Showing results by narrator "Jim Roberts" in All Categories

This story describes a world of the future in which humans all remain in their cubicles while all their needs are met by a supercomputer called, "The Machine". They communicate with each other and attend "online" classes and meetings through the Machine and people seldom meet face to face. A problem arises when one man, Kuno, decides he is not satisfied with staying in his room and decides to explore outside.

"A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum first appeared in 1934. It was Weinbaum's first published story, and remains his best known. It's publication immediately established Weinbaum as a leading figure in the field. One of the aliens in the story, "Tweel", remains one of the most recognised aliens in early science fiction, and is said to be an inspiration for aliens in the works of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

This collecton features some of Twain's best known stories as well as some lesser-known gems, such as "A Mysterious Visit", "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut", and "The Loves Of Alonzo Fitz-Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton".

Jack Glenarm never liked architecture. He preferred adventure and excitement. His grandfather adored archeticture and lived in a strange incomplete mansion he called "The House of a Thousand Candles." Jack returns from his travels just in time to hear the reading of the old man's will. Jack is instructed to live in this odd out-of-the-way dwelling for a full year without leaving it in order to inherit it. With few other options he decides to move in.

Texas was a huge wide place full of frontiersmen, ranchers, farmers, cowpokes, shiftless no-accounts, shootists, rascals, and politicians - all of them blended together into a single state. The Rangers - lawmen, Texas Rangers - were outnumbered a thousand to one, and in one county, Pecos County, the law was all but helpless. When the good folk of Pecos County ask the Texas Rangers for help, Vaughn Steel comes to their aid.

Known for his record-breaking stats and womanizing ways, wide receiver, Buddy Carruthers, would give it all up for one chance to win the only woman he ever wanted, Emmy Meacham. Hard-won games, and traveling half the season kept Buddy from pursuing his secret passion. Even if he managed to corner her for a moment, would she still care?

Things are disappearing. Parts of buildings, parts of people, parts of the whole world - they’re here today, gone tomorrow. Old Shellback thinks he needs glasses. But all he really has to do is open his eyes...and see the light. Or so says George Smiley - otherwise known as the Messiah. George claims that the reason things are vanishing is because he wants them to go away. He has no more use for the world...and so it goes. Say goodbye. But Old Shellback has a different idea, and since he is the most stubborn man in the universe, you might want to hear him out.

Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939) was a mixed-blood Sioux. He became one of the best known Indians of his time, receiving a bachelor of science degree from Dartmouth in 1887 and a medical degree from Boston University three years later.

Griff Montgomery is the headline-making, heart-breaking star quarterback of the Kings - a 6’4”, 33 year old womanizer. Lauren Farraday is a beautiful young interior designer, bitterly scarred by divorce, whose life is falling apart. Though they violently oppose one another in court over her beloved pug (she thinks he’s arrogant and conceited, and he thinks she’s a bitch on wheels), something happens....

In this wonderful and unique tale, beauty meets "the brain." She's a beautiful "actress", he's a brainy scholar. A practical joke brings them together and the sparks fly. Once the dust settles they both change their ways.

Penniless, homeless, and virtually lifeless, the vagrant “Doughface” Jack is about to discover that where medical marvels meet the mysteries of the human mind, amazing things happen. The Tramp acquires a capability beyond his imagination and without equal on Earth. Riding the rails, Jack runs afoul of a local sheriff and ends up with a crushed skull. He’s as good as dead until a savvy country doctor performs a bit of medical magic.

In this story, a teenage boy suddenly finds himself whisked away for his dead end job on an outlying planet,to a jungle planet where he begins having strange dreams of his past. Suddenly, he finds himself in the middleof a thrill-packed plot involving a criminal mastermind and Rass Hume, the "ouhunterr" who was responsiblefor the sudden change in his fortunes.

It has been said that somewhere in the world you have an exact double. This rocket-ride of a novel ignites with the sudden cry of "Ai! Pedrito!", as Naval Lieutenant Tom Smith discovers that his exact look-alike is the notorious South American revolutionary and spy, Pedrito Miraflores. Inspired by a real incident in the life of L. Ron Hubbard, Ai! Pedrito! is a fun-to-listen-to, compelling novel of what can sometimes happen when intelligence goes wrong.

A Message to Garcia is an inspirational essay that was was wildly popular, which has sold over 40 million copies, and has been translated into 37 languages. The essay celebrates the initiative of a soldier who is given a daunting mission. He does not object, ask questions, or request help but simply finds a way to accomplish it. Through this essay Hubbard encourages the reader to apply this attitude to his own life as a sure way to success.

Joseph Conrad was a native of Poland, yet many critics regard him as one of the greatest English novelists. This is all the more remarkable, since he did not learn to speak English fluently until he was in his 20s. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1886. He wrote many books and stories, but the two that remain most popluar are Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. Lord Jim is both an adventure story and a story of tragedy and repentence.

Renowned sci-fi writer Poul Anderson came up with a gem of an idea for this story. Is Simon Delgatty human or alien? His quest to rescue his kidnapped human father is thwarted when he himself becomes a prisoner. His training at the Psychotechnic Institute is put to the test as he tries to thwart a megalomaniac’s evil plan and rescue his father. Even the FBI gets involved in the form of a beautiful young agent.

The midwestern town of Middletown is the "first strike" of a new super bomb. However, instead of destroying the town, the attack rips a hole in the space-time continuum, sending the town and it's inhabitants to a distant Earth, cold and foreboding. The story of their struggle, survival and ultimate success in rekindling the planet and dealing with the people and aliens of the future, is the stuff of great science fiction. As you listen, see if you agree with the many who think this story was the origin of the Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Leia.

As a lieutenant in the US Marine Corps, Michael Stuart was once considered an officer and a gentleman. But that’s all changed. Now he’s seen as a renegade, a traitor, and a thief. Stuart is a man without a country...and perhaps without a prayer. Why? Because in a daring plot to foil the Japanese puppet regime in China, he set out to reinstate the country’s true emperor. Known now as The Red Dragon, Stuart is a soldier of fortune in war-torn Manchuria - and a man of honor in a world of treachery.

"The Defenders", one of Philip K. Dick's earlier stories, describes a world where a global war between two continents has devastated the suface of the earth. Mankind has been forced to live underground where they continue to fight the war using robot "leadys" who are immune to radiation. Then a startling discovery is made about the robots which changes the entire future of mankind.

Volume 6 contains the following 21 stories: "Perchance to Dream" by Richard Stockham, "Father Image" by Robert Silverburg, "Tree, Spare That Woodman" by Dave Dryfoos, "Disaster Revisited" by Darius John Granger, "Subversive" by Mack Reynolds, "The Stutterer" by R. R. Merliss, "Infinite Intruder" by Alan E. Nourse, "A Bottle of Old Wine" by Richard O. Lewis, "B12's Moon Glow" by Charles A. Sterns, "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster, and many more.