Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Science Fiction

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.

When Connecticut mechanic and foreman Hank Morgan is knocked unconscious, he wakes not to the familiar scenes of 19th century America, but to the bewildering sights and sounds of 6th century Camelot. Although confused at first and quickly imprisoned, he soon realizes that his knowledge of the future can transform his fate. Correctly predicting a solar eclipse from inside his prison cell, Morgan terrifies the people of England into releasing him and swiftly establishes himself as the most powerful magician in the land, stronger than Merlin and greatly admired by Arthur himself.

The Rocket Man introduces us to an astronaut who spends his life traveling through space, leaving his family behind. Ray Bradbury's powerful storytelling shines through as he explores the complexities of familial relationships and the sacrifices that come with exploration and adventure. The way Bradbury weaves a tale of longing, loneliness, and human connection is both thought-provoking and deeply moving.

What would it be like to be invisible? What would you do? What if you couldn't change back? Griffin, an albino, unlikable, the most gifted physicist the world has ever seen, works himself almost to madness in his quest for invisibility. Once he succeeds, he does not care for it as much as he expected to. Cold, jostled by strangers, attacked by dogs - unable even to eat without becoming visible, he comes to the conclusion that invisibility is good for only one thing - for killing.

From the author of Psycho, a tale of eldritch horror in the mode of H. P. Lovecraft. Evil tomes, unwitting seekers of arcane knowledge, and a horror from beyond the stars!

Eledan’s nightmare has been unleashed upon the worlds, and with Oberon gone, only the Messenger crew stands in its way. Kellee, Talen, Sirius, Sota, and Kesh. Together, they are stronger, but there are forces on Faerie who do not want the worlds saved, forces that would see the Messenger and her crew torn apart.

Aria Winters is on a mission to rescue Grace, her little sister. The Nezdek came from the skies and took her, and she won't rest until Grace is safe. Aria talks her way onto a Zoran ship set to explore a distant planet, but she didn't expect to fall for the ship's brooding, tall, imposing alien commander. She tries to resist the growly warrior, but he has his radiant eyes set on her. And what a Zoran wants, he takes....

With days to stop Arran’s execution and the stoic guardian, Sirius, as her constant shadow, Kesh must weave her lies deep within Faerie’s courts where magic and whispers combine and conspire. Soon, Kesh learns there is more at stake than Arran’s life. Faerie is dying. Oberon’s reign is crumbling. The time to strike against the fae is now. But with Talen, Kellee and Sota a thousand light-years away, Kesh cannot succeed alone...

Jonah Everitt is a killer, an addict, and a memory thief. After being hired to kill a ranking officer of the Pacific Rim Coalition and download his memories, Everitt finds himself caught in the crosshairs of a terror cell, a rogue military squadron, and a Chinese gangster named Alice Xie. Xie is a profiteer of street drugs, primarily DRMR, a powerful narcotic made from the memories of the dead. With his daughter, Mesa, missing in post-war Los Angeles, Everitt is forced into an uneasy alliance with Alice to find her.

Following the initial Martian invasion of England, President Theodore Roosevelt tries to prepare the United States for the potential of another Martian incursion. As the possibility of a stronger invasion is increasingly clear, the US government tries to mobilize nations to share information and technology to defend humanity. Newly minted ordinance officer Andrew Comstock has been placed in charge of developing new technology that has to be tested on the fly in a race against time if humanity is to survive.

Experience the terror again! Veteran narrator David Gilmore takes you through the suspense-filled invasion of the creatures from Mars in this classic H. G. Wells story from 1898. One by one the Martians build their war machines and lay waste to the English countryside while the human population is powerless to fight back against the awesome heat ray.

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.

Isaac Asimov wrote "The Magnificent Possession" early in his career. This is one of the few humorous stories that Asimov created.

Franz Kafka's profound and disturbing novella Metamorphosis was first published in German in 1915. In this recent translation by David Wyllie, Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman, wakes to find himself "transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin". How he, his family, and others deal with this untoward situation is subsequently revealed.

The Martians, finding the resources on their own planet dwindling dramatically, decided to invade and colonize Earth. They land in England and quickly establish control through their vastly superior military technology. The narrative focuses on the wanderings and deliberations of the narrator as he wanders around the country seeking refuge from the remorseless invaders. Two of the most significant characters he encounters are a curate and an artilleryman, neither of whom has an effective approach to dealing with the crisis.

She is forbidden - and my fated mate. Lilith Rose is having one very, very bad day. The courier is delivering a package to a Federation spaceship when it promptly takes off - with her on board! She unwillingly travels to the alien world of New Exon, where the ship is attacked by ferocious alien barbarians. One of the rugged alien warriors saves her life, but his brooding eyes tell her he wants more than a 'thank you'... Daruk is a Zoran Warrior and the best of his tribe. The golden-skinned, imposingly tall warrior has it all - except a mate.

Ambrose Bierce's classic weird tale, first published in 1886, brings us the eerie visons of a feverish man, and introduces to the world the strange realm of Carcosa. Following this telling is a commentary tracing the origins, influence and importance of this Bierce story.

Experience the chilling dystopian world of E. M. Forster's The Machine Stops, narrated by the captivating voice of Mike Vendetti. This thought-provoking tale, first published in 1909, remains eerily relevant today. Don't miss this gripping audiobook that explores themes of technology, isolation, and the human spirit.

Hugh Kellard stepped over his grandfather's home threshold with a weak smile and slumped shoulders as if the weight of all he'd been through had finally caught up to him. He had no plans to ever return to space, but he knew that Halfrich wouldn't accept this answer. When asked why he was leaving, Hugh refused to explain, an unspoken acknowledgment that there was something more than he was letting on. As pressure mounted, Kellard resigned himself to the inevitable: he would have to return and show Halfrich what he saw on Mercury.

It was very simple. Some combination of low temperature and high pressure had forced something from the seepage at the ocean bottom into combination with something in the water around them. And the impregnable armor around Subatlantic Oil's drilling chamber had discovered a weakness.