Showing results by narrator "Phil Chenevert" in All Categories

The quirky mind of famous science fiction writer Lester del Ray gives us three wonderful tales ranging from zombies ("Dead Ringer"), time travel - how do you convince your earlier self it is safe to get into the time machine, eh? ("And It Comes Out Here") and eternal life ("The Dwindling Years"). Listen and enjoy.

As the title indicates, here are three science fiction stories by Frank Herbert: "Missing Link", originally published in "Astounding Science Fiction", 1959; "Operation Haystack", also published in "Astounding Science Fiction" 1959; and "Old Rambling House", published in "Galaxy Science Fiction" 1958.

The war with the Yucks from Proxima Centauri was claimed to be a stalemate but they were really winning. The mine belts they laid seemed to propagate themselves and were slowly strangling Terran planets. How did they do that? What was their secret? The answer was baffling and the best human minds could only conclude that their ships and mines were somehow alive. So, the next desperate step was to ask "If they are using organic ships, why can't we do the same?"

Conan the Barbarian is employed by one of the civilized countries to help in it's push to claim lands from the primitive Picts. The Picts are not excited about the idea, however. Old gods and mythical creatures are called up by the Pict witches to contest the invading army and Conan finds himself battling for his life amid the bloodthirsty hordes that include saber-toothed tigers, 40-foot-long venomous snakes and a demon from another dimension who is intent on crushing him.

"The Repairman" (1958) is a straight fun science fiction story of a man getting a job done. It is most typical of his later style in series like the Stainless Steel Rat.

Orthodoxy has become a classic of Christian apologetics. In the book's preface Chesterton states the purpose is to "attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." In it, Chesterton presents an original view of the Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the "answer to a riddle" in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience.

Return to the wonderful world of Oz, in which King Fumbo of Ragbad loses his head in a storm and Prince Tatters, accompanied by the wise and wonderful old soldier Grampa, sets off to find the king's head, a fortune, and a princess. With Bill, a live iron weathercock, they visit a Wizard's Garden and discover Urtha, a lovely girl made all of flowers -- and proceed to fall, swim, explode, sail, and fly above and below Oz and Ev. Grampa and Co. eventually meet Dorothy herself, traveling with a Forgetful Poet in search of the missing princess of Perhaps City who has been condemned to marry a monster.

What is a Wub? A 400-pound slovenly, fat, ungainly, drooling animal that looks like a cross between a walrus and an enormous hog? Well, yes that is pretty much what he looks like and for 50 cents, a good bargain no matter how he tastes. The hungry spaceship crew expect to find out. Of course the Wub may not entirely agree but it doesn't have much to say about it.

"The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz" is the fifth of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books. It was originally published on July 10, 1909 and documents Dorothy's fourth visit to Oz.

This classic story by Margery Williams, published in 1922, imparts the timeless message that toys need not be expensive or modern to be appreciated and loved. Through giving and receiving love, even a commonplace stuffed animal can become real in the eyes of a child, and millions of them do every day. Love is the magic ingredient of course, and it works on all of us.

John Sark is the hero who was raised by animals (like Tarzan) in the temperate, twilight zone of Mercury, then captured and civilized. He's a mercenary on Mars now, dealing with humanoid Martians and their extremely nasty pre-humanoid race enemies. The fights are brutal and frantic yet detailed enough to bring you right into the midst of the action; the suspense is real and tingling. A wonderful listen.

As I write this, I have before me on my desk, propped up against the telephone, an old rag doll. Dear old Raggedy Ann! The same Raggedy Ann with which my mother played when a child. There she sits, a trifle loppy and loose-jointed, looking me squarely in the face in a straightforward, honest manner, a twinkle where her shoe-button eyes reflect the electric light. Evidently Raggedy has been to a tea party" today, for her face is covered with chocolate.

Wahb (meaning White Bear) is an orphaned Grizzly Bear who learns to respect his fears, fight for peace, and trust the healing powers of a stinky hot-spring. The story is aptly titled "The Biography of a Grizzly" because it is about the life of a Grizzly. Seton writes with a folksy tone that will enlighten children to the gore and war that Grizzly Bears endure.

The wonderful but quirky Wizard of Oz has invented a plane to go strato-sphering. Zooming among the clouds and shooting stars above OZ certainly produces a host of strange adventures. This last book about OZ by Ruth Thompson includes many well known characters of that fairy land like the Wizard, Dorothy, The Tin Man, and The Cowardly Lion but has some that have been a bit overlooked before like Jellia Jam, Ozma's chief maid-in-waiting and The Soldier With Green Whiskers. A high flying tale with danger and excitement! But don't worry, everyone will come through in the end just fine. - I promise.

Fierce warriors battle, bleed and die in the frozen north while the aurora boealis and the Frost Giants look on, amused. An adventurer and fierce fighter from the far south, Amra of Akbitana is the sole survivor. Battered, bleeding and staggering he is suddenly taunted by a beautiful, naked woman who lures him to his doom. Or so she hopes.

It was a big, coffin-shaped plywood box that looked like it weighed a ton. This brawny type just dumped it through the door of the police station and started away. I looked up from the blotter and shouted at the trucker's vanishing back. "What the hell is that?" "How should I know?" he said as he swung up into the cab. "I just deliver, I don't X-ray 'em. It came on the morning rocket from Earth is all I know." He gunned the truck more than he had to and threw up a billowing cloud of red dust.

Everyone knows the story of the Headless Horseman but perhaps you, like me, did not remember what a marvelous story teller Washington Irving was. He observed human nature closely and, like any good humorist, lets us laugh at our own silly and superstitious sides through the joy of having strangers be the ones to display them. If you, like me, have only vague and muddy memories of this story, you owe it to yourself to listen and laugh along with the rest of the world.

Tanks and the future of war is what Murray Leinster speculates about in this story. Written in the 1920's he observed the terrible new inventions that were used in World War I to kill people, armored tanks and poisoned gas and then tells us how war will be fought in the future. In this case the war will occur in 1932 and be between the US and the 'Yellow enemy'. It was published in the very first issue of "Astounding Stories of Super Science", January 1930.

A voyage on the famous Nonestic Ocean! What could be more thrilling than that? We—many of us—have taken trips on the prosaic Atlantic or even Pacific, but have we found a SEA FOREST with flying fish and swimming birds? Have we been pursued by a real SEA SERPENT, or had our ship transfixed by the immense ivory tusk of a NARWHAL? Have we come upon the glittering island of PEAKENSPIRE, or made friends with a charming talking hippopotamus? Yet all these things and more befall Captain Salt, one time Pirate and now Royal Explorer of Oz, and his merry crew.

Princess Ozma has ruled so wisely and happily in the wonderful Land of Oz for so long that most of us have forgotten the strange story of the Lost King of Oz—Ozma's father. As everyone in Oz knows, the King was transformed from his royal self by Mombi, the wicked old Gilliken witch, and lost his throne and his crown when he, himself, was lost. In this new Oz book the Royal Historian tells how Snip, the little buttonboy, and Pajuka, the great white goose.