Back

English Audio Books

Show only books with text

Popular Genres
The most popular500
Children400
Fiction750
Fantasy350
Horror/Ghost stories700
SPONSORED LINKS

Learn English
Dictionary 180,000

Children's Fiction
Fiction364
Action & Adventure315
Animals & Nature275
Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales222
Family117
General102
Historical43
Poetry48
Religion37
School33
Short works52
Children's Non-Fiction
Non-fiction76
Reference5
Religion19
Science21
History14
Biography23

Plays
General113
Comedy76
Satire26
Tragedy & Drama101
Romance10

Short Stories - Fiction
Short Stories260
Anthologies37
Single Author Collections142

Fiction by year
Published before 180020
Published 1800-1900207
Published 1900 onward207

Poetry
General483
Anthologies44
Single author156
Ballads & Epics43
Narratives13
Multi-version601

Science - Non Fiction
Science67
Astronomy, Physics & Mechanics25
Chemistry8
Earth Sciences22
Life Sciences40

Philosophy - Non Fiction
Philosophy92
Ancient & Medieval30
Early Modern32
Modern & Contemporary43
Atheism & Agnosticism19

History - Non Fiction
History256
Antiquity37
Middle Ages/Middle History36
Early Modern82
Modern (19th C)127
Modern (20th C)49

Religion - Non Fiction
Religion63
Christianity - Commentary19
Christianity - Biographies26
Christianity - Other86
Other religions29
Bibles
Bibles69
King James Version63

Literary Collections - Non Fiction
Literary Collections34
Essays / Short non-fiction20
Letters27

Science Fiction
SPONSORED LINKS
Previous Next
Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft

A student discovers the secret of animating lifeless matter and, by assembling body parts, creates the monster Frankenstein. Rejected by society, Frankenstein vows revenge on his creator.

(Summary written by Gesine)
Note: Project originally cataloged October 20, 2005. Audio files were volume adjusted and re-uploaded May 3, 2010.
Time Machine (Version 3)

H. G. Wells
H.G. Wells' classic science fiction-fantasy story, in which a scientist known only as “The Time Traveller” tells the tale of his journey to the year 802,701 A.D. and beyond, where he witnesses the end of human civilization as we know it, as well as the beginning of the end of the world. This original time-travel story has been copied many times, but never improved upon.
War of the Worlds, The

Wells, H. G.
H. G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds in 1898, when there was much speculation about life on the planet Mars. The book is considered to be one of the first science fiction novels. In the story, an English gentleman narrates the events of a violent and fast paced Martian invasion.
The frightening images of people fleeing from gigantic tripod machines and the prospect of life under Martian rule have served as a bottomless well of inspiration for popular culture. The novel has served as a template for many derivative or inspired works, including comics, countless books, a tv series, several films, a bestselling musical, and the famous Orson Wells broadcast. Overall, The War of the Worlds has become an early milestone in and inspiration for the invasion genre.
The novel demonstrates Wells' typical pessimistic outlook on human nature and offers a good deal of critisism on society and people's ignorance and vanity. The War of the Worlds can be read as an indictment of European colonial actions around the globe at that time - with which the injustice of the Martian invasion can be compared. Wells has since been credited with predicting quite a number of technologies, such as laser-like rays, industrial robot-like machines, and chemical-warfare.
War of the Worlds, The (version 2)

Wells, H. G.
War of the Worlds by Herbert George Wells (H.G. Wells) was published in 1898 at a time when he wrote a series of novels related to a number of historical events of the time. The most important of these was the unification and militarization of Germany. The story, written in a semi-documentary style, is told in the first person by an unnamed observer. It tells of the events which happen mostly in London and the county of Surrey, England, when a number of vessels manned by aliens are fired from Mars and land on Earth.
War of the Worlds (Version 4)

H. G. Wells
The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialized in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was in 1898 from publisher William Heinemann of London. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is the first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction canon.
Eyes Have It, The and Tony and the Beatles

