Showing results by narrator "Rayner Bourton" in All Categories

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. MISS WINCHELSEA'S HEART: Miss Winchelsea was going to Rome. The matter had filled her mind for a month or more, and had overflowed so abundantly into her conversation that quite a number of people who were not going to Rome, and who were not likely to go to Rome, had made it a personal grievance against her.

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the "father of science fiction". JIMMY GOGGLES THE GOD: "It isn't every one who's been a god," said the sunburnt man. "But it's happened to me. Among other things." I intimated my sense of his condescension.

Towards mid-day the three pursuers came abruptly round a bend in the torrent bed upon the sight of a very broad and spacious valley. The difficult and winding trench of pebbles along which they had tracked the fugitives for so long, expanded to a broad slope, and with a common impulse the three men left the trail, and rode to a little eminence set with olive-dun trees, and there halted, the two others, as became them, a little behind the man with the silver-studded bridle.

The New Accelerator features a fascinating depiction of the invention of what sounds a lot like an amphetamine (though technically they had already been invented a dozen years earlier). It will also remind Star Trek fans of the episode called Wink of an Eye.

"The Man Who Could Work Miracles" is a British fantasy-comedy short story by H. G. Wells first published in 1898 in The Illustrated London News. It carried the subtitle "A Pantoum in Prose." The story is an early example of Contemporary fantasy (not yet recognized, at the time, as a specific sub-genre). In common with later works falling within this definition, the story places a major fantasy premise (a wizard with enormous, virtually unlimited magic power) not in an exotic semi-Medieval setting but in the drab routine daily life of suburban London, very familiar to Wells himself.

Written in the late 19th century by H. G. Wells and first published in The Butterfly (September 1899), (and collected in The Obliterated Man and Other Stories, [Dec 1925]), A Vision of Judgment is a short story in 9 sections. It portrays a Last Judgment in which God and the archangel Gabriel laugh at sinners and saints alike, embarrassing them until they flee "up the sleeve of God." After every human soul has taken shelter there, all of humanity, "enlightened" and "in new clean bodies," is given a second chance.

"The Crystal Egg" is a science fiction short story written by H. G. Wells in 1897. The story tells of a shop owner, named Mr. Cave, who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars. The story was written the same year in which Wells was serializing "The War of the Worlds" in Pearson's Magazine, a year before it was published as a novel. Because of the vaguely similar descriptions of the Martians and their machines, "The Crystal Egg" is often considered a precursor to "The War of the Worlds".

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. MATCHING'S EASY AT WAR: On that eventful night of the first shots and the first deaths Mr. Britling did not sleep until daylight had come. He sat writing at this pamphlet of his, which was to hail the last explosion and the ending of war.

"The Star" is an 1897 apocalyptic short story by H.G. Wells. In January (about 1900, presumably), the people of Earth awaken to the news that a strange luminous object has erupted, into the Solar System, after disturbing the normal orbit of the planet Neptune. The object is a celestial body whose luminosity is distinguishable on the sky about the constellation of Leo.

Mr. Coombes was sick of life. He walked away from his unhappy home, and, sick not only of his own existence but of everybody else's, turned aside down Gaswork Lane to avoid the town, and, crossing the wooden bridge that goes over the canal to Starling's Cottages, was presently alone in the damp pine woods and out of sight and sound of human habitation. He would stand it no longer. He repeated aloud with blasphemies unusual to him that he would stand it no longer.

This story talks about social class at universities in the late 1800s and it also looks at the idea of scholarships. The main character is the son of a cobbler and he's at university on a scholarship, unlike the other students who are from wealthy families who are able to pay for their education.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original, adapted for audio. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The Obliterated Man is a short story by H. G. Wells. Herbert George "H. G." Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction", as are Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man.

The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham is a short story by H. G. Wells. Herbert George "H. G." Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction", as are Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback.

"The Lord of the Dynamos" is a British short story by H.G. Wells. It was originally published in the Pall Mall Budget (6 September 1894), and then included in the collection The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents, published by Methuen & Co. in 1895, and subsequently in his Complete Short Stories. It deals with what Wells describes as "certain odd possibilities of the negro mind brought into abrupt contact with the crown of our civilisation" and the narration displays racist attitudes common among British society of the time, in addition to the overt thuggish racism of the character Holroyd.

'The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes' is the strange tale of an inexplicable case of a scientist who, after an accident with a magnet and a flash of lightning, finds that his eyes no longer see the world where the rest of his body is but another part of the world altogether - a southern hemisphere island inhabited by penguins.

'Aepyornis Island' is the strange tale of a naturalist who finds himself adrift in a canoe in the Indian Ocean, with three mysterious rare giant eggs which he has collected. He knows they are the eggs of the aepyornis - a bird which has been extinct for hundreds of years. He is amazed, when hunger forces him to try one of the eggs, to find that it is fresh. When he opens the second egg several days later, he is horrified to find a still live embryo inside it. Before he is forced to eat the third and final egg, his canoe is cast up on a deserted atoll.

The Jilting of Jane is a short story by H. G. Wells. Herbert George "H. G." Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction," as are Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man.

'... slowly uncoiling their tentacles... and making a soft purring sound to each other' A disgusting account of a school of giant squid attacking a seaside resort, and two other examples of Wells' extraordinary imagination at work - 'The Magic Shop' and 'The Land Ironclads'.

Nicola never imagines herself as a widow in her mid-thirties. Losing her husband to a sudden illness shatters her world, but then she unexpectedly meets up with Matt, her childhood love. As they reconnect after years apart, Nicola finds herself drawn to his easy charm and gentle demeanour. Despite the guilt she feels for moving on so quickly after her husband's death, she can't help but fall for him. Their affair is passionate and all-consuming, but just as Matt finally decides to leave Michelle his wife, Michelle disappears without trace.