Showing results by narrator "John W. Michaels" in All Categories

Robert Graves' account of a man affected with an unfortunate capacity for thoughtless kleptomania, and with another minor fault which led to a somewhat unusual sort of punishment.

The guy with the most heads when he dies wins. After you collect everything you want what is left to want? A "status" society, a trustworthy criminal in a world without material want, is Roger Bellamy happy? Has he triumphed? Happiness is "the exercise of vital powers, through lines of excellence, in a life affording them scope"

What happens when a swindler meets a science fiction fan? If you are not a science fiction enthusiast yourself you may take for granted that what appeared to happen to George Mercer would be the answer, but is that so certain? Fritz Lieber, very much a part of the history of science fiction, and fantasy raises an interesting possibility in this story of a science fiction con man.

An alien race is forced to leave their planet in search of a new home. The alien explorers do not travel in a ship but, interestingly enough, they travel as a swarm through space. When they arrive on our planet, they divide into two swarms, one pursuing a search in outer space for another suitable planet while the swarm remaining here searches for intelligent life. This of course was eons ago. They eventually find what they believe is a suitable species, with an interesting outcome.

A man, capable of 1 million things, is unhappy without a job, without a goal and purpose in life but he is not necessarily unique…

Space travelers exploring Venus reach the South Pole of that planet, where they find signs of life. Plant life, perhaps the beginning of intelligent life, on a faraway planet: their excitement builds as they take samples and head back to their ship... leaving behind their refuse.

Travelers from another solar system are drawn to a planet because of a nuclear blast on the planet. The only survivor of the blast appears to be an intelligent gun protecting a treasure. Philip K. Dick leaves us asking the question could this planet be ours?

A father and son argue, the father strikes the son upon the face, and the son promises to kill the father. When the father disappears, the son goes to trial for murder, but how can there be a conviction when there was no body, and the father appeared several miles away.

Leica was the first dog to travel into space, atop a Soviet rocket. When an astronomer finds a puppy alongside a Pasadena Highway, he names her Leica. Some believe that animals, particularly dogs, can sense an oncoming earthquake. When the big one hits the Bay Area, Leica saves his life. When the astronomer travels to the dark side of the moon, Leica cannot go along, but she will save his life again.

Was it a brave new world, or was it the long way home for these men?