Dick, Philip K.
Aliens have invaded the earth! Horrible one celled creatures disguised as normal human beings ! Well, at least that is what it seems to the author. Yes, The Eyes Have It is a whimsical story, making gentle fun of certain writing styles, but only a topflight science-fictionist like Philip Dick , we thought, could have written this story, in just this way. 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? 10 year old Tony grows up fast when history catches up with the human race. A sobering look at human history .. and our probable future. Two very different stories but both entertaining.
Anthem

Rand, Ayn
Anthem is a dystopic science fiction story 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.
SPONSORED LINKS
2 B R 0 2 B

Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a prolific and genre-bending American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. 2 B R 0 2 B is a satiric short story that imagines life (and death) in a future world where aging has been "cured" and population control is mandated and administered by the government.
2 B R 0 2 B (version 2) and The big Trip Yonder (version 5)

Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.
These two stories by Kurt Vonnegut were written over a decade apart but they are definitely connected. The Big Trip Up Yonder, published in Galaxy Science Fiction January 1954 is a comical yet scary description of what over population was going to do to society after aging was conquered and a simple daily dose of "anti-gerosone" would keep you forever the same age. Would Gramps EVER take 'That Big Trip Up Yonder', or would his hordes of descendants be stuck with him forever in a tiny apartment!? 2 B R 0 2 B, published in Worlds of If, January 1962 takes this basic situation many years into the future and a solution has been found. The population of the US has dropped from 80 billion to 40 million. Not what everyone would call a pretty solution, or the best solution, but nevertheless a solution to the population problem. I believe this is the type of story it is best to listen to, not describe, so enjoy.
Invisible Man, The (Version 2)

Wells, H. G.
Terrifically popular science fiction novel by renowned writer HG Wells, about a scientist discovering how to achieve invisibility. But, in his case, being out of sight evidently does NOT mean out of mind.
Invisible Man, The

Wells, H. G.
The Invisible Man is one of the most famous science fiction novels of all time. Written by H.G. Wells (1866-1946), it tells the story of a scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility and uses it on himself. The story begins as the Invisible Man, with a bandaged face and a heavy coat and gloves, takes a train to lodge in a country inn whilst he tries to discover the antidote and make himself visible again. The book inspired several films and is notable for its vivid descriptions of the invisible man--no mean feat, given that you can't see him!
Princess of Mars, A (solo)

Burroughs, Edgar Rice
John Carter, an American Civil War veteran, goes prospecting in Arizona and, when set upon by Indians, is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength on this planet, due to its lesser gravity. Carter soon falls in among the Tharks, a nomadic tribe of the planet's warlike, four-armed, green inhabitants. Thanks to his strength and combat abilities he rises in position in the tribe and earns the respect eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas one of the Thark chiefs.
The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city states and control the desert planet's canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues her from the green men to return her to her people.
Princess of Mars (Version 4)

Edgar Rice Burroughs
A Confederate soldier travels to Mars and is embroiled in its politics and wars, becoming a great swordsman and hero.
Island of Dr. Moreau, The

Wells, H. G.
The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells, addressing ideas of society and community, human nature and identity, religion, Darwinism, and eugenics.
When the novel was written in the late 19th century, England's scientific community was engulfed by debates on animal vivisection. Interest groups were even formed to tackle the issue: the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years after the publication of the novel.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Ver. 2

Verne, Jules
Professor Pierre Aronnax is an academic whose thirst for knowledge carries him out of his ivory tower and on the trail of a mysterious sea beast. His curiosity at last is satiated when he finds himself in the belly of the beast-- that is, on board the incredible submarine the Nautilus, courtesy of its mysterious pilot Captain Nemo and in the company of his servant Conseil and sailor Ned Land.
Lucian's True History

Lucian of Samosata
One of the earliest works of science-fiction (nearly 2,000 years old). It has space travel (including war in space), lunar civilization, and aliens, along with more fantasy elements, such as the afterlife and Greek gods. A satire on contemporary tall tales.
Mysterious Island, The

