The Creature from Cleveland Depths [by Fritz Leiber]

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” also known as “The Lone Wolf” tells the story of a writer and his wife who refuse to move below-ground after the cold-war gets hot. The underground society discovers a decline in their ability to creatively innovate, and must consult with surface dwellers to develop products that satiate the needs of a people living like moles. But the latest product to result from this alliance, “The Tickler” has frightening implications that only our heroes seem to notice. – This story appeared in the December, 1962 issue of “Galaxy” magazine.

Read by Gregg Margarite.

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The Creature from Cleveland Depths [by Fritz Leiber]

Five short stories [by H. Beam Piper]

Five short stories by classic science fiction writer H. Beam Piper. 

1 - The Answer 
2 - Temple Trouble
3 - Flight From Tomorrow
4 - Police Operation
5 - Graveyard of Dreams

Recorded by Mark Nelson

link to the free audiobook
Five short stories [by H. Beam Piper]

Uller Uprising [by H. Beam Piper]

Uller Uprising is the story of a confrontation between a human overlord and alien servants, with an ironic twist at the end. Like most of Piper's best work, Uller Uprising is modeled after an actual event in human history; in this case the Sepoy Mutiny (a Bengal uprising in British-held India brought about when rumors were spread to native soldiers that cartridges being issued by the British were coated with animal fat. The rebellion quickly spread throughout India and led to the massacre of the British Colony at Cawnpore.). Piper's novel is not a mere retelling of the Indian Mutiny, but rather an analysis of an historical event applied to a similar situation in the far future. 

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Uller Uprising [by H. Beam Piper]

Second Variety [by Philip K. Dick]

Early victories by the USSR in a global nuclear war cause the United Nations government to retreat to the moon leaving behind troops and fierce autonomous robots called “Claws”, which reproduce and redesign themselves in unmanned subterranean factories. After six bloody years of conflict the Soviets call for an urgent conference and UN Major Joseph Hendricks sets out to meet them. Along the way he will discover what the Claws have been up to, and it isn’t good… - Second Variety was first published in the May 1953 edition of Space Science Fiction Magazine.

Read by Gregg Margarite

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Second Variety [by Philip K. Dick]

No Great Magic [by Fritz Leiber]

They were a traveling group of Shakespearean players; perfectly harmless, right? wrong. For one thing, why did they have spacemen costumes in their wardrobes,right next to caveman ones? Why was the girl in charge of backstage suffering from amnesia and agoraphobia? No Great Magic is needed to perform the plays they put on, but sometimes great science. No matter where, or when.

Read by Phil Chenevert

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No Great Magic [by Fritz Leiber]

The Big Time [by Fritz Leiber]

A classic locked room mystery, in a not-so-classic setting.

Read by Karen Savage.

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The Big Time [by Fritz Leiber]

Gambler's World & The Yillian Way [by Keith Laumer]

Here are two stories starring the always unconventional Terrestrial Diplomat, Retief. As a diplomat, Retief does not always follow procedure. Well the truth is that he almost never follows procedure but somehow his wit and strength manage to salvage most situations from the bumbling of the other diplomats. His sardonic approach to inter galactic negotiations in these two stories is a delight to hear. 

Read by Phil Chenevert


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Gambler's World & The Yillian Way [by Keith Laumer]

The Misplaced Battleship [by Harry Harrison]

"It might seem a little careless to lose track of something as big as a battleship ... but interstellar space is on a different scale of magnitude. But a misplaced battleship—in the wrong hands!—can be most dangerous." The world class con man and thief known as the Stainless Steel Rat (diGriz) has another very big problem to solve and this science fiction novella by the great Harry Harrison will see if he can solve it and perhaps four or five more like it before this fascinating and funny tale is finished. 'Use a thief to catch a thief' sounds great but it sometimes has unexpected results. 

Read by Phil Chenevert.

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The Misplaced Battleship [by Harry Harrison]

The People of the Crater [by Andre Norton]

An air force pilot adrift in peacetime is recruited to join an Antarctic expedition. When a strange mist downs his plane he discovers an ancient alien civilization which has prophesized his arrival. Now he and his faithful pet Ana must descend to the depths of the crater and face the Black Ones in order to rescue the fair Thrala, daughter of the Ancient Ones. – Andre Norton (Alice Mary Norton) was a popular author of science fiction and fantasy who began publishing stories in the early 1930s. “The People of the Crater” was first published in volume 1 number 1 of Fantasy Book in 1947.

