Showing results by narrator "Ralph Lister" in All Categories

The Book of Job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really good people. Alexander Goldberg’s eight-part ebook explores who Job was, why he matters, and what his story has to teach us about the nature of belief and of life.

In his acclaimed Cosmosapiens, renowned scientist John Hands looked back on how we humans evolved from the origin of the universe to the present day. Building on that work, The Future of Humankind: Why We Should Be Optimistic looks ahead to our ultimate destiny. Listeners embark on a fascinating journey in which Hands evaluates current major predictions for our future in three categories—extinction, survival, and transformation—before making his own unique and astonishing forecast.

"The Steam-Powered Word Processor" was first published in the January 1986 issue of Analog. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Harry Christmas is unable to cope with the death of his wife and has been bouncing from one bad decision to the next. After a terrifying assault by the son of a woman he has conned, he makes up his mind to leave the country. Now Harry Christmas is on the run.

Shale is dying. A vast, chaotic, monster-bearing storm known only as the Roil is expanding, consuming the land. The last humans are fighting back with ever more bizarre new machines, but the Roil seems unstoppable. Whole cities have been consumed – where once there were twelve, now only four remain. It’s up to a decadent wastrel, a four thousand year-old man, and a young woman bent on revenge, to try to save their city – and the world.

As a young medical student, Arthur Conan Doyle - the creator of Sherlock Holmes - studied under the pioneering forensic investigator Dr. Joseph Bell. Critically acclaimed author David Pirie has created an engrossing series of novels that pairs the two as partners in criminal investigations in the dark underworlds of Victorian England. The Night Calls chronicles a most frightening and disturbing case: their encounter with the man who prefigures Holmes's arch-nemesis Moriarty.

Fewer people have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean than have climbed Mount Everest. Adam Rackley is among them. For s70 days, he and his rowing partner ate, slept, and rowed in a boat seven meters long and two meters wide, in one of the world's most extreme environments. This is his story of adventure, endurance, and self-discovery. They were following in the wake of pioneers.

Meg Pickel’s older brother, Orion, has disappeared. One night, Meg steals out to look for him and makes two surprising discoveries: She stumbles upon a séance that she suspects involves Orion, and she meets the author Charles Dickens, also unable to sleep and roaming the London streets.

Dial F for Frankenstein was first published in the January 1964 issue of Playboy. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Venture to the Moon was first published in 1956 in the London Evening News.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a grand master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

The rebellion in the Northlands has been defeated. Elias marches south at the head of an army of men, elves, and dwarves. With new allies and driving purpose, he travels into his homeland of Lonwick to battle with the great Felle Army. Orcs, ogres, trolls, and more await him at the end of his journey in the fertile Lonwick Valley. However, unbeknownst to Elias and his companions, there are greater forces at work. What is it that Darius Tessermyre truly wants? Why have the Felle chosen to attack Lonwick? And what forces guide the mysterious Council of Mages?

It's 1980 and the Cold War continues to rage. Seemingly out of nowhere, wealthy businessman Logan Powell has become President-elect and is only weeks away from assuming the most powerful position in the world on the 20th day of January. Across the Atlantic, veteran British intelligence agent James MacKay uncovers shocking evidence that suggests something might be terribly wrong with the election. With the help of a reluctant CIA, MacKay sets out on a dangerous and daring mission to discover if the unthinkable has occurred: is President-elect Powell actually a puppet of the Soviet Union?

"Kissing you is like new paint and old pain. It is like coffee and car alarms and a dim stairway and a stain and it's like smoke.' ('Placing a Call') How does love change us? And how do we change ourselves for love - or for lack of it? Ten stories by acclaimed author Deborah Levy explore these delicate, impossible questions. In Vienna, an icy woman seduces a broken man; in London gardens, birds sing in computer start-up sounds; in ad-land, a sleek copywriter becomes a kind of shaman.

In a world ravaged by a deadly pandemic, former rock star Chris Price leaves New York and sets out on a long journey home to England. It’s been six years of devastation since the plague killed his wife and daughter, and Chris is determined to find out if any of his family has survived. His passage leaves him scarred, in body and mind, by exposure to humankind at its most desperate and dangerous. But the greatest ordeal awaits him beyond the urban ruins, in an idyllic country refuge where Chris meets a woman, Pauline, who is largely untouched by the world’s horrors.

Llewellyn, a little rabbit, is a collector. He gathers things in jars - ordinary things like buttercups, feathers, and heart-shaped stones. Then he meets another rabbit, Evelyn, and together they begin to collect extraordinary things - like rainbows, the sound of the ocean, and the wind just before snow falls. And, best of all, when they hold the jars and peer inside, they remember all the wonderful things they've seen and done. But one day, Evelyn has sad news: Her family is moving away. How can the two friends continue their magical collection and their special friendship from afar?

Frank has been in a serious car accident and he’s missing memories - of the people around him, of the history they share, and of how he came to be in the crash. All he remembers is that he is a lawyer who specializes in fine print, and as he narrates his story, he applies this expertise in the form of footnotes. Everyone keeps telling Frank that he was fine before the accident, "just a bit overwhelmed", but as he begins to reclaim his memories, they don’t quite jibe with what everyone is telling him.

When a bloody corpse is discovered in a North London park, Detective Inspector Daniel Graves is the man tasked with finding the killer. However, with no clues and no suspects, the case seems like a dead end. Then another body turns up—and this time, it looks like it could be Graves’s fault. Has his investigation caused the murderer to strike again? As the case gets ever more complicated, a report comes in of another suspicious death—but this is nothing like any other Graves has dealt with. All involved are convinced that something supernatural is to blame: a demon.

"The Reluctant Orchid" was first published in the December 1956 issue of Satellite. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a grand master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

When a blood-stained effigy of body parts is found in a central London park, D.I. Daniel Graves must set about trying to discover what it could mean and find the person responsible. Symbols at the crime scene suggest the occult. Who would leave a murder victim in such a way, and why? As Graves and partner D.I. Charlie Palmer begin to investigate the ritual and the act of human sacrifice, they enlist the help of Charlotte Gooding, a talented professor specializing in the subject. They hope to narrow down a motive—could the killer believe in the supernatural? Witchcraft, even?

"Jupiter Five" was first published in the May 1953 issue of If. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.