Verne, Jules
A story of castaways, similar to Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, this book details the escape from Civil War-era Richmond, Virginia, of five Northern men who dared to go aloft in a balloon in the midst of a hurricane. Deposited on a lonely island in the Pacific, they make do with Yankee ingenuity where Chance has left them nothing. Only later do they find they have a hidden benefactor: Captain Nemo, of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, who resides, alone, secretly on the island. In time, the tiny colony becomes so prosperous that it is able to rescue another castaway from an island a hundred miles away. But all their work will come to naught - their island's volcano is about to awake!
Second Variety

Dick, Philip K.
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.
Second Variety-1

Dick, Philip K.
First published in Space Science Fiction May 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!
Gods of Mars, The

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

The Gods of Mars is a 1918 Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the second of his famous Barsoom series.It can be said that the novel set the tone for much science fiction to come. Its influence can clearly be seen in franchises such as Star Trek and Farscape. While Burroughs no doubt borrowed liberally from the pulp fiction of his day, particularly westerns and swashbuckling tales, the pacing and themes set the tone for the soft science fiction genre.
The protagonist, John Carter, with his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and flirtations with beautiful alien women, could be said to have set the mold for later influential icons like Captain James T. Kirk and James Bond.
At the end of the first book, A Princess of Mars, John Carter is unwillingly transported back to Earth. The Gods of Mars begins with his arrival back on Barsoom (Mars) after a ten year hiatus, separated from his wife Dejah Thoris, his unborn child, and the Red Martian people of the nation of Helium, whom he has adopted as his own. Unfortunately, John Carter materializes in the one place on Barsoom from which nobody is allowed to depart: the Valley Dor, which is the Barsoomian heaven.
House on the Borderland (Version 2)

William Hope Hodgson
This story helped propel 19th Century gothic fiction in the direction of “cosmic” horror. In fact, H.P. Lovecraft lists it as among his greatest influences. It begins simply enough: with two friends stumbling upon a ruined and curious house while vacationing in a remote village. After reading the tattered journal of the old recluse who lived there, they are shocked to discover an interdimensional, reality-bending nightmare full of nearly-indescribable horrors that range from demons, to bestial (somewhat Lovecraftian) monsters, and devastating parasitic fungal diseases.
Iron Heel, The

London, Jack
A dystopian novel about the terrible oppressions of an American oligarchy at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and the struggles of a socialist revolutionary movement.
Sex Life of the Gods, The

Knerr, Michael
Beth Danson was about twenty-five and, besides her deep auburn-brown hair and lovely face, she boasted an equally attractive body. He found himself captivated by the warm thrust of her breasts beneath the silk blouse. The clear milk of her flesh, at the “V” of her throat excited him in a strange way. When he thought of her as his wife, it was frightening. It was as though someone had tossed him a woman and expected him to just fall into the routine of marriage. It wouldn’t be hard to come to love this woman, but it would take awhile. Hell, he didn’t know her. She was a complete stranger who had suddenly told him they were married. There was nothing familiar about her; even the fingers that were softly working over his face were alien.
Beyond Lies the Wub and The Skull

Dick, Philip K
Two stories in the inimitable Philip Dick style. What is a Wub? A 400 pound slovenly, fat, ungainly, drooling animal that looks like a cross between a walrus and an enormous hog? Well, yes that is pretty much what he looks like and for 50 cents, a good bargain no matter how he tastes. The hungry spaceship crew expect to find out. Of course the Wub may not entirely agree but it doesn't have much to say about it. The second story, The Skull, is a skilful mesh of time travel, unscrupulous governments, prisoners, and religion. With an assassin thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!
Looking Backward: 2000-1887

Bellamy, Edward
Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy, first published in 1888. It was the third largest bestseller of its time, after Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia. This book outlines Bellamy's complex thoughts about improving the future, and is an indictment of industrial capitalism.
Edison's Conquest of Mars

Serviss, Garrett P.
Edison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the nineteenth century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly publishing science fiction stories and novels. "Edison's Conquest of Mars" was published in 1898 as an unauthorized sequel to H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, but did not achieve the fame of its predecessor. The book was endorsed by Thomas Edison, the hero of the book -- though not by Wells.
Scarlet Plague, The

