". In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and to date he remains its youngest recipient.

Mowgli

These are three imaginative science fiction stories by an author I admire a lot, William Tenn. Venus is a Man's World, (Galaxy Science Fiction, July 1951), Project Hush (Galaxy Science Fiction, 1954) and Of All Possible Worlds (Galaxy, Sept 1956).

The Fisherman and His Soul is a fairy tale first published in Wilde’s A House of Pomegranates. It tells of a fisherman who nets and falls in love with a mermaid. To get what we want is often the greatest curse of all. The fisherman here accidentally catches a mermaid in his net. He falls in love with the Mermaid and tells her that he wants to marry her. She tells him that he can only marry her if he sends away his soul. From a Witch, the Fisherman learns how to send his soul away. The Soul makes several attempts to persuade the Fisherman to take him back, eventually convincing him to do so with the tale of a beautiful dancer who lives nearby. Too late does the Fisherman discover that the soul which he sent out into the world without a heart has become evil. So be careful what you set your heart on. The Fisherman and His Soul was first published in 1891 in A House of Pomegranates. Audiobook read by Phil Chenevert, running time 1 hour, 42 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as E-Book, ePUB, length 14,100 words, average reading time 1 hour, 15 min.

The Fisherman and His Soul

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