Richard L. Rubin

This is rip roaring historic adventure, set in the epicenter of the brutal battle between the Hospitaller Knights and the Muslim army of Suleiman the Magnificent on the Isle of Malta in 1565. The plot involves Mattias Tannhauser, a crafty adventurer who is commissioned by Countess Carla la Penautierto to find and rescue her 12-year-old illegitimate son, who was snatched from her grasp at the moment of his birth. Countess Carla knows her son is on the Isle of Malta, but nothing else about him. The undertaking takes Tannhauser, Carla and a couple of their friends to the Isle of Malta, stronghold of the Hospitaller Knights, right on the brink of the historic to-the-death Battle of Malta in all its bloody glory. Willocks knows his history well and the reader feels like he has been plunged into this historical era in all its gritty and brutal glory. Not a pleasant read for the racially sensitive or those offended by graphic descriptions of sex and violence. But it's all integral to the plot and this is a very exciting and enjoyable book. Highly recommended!

Welcome to planet Delmak-O where danger and confusion lurk
behind every corner and reality is constantly shifting out from under you! Science Fiction Grand Master Philip K. Dick guides you on a surreal trip down the rabbit hole as 14 eccentric characters find themselves the sole colonists assigned to a fledgling outpost on Delmak-O, a strange and hostile planet inhabited by mechanical bugs, gelatinous tenches that answer questions based on the I Ching, and a sinister building which appears different to everyone who approaches. Offbeat god-figures manifest at various times to help and advise to the settlers. Death stalks the colonists as one by one they are killed off by each other or mysterious unknown forces. By way of a forward to the book, PKD acknowledges that this work found inspiration in LSD experiments and his interest in Eastern religion. This is an enjoyable listen for those who appreciate science fiction which explores metaphysical and surreal themes. The narrator does a good job with the various voices, male and female alike.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a truly wonderful story and it remains fresh and exciting even if you've read it once or twice before. Rob Inglis does a great job with all the voices and singing all of Tolkien's delightful songs. The magic is all there and more! Highly recommended!

If newspaper journalists provide us with the "first draft of history," then "Mark Owen" (a pseudonym) has provided us with history's raw ingredients, the unadorned and unedited account of an important event. Owens doesn't reflect on the politics of the wars he fights or the philosophical implications of his job as a deadly 21st Century super-warrior. Much of the book is filled with the mundane details of his trade: the equipment he wears, his sleep cycle, the importance of emptying his bladder before a mission, the sit-ups and pull-ups he struggled to do to qualify for the SEAL program. He is not an introspective kind of guy and he doesn't describe his work in glamorous or romantic prose. But there are two things that make this book worthwhile. First, there are the Obama-era rules of engagement for the Afghan War which render SEAL and other military operations less effective then before in eliminating the enemy and which expose our own soldiers to much more personal risk then previously. Second, of course, is Owen's personal account of the Osama bin Laden raid. US government officials have questioned the accuracy of Owen's account of how the bin Laden killing went down, but for my money Owen's account rings true because it is more morally ambiguous and less glamorous then the official version and raises the question of whether bin Laden could have been captured and flown away without any real risk to the SEAL team. There's not much about politics here and it's clear that the CIA effort to locate and kill or capture bin Laden proceeded seriously and unabated from September 2001 onward and just happened to gel when it did in 2011. President Obama makes an appearance at the end of the book to watch the takedown by video in Washington and, of course, take credit for the raid which would have taken place when it did regardless of who won the 2008 presidential election. The narration is first rate. Recommended.

Even if you're very familiar with the classic 1968 Charlton Heston movie, there are a few surprises and plot twists here that make this an interesting and exciting listen. The main character is Ulysse, a French journalist who journeys with two other intrepid astronauts to the distant star, Betelgeuse, where they, of course, come upon the Planet of the Apes, inhabited by primitive humans and technologically advanced chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. The themes are somewhat different from those of the movie, but this is a well written and exciting book with a tightly-constructed plot, which also raises interesting questions about the ethics of animal research and social behaviors which can bring about the death of a civilization. Well narrated.