London, Jack

Known mainly for his tales of adventure, this work of science fiction by Jack London is set in a post-apocalyptic future.
It's 2072, sixty years after the scarlet plague has depopulated the planet. James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. Through his narrative, we learn how the plague spread throughout the world and of the struggles of the handful of survivors it left in its wake.
Phantoms of Reality

Cummings, Ray
Red Sensua's knife came up dripping—and the two adventurers knew that chaos and bloody revolution had been unleashed in that shadowy kingdom of the fourth dimension.
Warlord of Mars (version 3)

Edgar Rice Burroughs
After the horrendous battle at the end of the previous book, which ended with the destruction of the religion of Issus, John Carter's wife and two other women were locked in a slowly rotating prison attached to the Temple of the Sun, each of whose hundreds of cells are only open to the outside world once every year. In the meantime, Carter's friend Xodar has become the new Jeddak (chief or king) of the black Martian First Born, and those white Martian therns who reject the old religion likewise gain a new unnamed leader, but there are still some who wish to keep the old discredited religion going, including the therns' erstwhite leader, the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang. John Carter discovers that a First Born named Thurid knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun and he and Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter Phaidor, who has been imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth, in the Temple jail for several hundred days. Unfortunately, Thurid, to spite Carter, gets Matai Shang to also take Dejah Thoris and Thuvia along with them. Carter follows them in the hope of liberating his beloved wife.
Warlord of Mars, The

Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Warlord of Mars is a Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the third of his famous Barsoom series. John Carter continues his quest to be reunited with his wife, the princess Dejah Thoris, and discovers more fantastic creatures and ancient mysterious Martian races.
Deathworld

Harrison, Harry
Harry Harrison (1925 - ) is best known for his Stainless Steel Rat stories and the novel Make Room! Make Room! which was adapted for film as Soylent Green. Deathworld is the first in a series of novels begun in 1960 and originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. It’s the story of Jason dinAlt a professional gambler with psionic skills who finds himself on Pyrrus the deadliest planet to be colonized by humanity. Violent weather, active tectonics, heavy gravity, abundant predators, and a hostile splinter group of colonists is only the beginning of Jason’s quest to learn the truth about Pyrrus.
Triplanetary, First in the Lensman Series

Smith, E. E. “Doc”
Triplanetary was first serialized in Amazing Stories in 1934. After the Lensman series became popular, Smith took his Triplanetary story and turned it into the first of the Lensman series, using it as a prequel to give the back story for the protaganists in the Lensmen series. He added 6 new chapters, doubling it in size and it's really a different book from the serialized novel, being published 14 years after the first. It was put into Gutenberg just last year.The novel covers several episodes in an eons-long eugenics project of the super-intelligences of the Arisia. This alien race is breeding two genetic lines to become the ultimate weapon in Arisia's cosmic war with their arch enemy, the Eddore. The initial chapters cover the Kinnison genetic line during the fall of Atlantis and Nero's (Gharlane of Eddore) reign in Rome. These tales were inserted into the novel following the serialized release, along with chapters covering members of the Kinnison line in World Wars One, Two and Three. The final chapter of Triplanetary tells of the discovery of the inertialess drive that allows faster than light travel. Patrolman Conway Costigan and his friends engage in a space battle with Gray Roger the pirate gangster. This conflict is complicated by the arrival of the technologically superior, extra-Solar, amphibian-like Nevians, resulting in the first interstellar war involving humans. In this story Virgil Samms and Roderick Kinnison, two very important members of the eugenics project, are introduced. They will play the leading roles in the next story, First Lensman.
Voyage to Arcturus, A

Lindsay, David
A Voyage to Arcturus is a novel by Scottish writer David Lindsay, first published in 1920. It combines fantasy, philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. It has been described by critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as the "greatest novel of the twentieth century" and was a central influence on C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy.
Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Burroughs, Edgar Rice
In this novel the focus shifts from John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and Dejah Thoris of Helium, protagonists of the first three books in the series, to their son, Carthoris, prince of Helium, and Thuvia, princess of Ptarth. Helium and Ptarth are both prominent Barsoomian city state/empires, and both Carthoris and Thuvia were secondary characters in the previous two books.
Mr. Spaceship