Read by Gregg Margarite.

link to the free audiobook

The People of the Crater [by Andre Norton]

The Return [by H. Beam Piper & John J. McGuire]

Two-hundred years after a global nuclear war, two explorers from a research outpost, that largely survived the cataclysm, discover a settlement of humans who have managed to maintain their civilisation despite ferocious cannibal neighbours, the Scowrers. However, the explorers must turn detective in order to understand the mystery of their hosts philosophy and religion.

link to the free audiobook
The Return [by H. Beam Piper & John J. McGuire]

Brigands of the Moon [by Ray Cummings]

Gregg Haljan was aware that there was a certain danger in having the giant spaceship Planetara stop off at the moon to pick up Grantline's special cargo of moon ore. For that rare metal -- invaluable in keeping Earth's technology running -- was the target of many greedy eyes. But nevertheless he hadn't figured on the special twist the clever Martian brigands would use. So when he found both the ship and himself suddenly in their hands, he knew that there was only one way in which he could hope to save that cargo and his own secret -- that would be by turning space-pirate himself and paying the Brigands of the Moon back in their own interplanetary coin.

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Brigands of the Moon [by Ray Cummings]

The Repairman [by Harry Harrison]

This is a collection of 3 of Harry Harrison's marvelous earlier stories that were published in Galaxy, Analog and Fantastic Universe. The Repairman (1958) is a straight fun SF story of a man getting a job done. It is most typical of his later style in series like the Stainless Steel Rat; Toy Shop (1962), a short piece exploring bureaucratic blindness and one ingenious way around it and The Velvet Glove (1956), my favorite for its writing style, fun perspective, sly social commentary on the scene in 1956 and just plain delightful imagination. And he manages to pack excitement and mystery in at the same time. 

Read by Phil Chenevert.

link to the free audiobook
The Repairman [by Harry Harrison]

Ultima Thule [by Mack Reynolds]

Ronny Bronston has dreamed all his life of getting a United Planets job that would take him off-world. He finally gets the opportunity when he is given a provisional assignment with Bureau of Investigation, Section G. But will he be able to complete his assignment and find the elusive Tommy Paine?

Read by Karen Savage.

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Ultima Thule [by Mack Reynolds]

The Cosmic Computer [by H. Beam Piper]

Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, "The Junkyard Planet", with news of the possible location of Merlin, a military super-computer rumored to have been abandoned there after the last war. The inhabitants hope to find Merlin, which they think will be their ticket to wealth and prosperity. But is Merlin real, or just an old rumor? And if they find it will it save them, or tear them apart?

Read by Mark Nelson. 

link to the free audiobook
The Cosmic Computer [by H. Beam Piper]

Planet of the Damned [by Harry Harrison]

Once in a generation, a man is born with a heightened sense of empathy. Brion Brandd used this gift to win the Twenties, an annual physical and mental competition among the best and smartest people on Anvhar. But scarcely able to enjoy his victory, Brandd is swept off to the hellish planet Dis where he must use his heightened sense of empathy to help avert a global nuclear holocaust by negotiating with the blockading fleet, traversing the Disan underworld, and cracking the mystery of the savagely ruthless magter.

link to the free audiobook
Planet of the Damned [by Harry Harrison]

Deathworld [by Harry Harrison]

Harry Harrison is best known for his Stainless Steel Rat stories and the novel Make Room! Make Room! which was adapted for film as Soylent Green. Deathworld is the first in a series of novels begun in 1960 and originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. It’s the story of Jason dinAlt a professional gambler with psionic skills who finds himself on Pyrrus the deadliest planet to be colonized by humanity. Violent weather, active tectonics, heavy gravity, abundant predators, and a hostile splinter group of colonists is only the beginning of Jason’s quest to learn the truth about Pyrrus. 

Read by Gregg Margarite.

link to the free audiobook
Deathworld [by Harry Harrison]

The Ethical Engineer [by Harry Harrison]

The Ethical Engineer also known as “Deathworld II” finds our hero Jason dinAlt captured to face justice for his crimes, but the ever-wily gambler crashes his transport on a primitive planet populated by clans that hoard knowledge. It’s a difficult situation for a guy who just wants to get back to Pyrrus. The Ethical Engineer was first published in the July and August 1963 issues of Analog Science Fact & Fiction.

Read by Gregg Margarite.

link to the free audiobook
The Ethical Engineer [by Harry Harrison]