Benedict Arnold was a fascinating individual, a gutsy and brilliant military leader, who most likely saved the cause of the American revolution long before he sought to destroy it. If you are unfamiliar with the details of his treason the last part of this book reads like a thriller in which you can't wait to see what happens next as the intrigue unfolds. This is history which not only shines a light upon the characters and their actions, but also gives you a feel for this historical time: the mores and customs, the technology and the means of warfare, so that you get a sense of what it was actually like to live during the era of the American Revolution.

Treasure Island is a wonderful story and it remains fresh and exciting even if you've read it a few times before. The Colonial Radio Players do an excellent job with multi-cast presentation, great sound effects and music. The voice casting is very good and the magic is all there, with Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey and all the rest.

This is a minor novel by Phillip K. Dick (PKD). It's certainly not in the same class as his masterworks such as UBIK or The Man in the High Castle (winner of a Hugo award), but it's still a very enjoyable trip down the rabbit hole. Like many PKD novels, this one takes place on a post-nuclear war Earth. The plot centers around Allen Purcell's mocking rebellion against a suffocating morally correct and politically correct social order and totalitarian state. On the surface, Purcell and his wife Janet are respectable upstanding citizens who run a successful agency that contracts with the totalitarian government to produce propaganda-oriented TV shows. But Allen finds himself subconsciously driven to repeatedly "jape" or mock the existing order, by secretly committing such pranks as defacing and decapitating the statute of General Streiter, the founder of the totalitarian order. It wouldn't be a real PKD novel unless mind altering drugs are ingested and reality shifts out from under the reader once or twice, but overall the plot of this book is relatively coherent and straightforward. There is humor here that withstands the test of time and a righteous cry for freedom that can't be denied. Excellent narration. Recommended.

This is a sequel to the radio drama "William F. Nolan’s Logan's Run - Last Day" and should not be listened to without first hearing that production. The events in "Logan's Run -- Aftermath" take place after the movie Logan's Run (and the book by the same name by William Nolan). Tara 8, a former Sandman classmate of Logan, undertakes a sinister plot to revive The Thinker and reinstitute the controlled world encountered in the original world of Logan's Run. The events in Aftermath take place in a dark and gritty world inhabited by displaced persons and outlaw bands. Our hero, Logan 6, is a grim violent antihero, owing more resemblance to Mad Max or Jack Bauer then to the boyish, smiling young man portrayed by Michael York in the Logan's Run movie. The Colonial Radio Players do an excellent job with multi-cast presentation, great sound effects and music. It's an enjoyable journey as long as you're not in the mood for something lighter.

These are four short tales by Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Heinlein. They all date to early on in his career and do not represent his best work. Jerry Was a Man is perhaps the best story in this collection and, unfortunately, the shorted. It's a satire having to do with genetically altered animals which are exploited as expendable laborers or -- as is the case with an intelligent miniature elephant -- custom-made pets for rich people. The narration is OK, but doesn't add any excitement to the tales. If you have never read any Heinlein, I would recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Double Star or Starship Troopers. Those are much better books and represent the Grand Master at his finest.

This is one of Philip K. Dick's best books and my own personal favorite. The story begins in the near future. The central character is Joe Chip, an engaging but perpetually broke fellow, employed by his older mentor Glen Runciter. Runciter Associates sell their services as "inertials" -- odd persons who have a talent for cancelling out the abilities of telepathic corporate spies who use mind-reading abilities to spy on companies. Runciter, Chip and ten other employees of Runciter Associates are lured to Luna Colony where they are the victims of a terrorist bomb blast that kills Runciter and leaves Chip and the others scrambling for survival in a reality which seems to be simultaneously slipping back in time and dissolving out from under them. Or is this what's really happening? Many brilliant concepts come into play to create a surreal and mesmerizing trip down the rabbit hole. There are dead people who exist in ???half life,??? a form of lying in state after death where the decedent remains available, in special mausoleums, for consultation with the living. Pre-cogs can see into the future and are frequently hired to engage in corporate espionage. There is omnipresent time decay which creates regressed forms of devices allowing a space-age hover car to regress to a Buick LeSabre, then to a Model T. Finally, there is UBIK itself, a miracle spray which reverses decay and may represent the only hope of salvation. Dark humor, nostalgia and intriguing concepts drawn from philosophy and a deep knowledge of history. Well narrated, this is a true masterpiece of surreal science fiction.