Dick, Philip K
The war with the Yucks 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? Perhaps and perhaps something entirely surprising!
Skylark of Space, The (version 2)

Smith, E. E. “Doc”
The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel and is considered a classic of pulp science fiction. Originally serialized in 1928 in the magazine Amazing Stories it is often categorized as the first literary space opera, complete with protagonists perfect in mind, body, and spirit, who fight against villains of absolute evil.
Skylark of Space, The

Smith, E. E. “Doc”
The novel begins with the accidental discovery, in a Government laboratory in Washington D. C., of a form of clean nuclear power. Our hero, Dr. Richard Seaton, uses this power to build first a flying belt and then an interstellar spaceship. He later discovers that the process operates by generation and manipulation of gravity fields.
When his government coworkers do not believe him, Seaton acquires rights to his discovery from the government and commercializes it with the aid of his friend, millionaire inventor Martin Crane. A former colleague, Dr. Marc DuQuesne, joins with the unscrupulous World Steel Corporation to try to steal Seaton's invention. The resulting conflict escalates, as Seaton and Duquesne develop greater and greater technical capabilities and enlist more and more powerful alien races as allies..
Variable Man, The

Dick, Philip K.
Predictability has come a long way. The computers of the future can tell you if you’re going to win a war before you fire a shot. Unfortunately they’re predicting perpetual standoff between the Terran and Centaurian Empires. What they need is something unpredictable, what they get is Thomas Cole, a man from the past accidently dragged forward in time. Will he fit their calculations, or is he the random variable that can break the stalemate? – The Variable Man first appeared in the September, 1953 issue of Space Science Fiction magazine.
Time Traders, The

Norton, Andre
If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past.
That was why young Ross Murdock, above average in intelligence but a belligerently independent nonconformist, found himself on a "hush-hush" government project at a secret base in the Arctic. The very qualities that made him a menace in civilized society were valuable traits in a man who must successfully act the part of a merchant trader of the Beaker people during the Bronze Age.
For once they were transferred by time machine to the remote Baltic region where the Russian post was located, Ross and his partner Ashe were swept into a fantastic action-filled adventure involving Russians, superstitious prehistoric men, and the aliens of a lost galactic civilization that demanded every ounce of courage the Americans possessed.
Crystal Crypt, the and Beyond the Door

Dick, Philip K
Two early science fiction stories by the wonderful craftsman, Philip K. Dick. 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? Beyond the Door is a story that asks and answers the question: what lives beyond the door? And is it dangerous?
Contagion

Katherine MacLean
Minos was such a lovely planet. Not a thing seemed wrong with it. Excepting the food, perhaps. And a disease that wasn't really. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, October, 1950. Katherine Anne MacLean (born January 22, 1925) is an American science fiction author best known for her short fiction of the 1950s which examined the impact of technological advances on individuals and society.
Martian Odyssey & A Valley of Dreams

Stanley G. Weinbaum
The first of these stories was originally published in the July 1934 issue of Wonder Stories. It was followed four months later by a sequel, "Valley of Dreams" in the same magazine. These classic stories take us to Mars where we meet a Martian, or at least something very different from us, and several other completely original specimens of life. The Martian "Tweel" looks like an ostrich and the Egyptian god Osiris - for good reason, as you will find out if you listen to the story! These are both classic, funny, strange, entertaining, and, in my opinion, great stories by an imaginative master - summary by philc
Poison Belt, The

Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
Three years after the events that took place in The Lost World, Professor Challenger urgently summons his fellow explorers (Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton, and reporter E.D. Malone) to a meeting. Oddly, he requires each to bring an oxygen cylinder with him.
What he soon informs them is that from astronomical data and just-received telegraphs of strange accidents on the other side of the world, he has deduced that the Earth is starting to move through a region of space containing something poisonous to humankind.
Shutting themselves tightly up in Challenger's house, they start to consider what may be done. But as their countrymen start to drop, will their oxygen last long enough to determine and implement a solution?
Land that Time Forgot, The

