Showing results by narrator "Richard James" in All Categories

Apropos is the unlikely noble whose life began in the lowest of ways: as the result of a gang assault by a group of drunken knights on a helpless tavern wench. Last time out, Apropos attempted to seize control of his own fate, and ended up with, appropriately, nothing. Time has passed since he fled the kingdom of Runcible, and Apropos leads a quiet existence as a tavern owner. All that changes abruptly, however, when the sorceress Sharee re-enters his life with the forces of the warlike Lord Bellicose hard on her heels. They want something they're convinced she has stolen.

It’s the 48th year of the Kurian Order. The alien, vampiric Kur and their avatars, the Reapers, control most of the Earth - their new feeding ground. Humanity is scattered and survives only at their new master’s whims. But the Resistance is attempting to reclaim Earth. David Valentine, member of the elite Cat spy force, is in enemy uniform aboard the aging gunboat Thunderbolt.

On the Empire’s home world of Logres, King Douglas deals with the beautiful Treasure Mackenzie’s seduction attempts while Finn Durandal, with Parliaments’ approval, wages war on the esper city of New Hope. The quest of Lewis Deathstalker and his companions takes them to the fiercely hostile planet Shandrakor, in search of the lost Deathstalker Standing and the answers it may hold, but first Lewis’ people will have to contend with the indigenous population, the horrific results of human scientists’ genetic experimentation.

It’s high-stakes, win-or-die football action in the far future, as aliens and humans fill positions based on physiology and leave their blood, sweat and tears on gridirons across the galaxy. Last season, 19-year-old rookie quarterback Quentin Barnes overcame his racism and unified his team. He led the Ionath Krakens to a lower-tier championship, a championship that earns them promotion into the meat grinder known as “Tier One.”

In the grand finale of the epic Deathstalker saga, Lewis Deathstalker and his beloved Jesamine are compelled to embrace the full might of their extraordinary new powers. The Empire and rebel forces must forge an uneasy alliance to battle a common enemy: the demonic Uber-espers, a conflict that leads to a startling revelation as to their origin. The deposed King Douglas finally confronts the usurper Finn Durandal face-to-face. And Owen Deathstalker’s quest to halt the onslaught of the monstrous Terror reaches its dramatic conclusion.

The Dragon King who rules the land of Mensandor is none other than Quentin, whose courage and heroism have slowly transformed him from an orphaned servant into a war hero, respected leader and a fierce man of faith. But even the powerful can fall prey to weakness. The world is turned upside-down when the dark sorcerer Nimrood - long thought dead after a battle with the previous Dragon King - returns with a fearsome plan.

In 30 years of prospecting, old Jim had never discovered Amber's Mirage - a shining cliff above a spring that ran heavy with gold. But his young sidekick took up the search to find the gold - a search that would cost him two years away from wild Ruby, the woman he loved.

This radio dramatization of the classic movie, featuring the original stars, aired on October 7, 1948.

Award-winning jokesmith and self-confessed idiot Stephen K. Amos teams up with some of the world's sharpest comic minds to compile a dummies' guide to being a modern human. From raising children and having a mid-life crisis, to first impressions and facing your fears, who better than a bunch of comedians to lead us through life's existential maze?

Lewis Deathstalker and his beloved Jesamine Flowers are fugitives from the Empire, and fate has assembled a bizarre company of companions for them.

Finn Durandal’s traitorous scheme is all coming together, as Parliament becomes the bloody scene of Finn’s carefully orchestrated civil unrest. But King Douglas begins to see betrayal much closer at hand, and the pain of it may leave him a shattered man. Lewis Deathstalker’s struggle to hold honor above his own needs is put aside momentarily, as the riot on Parliament’s doorstep puts him in a battle to the death with Finn’s brutal assassin Rose Constantine, undefeated gladiator of the Arena.

In the shocking conclusion of Deathstalker: Return, King Douglas is brought to trial before his treacherous former Champion, and the Paragon Emma Steel seeks the aid of Finn Durandal’s fellow conspirator. Elsewhere, the quest of Lewis Deathstalker and his weary band of renegades has finally brought them to the legendary planet Haden, home of the mysterious Madness Maze. Surprising developments there and an unexpected visitor strongly compel Lewis to risk his life and sanity by entering the Madness Maze to learn the truth about his legendary ancestor.

It’s the 48th year of the Kurian Order. The alien, vampiric Kur and their avatars, the Reapers, control most of the Earth - their new feeding ground. Humanity is scattered and survives only at their new master’s whims. But the Resistance is attempting to reclaim Earth. David Valentine, member of the elite Cat spy force, is in enemy uniform aboard the aging gunboat Thunderbolt. Whispers have reached him of the discovery of a long-lost weapon in the Caribbean - the first glimmer of hope for humanity to finally defeat the Reapers.

The British, it is often said, have a stiff upper lip and a dry sense of humour. It's true, we usually do, and in the case of this perfect compendium of short stories we absolutely do. Listen to our Scottish raconteur J. M. Barrie and English wits Jerome K. Jerome and Edward Lear for perfect proof of that. But humour is many things and from many places, so we also feature Mark Twain, our very talented American friend, to complete this rather witty and clever volume of short stories.

Premier Vassily, supreme leader of a Soviet-dominated world, lays dying, the result of a conspiracy plot lead by Colonel Killov, head of the USSA KGB, who sees himself as the next in line to rule the Empire. But Killov has his enemies. General Zhabnov, head of the United Socialist States of America, has his own eyes on the premiership. But first, Zhabnov must take care of the continuing freefighter rebel problem within his borders. And his answer is ingenious. He will brainwash and mind control tens of thousands of his American slave laborers and turn them into soldiers.

Following Russia’s thermonuclear first strike, America is a shattered wasteland, its survivors crushed under the iron fist of the brutal Soviet invader. But some have chosen to continue the fight for freedom’s cause under Ted Rockson, the ultimate soldier of survival. And when Rockson receives a strange visitor who is near death, a long-rumored legend suddenly comes alive.

Ravaged by WWlll, America is now a brutalized Russian colony, but a loose and secret federation of Free Cities rises up to fight the hated oppressors! Rockson, the Doomsday Warrior, leads the American Rebels against the Russian occupation in their most desperate hour and is captured and tortured by the KGB.

In the royal inner circle, the immovable wills of Lewis Deathstalker, the King’s Champion, and Jesamine Flowers, the King’s betrothed, labor in vain against the most irresistible force they’ve ever known. Or so they think. In fulfillment of Owen Deathstalker’s warning of 200 years earlier, a nightmarish alien entity has intruded into Human space, a creature that devours planets and suns and shrugs off any defense humanity hurls against it.

With Tyvian Reldamar feigning his death, the forces that still carry his banner are left to fight a vicious battle against the warlord Banric Sahand and the noble houses that flock to his side. Led by Myreon and Artus, this band of freedom fighters and angry rebels is faced with an enemy the likes of which they’ve never faced before: one who will do anything, no matter how brutal, to secure victory.

Original story published in Lariat story magazine - July 1947.