Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Science Fiction

The telepathic beings on Mars know that Earth is sending a probe to their planet and anxiously await its arrival. For you see, only 900 of them are left, and Earth is their only means of survival. They have much to offer Earth in return. But will the connection be made? Listen and find out.

The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed (metamorphosed) into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Gregor's transformation is never revealed, and Kafka himself never gave an explanation. The rest of Kafka's novella deals with Gregor's attempts to adjust to his new condition as he deals with being burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repulsed by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.

Eons after the last nuclear war, humans have become the inferior race. Cities have become segregated, and robots rule the world. The robots did have a sense of justice, though. If a human could score high enough on an annual test, he could move up in society. There was a catch, though. The test was so slanted toward robot mentality and knowledge, a human didn't have a chance. Then James P. Crow (Not his real name.) arrives on the scene with his window that sees into the past and the future.

Clarence Rimbro owns the entire planet Earth. This is no great accomplishment as, thousands of years in our future, anyone can do it. There are an infinite number of possible Earths, each existing in its own parallel universe. If the chance of life arising on any one of them is about 50 percent, then half the time a random choice of a parallel universe will lead to a dead Earth.

What if there were a product that taken daily and barring an untimely accident or murder allowed one to live indefinitely? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr's fanciful tale, that is just what happens. At first the miracle product Anti-gerasone seems like a blessing. But what if the population keeps breeding? How to make room for the new ones. And then there is the problem of the curmudgeon who doesn't get the stuff until he's in his late 70s becomes head of the family and is still going strong 104 years later.

Part of Lovecraft's dream series, Celephaïs was created in a dream by Kuranes (which is his name in dreams - his real name is not given) as a child of the English landed gentry. As a man in his 40s, alone and dispossessed in contemporary London, he dreams it again and then, seeking it, slowly slips away to the dreamworld. Finally knights guide him through medieval England to his ancestral estate, where he spent his boyhood, and then to Celephaïs.

The master of adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, tackles the Frankenstein myth. A demented scientist discovers how to create human life - not perfect but improving steadily with each attempt. He is forced to flee to remote Borneo to continue his gruesome experiments; each experiment becomes one of the Monster Men. Add a beautiful young daughter, a scheming criminal as assistant, head hunters, and wild jungle terrain, and you have The Monster Men!

If, after a great struggle, the East were to prevail over the world, what sort of civilization would be imposed by the victors? Would it be an oriental version of the societies we know - or might the great old culture be superimposed upon what was left of Western technology? The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future where global civilization is governed by a hierarchical, religious society centered around belief in karmic-based reincarnation metaphorically viewed as moving forward or backward on a turning wheel.

A group of pilgrims venture to a new planet, leaving Earth to escape the persecution they endured there only to find naked heathens inhabiting their new planet. The heathens worship a spaceship embedded in the hillside. The heathens speak English, but the pilgrims cannot abide their ways, so they decide to destroy them tomorrow because today is the Sabbath. A big surprise awaits them.

As curator of the Twentieth Century Exhibit, George Miller felt that to do a good job, he had to live his work. Then, one day, somebody got into his exhibit, and he went to investigate.

The Trial by Franz Kafka, narrated by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, begins like a nightmare - only K is awake, and he is being arrested and indicted on charges he never learns. He is caught up in a legal system that will destroy his life. This is a text that often is used in English classes because it is so deep. Kafka attacks the norms of society, religion, and the legal system.

What a coincidence. The mummies wake up once a millennium, and who should stumble into the pyramid but our hero? This is a fun little story about a British ne'er-do-well who has found possible wealth and prosperity by becoming engaged to the rather plain - and plain is a nice word for it - daughter of a new English nobleman. But wait. He wanders into the pyramid when the mummies have their 24 hours of life once a millennium, and he falls madly in love with the Pharaoh's daughter, who is some 6,000 years old.

Norman Gilligan provides just the right amount of British accent narrating The Time Machine, a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term time machine, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle.

Classic author H.G. Wells turns his attention to a mystery at sea and a litany of creatures that seemed bent on the destruction of human life. A short story that may leave you feeling the beach and ocean may not be as safe as you thought.

In the campy style of 1950s science fiction, this short story seeks to clarify what advancements the Army had made to abolish the need for the Navy. A new and fantastic devise made ships no longer essential to the military operation in America. Would the demand for the abolishment of the Navy?

Anyone who has to spend the better part of his days chained to a routine job in our workaday world will appreciate the sorcery that captured the heart of Mr. Sladden. That gentleman's experience in finding a private peep-hole out of this world is one we all may envy.

Does a chair have feelings? How about a jar? An umbrella? How about street? Celebrated author G.K. Chesterton creates a short story that creates possibilities of thought. This is a story of respect and perhaps revenge. Part science fiction and part moral tale this story will give you something to consider.

For Eveline, it was a nearly transforming experience to be in love. Frank had booked passage for the two to leave Ireland for Buenos Aires as husband and wife. As Eveline looks forward to the day of her leaving, she begins to think of her dead mother and the family she would be leaving behind. This short story allows us to consider the thoughts that are in conflict for the young lady. How will she respond and what will she decide? A classic story narrated by Glenn Hascall.

Evans and Hooker happened to overhear the general location of a jungle treasure. While the two saw this as an opportunity those who buried the treasure knew something the treasure hunters did not. Follow this short story from acclaimed author H.G. Wells to see what becomes of this duo.

Since logic derives from postulates, it never has, and never will, change a postulate. And a religious belief is a system of postulates...so how can a man fight a native superstition with logic in order to save the inhabitants of an entire planet? A classic science fiction novelette by H. Beam Piper, first published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction, in 1960.