Burroughs, Edgar Rice
The Land That Time Forgot is a science fiction novel, the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Caspak trilogy. His working title for the story was "The Lost U-Boat." Starting out as a harrowing wartime sea adventure, the story ultimately develops into that of a fantastical lost world.
Mysterious Island - Shipwrecked in the Air

Jules Verne
In the final months of the American Civil War five Northerners find themselves trapped in the Southern capital of Richmond. They conceive of a plan to escape with a balloon kept nearby.However, not all goes as planned and as a powerful gale surprises them, their balloon veers off course by some thousands of miles and the five find themselves fighting desperately for their survival... (plot summary by Piotr Nater)

The present translation is by the American Stephen W. White. It first appeared in the Evening Telegraph of Philadelphia, PA and was later published as an Evening Telegraph Reprint Book (1876). According to Taves and Michaluk “Although more faithful than any other translation, this one has never been reprinted”. Still, there is still condensation and omission of some sections such as Verne's description of how a sawmill works. (taken from the Redactor's Note available at Project Gutenberg. ( Norman M. Wolcott) and Wikipedia)

"Shipwrecked in the Air", together with 2 subsequent volumes, "The Abandoned" and "The Secret of the Island", form "The Mysterious Island".
Earth's Core, At the

Burroughs, Edgar Rice
This is the first book in the Pellucidar series. Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth milieu invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. The stories initially involve the adventures of mining heir David Innes and his inventor friend Abner Perry after they use an "iron mole" to burrow 500 miles into the earth's crust.
Watchbird

Sheckley, Robert
3 Robert Sheckley short stories that demonstrate the breathof his fantastic imagination. In Watchbird, the question "can machines solve human problems?" is answered with a resounding YES! But there may be a few unforeseen glitches. Just a few. Warrior Race drops us into an alien race of warriors who fight in a way you will never be able to imagine until you listen. And Beside Still Waters is a gentle story that shows us a man who really wants to get away from it all ... sitting on a rock in the asteroid belt with only a robot for a friend. No girls allowed! A poignant and unsettling story to say the least.
Dueling Machine, The

Bova, Ben
The Dueling Machine is the solution to settling disputes without injury. After you and your opponent select weapons and environments you are injected into an artificial reality where you fight to the virtual death… but no one actually gets hurt. That is, until a warrior from the Kerak Empire figures a way to execute real-world killings from within the machine. Now its inventor Dr. Leoh has to prevent his machine from becoming a tool of conquest. – The Dueling Machine, written with Myron R. Lewis, first appeared in the May, 1963 issue of Analog Science Fact and Fiction.
Off on a Comet

Verne, Jules
The story starts with a comet that touches the Earth in its flight and collects a few small chunks of it. Some forty people of various nations and ages are condemned to a two-year-long journey on the comet. They form a mini-society and cope with the hostile environment of the comet (mostly the cold). The size of the 'comet' is about 2300 kilometers in diameter - far larger than any comet or asteroid that actually exists.
Door Through Space, The

Bradley, Marion Zimmer
At one time Race Cargill had been the best Terran Intelligence agent on the complex and mysterious planet of Wolf. He had repeatedly imperiled his life amongst the half-human and non-human creatures of the sullen world. And he had repeatedly accomplished the fantastic missions until his name was emblazoned with glory.
But that had all seemingly ended. For six long years he'd sat behind a boring desk inside the fenced-in Terran Headquarters, cut off there ever since he and a rival had scarred and ripped each other in blood-feud.
But when THE DOOR THROUGH SPACE swung suddenly open, the feud was on again—and with it a plot designed to check and destroy the Terran Empire. (original book blurb)
Previous Next

© 2012 - 2024 Beelingo.com | Cookies | Privacy | Terms of use | Mobile apps | Support