Showing results by narrator "Rob Goll" in All Categories

The charismatic Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, wishes to purchase a house in London. Assisted in this enterprise by a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, it becomes evident that there is a sinister side to the Count's plans. A small group of friends unite to prevent the success of the Count's schemes, hazarding danger to themselves for the greater good of humanity. The growing mystery is revealed through journal entries, letters, and telegrams written by the main characters.

"The Eve of St. Agnes" was written in January 1819 and first published in 1820. It is a Romantic Narrative poem written in 42 Spenserian stanzas. John Keats based his poem on the superstition that a girl could see her future husband in a dream if she performed certain rites on the eve of the feast of St. Agnes (the patron saint of virgins who died a martyr in 4th century Rome.) The eve falls on January 20th; the feast day on the 21st.

This free verse literary fiction uses opposing stories to contrast models of justice. Justice, a Two Sons Diptych is short and different and will fit into your schedule for a quick read with a thoughtful social challenge. The social controversy it stirs is sure to be intense and enduring. The theological challenge is unsettling. Must justice always balance crime with punishment?

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’ later novels, published and serialized in 1859. It is a compelling tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption set against the backdrop of the violence and horror of the French Revolution.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of four fairy tales, published in 1891, as a follow on collection for The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Written in the form of parables with strong evidence of a Christian tone, Oscar Wilde again revisits the themes of suffering and sacrifice, in a collection which he once claimed was ‘intended neither for the British child nor the British public.’ “Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it”

Fight or Die. This battle cry saved the lost 9th Legion of Rome; the historic US 5th Company, 2nd Mounted Rifles; and a 21st century Special Forces anti-terrorist team on distant Arden when the merciless Horde attacked. Having met the enemy and prevailed, survivors long for peace. But a shadow falls over their universe, proclaiming once more that Death is only the beginning of the adventure.

Stars of Ea is a short science fiction story written by Stephen Landry, originally to be published as a part of a collection of short stories. Stars of Ea is a story about immortality, survival, space adventure, and mythology. Stars of Ea has the honor of being edited by Terry R. Hill, writer of the amazing In the Days of Humans series.

In the wake of a tragic accident, an idyllic marriage turns into something more sinister, and when the zombie apocalypse begins one couple must decide how long they're willing to let their vows bind them....

The story of the orphan, Oliver Twist. Brought up in a workhouse and then apprenticed to an undertaker, he runs away to London. Meeting the charismatic "Artful" Dodger, he then falls in with a gang of backstreet pickpockets run by the sinister Fagin. Oliver Twist is Charles Dickens' second novel, originally serialized in Bentley's Miscellany between 1837 and 1839.

Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope. In this moving poetic study of his experiences in the Victorian penal system, Wilde relates the relentlessness and tedium of prison life, and of the haunted thoughts which trouble these "souls in agony" within their "numbered tombs". Oscar Wilde wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" after his two-year imprisonment at the establishment. During his incarceration, a former trooper was convicted of the murder of his wife and hanged at the Gaol. This event is central to the poem's narrative.

Coel, the bard, thinks his life has taken a turn for the worst, but he hasn't met the Thiefmaster yet. An ill-conceived notion of earning more money to pay off his debt and escape a dark past leaves the minstrel in a situation he can't escape and with a deadly bargain. Will he survive his mistake? Who is this mysterious patron?

A Tales of Erana novella.

In a dark world where magic is illegal and elves live as slaves, a desperate elf and her human companion seek aid from the mysterious sorcerer, Archos and his lady, the sorceress Dii'Athella. Hoping to unearth the secrets of the Shining Citadel, lost for centuries in the mists of magic and time, they begin a dangerous and arduous journey. Could these secrets change the lives of an oppressed people or will such information bring about a worse fate?

Soldiers from varying eras and vastly different backgrounds, including the IX Legion of Rome, are snatched away from Earth at the moment of their passing and transported to the far side of the galaxy. Thinking they have been granted a reprieve, their relief turns to horror when they discover they face a stark ultimatum: Fight or die.

A short book of poems about war, politics, and the vagaries of life.

After 25 years of torment, Matthew is released from a mental institute under the watchful eye and care of Tammy Atkins, a care worker with a secret history of alcohol abuse and self-harm. As Matthew struggles to adapt to his new found liberty, he finds himself continuously plagued by the demons of his past. Haunted by strange and ghastly images and urges, Matthew sets himself upon a path of vengeance; determined to seek out his parents' killer and put his demons to rest once and for all.

As the winding up days of the great and final battle commence, old alliances come to the fore, new alliances are strengthened, and their world of shifting light and dark becomes more hopeful as the numbers of the Luminari and those that follow the Dragon-King Cerralys continues to grow stronger. And then suddenly the unthinkable happens, and Auri discovers a secret so brutal that it shatters everything she knows. Everything she is.

A beautiful young elven sorceress flees for her life in a dark world where magic is forbidden and elves live as slaves. Watching her are the Order of Witch-Hunters, the corrupt organization that rules by fear and ignorance, and a mysterious, wealthy nobleman, lord of an idyllic valley who is not all he seems. As the slavers roll across the lands, stealing elves from what remains of their ancestral home, the Witch-Hunters turn a blind eye to the tragedy and a story of power, love, and a terrible revenge unfolds.

The world has gone mad, and it has taken Sebring Campbell with it. Sebring Campbell is a reasonable man, an agent of Justice, a creature of logic, a product of 19th-century rational thought. But there is a monster on the loose, a criminal turned demon who is stripping Sebring's life away, one love at a time. The monster Rothers leads Sebring on a merry chase of blood and shadow, a chase that can only end in the noose or in hell.

The art of dragon killing: Dragons have been eating humans for centuries. Now heroes throughout history stalk their legendary foe. Learn how to hunt, kill, and eat the wild dragon. Never before has revenge tasted so good. A literary feast for the bloody-minded. In Janet Morris' anthology on the art of dragon killing, 17 writers bring you so close to dragons, you can smell their fetid breath.

This is a short story about two people in love at the end of the world and the beginning of another. It was written on the last day of the year 2014.