Showing results by narrator "Phil Chenevert" in All Categories

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?"

"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.

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.

Here is a story 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 is always a delight to hear. Keith Laumer at his sardonic best.

"The Marvelous Land of Oz" is the sequel to Baum's first novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The protagonist of the novel is an orphan boy called Tip. For as long as he can remember, Tip has been under the guardianship of a cruel Wicked Witch named Mombi who lives in the northern quadrant of Oz called Gillikin Country. Mombi has always been extremely mean and abusive to Tip. As Mombi is returning, Tip plans to rebel with the help of his friends Jack Pumpkinhead and Scarecrow.

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.

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.

Yes, this is another wonderful OZ book with all the old familiar characters and some new delightful ones. The Patchwork Girl, a free spirit if ever there was one, is brought to life in this story and then sets out into the wonderful world of OZ to help her friend Ojo find the ingredients for a magic potion to save his Uncle. The five things they need are strange and the places and people they meet along their journey are sometimes dangerous and sometimes funny but the Patchwork Girl always finds humor and fun in all of them.

On many a day had Handy, the Goat Girl of Mern, pursued her goats up and down the rocky eminences of her native mountain. And never—NEVER—in her fourteen or so years' experience had she been blown up by a mountain spring. But there comes, in every one's experience a day which is unlike every other day, and so it was with the Goat Girl. As she was pursuing What-a-butter, her favorite goat, there was a sudden crash, a whish, and up flew the slab of rock on which she was standing, up and away. The adventures into which she was carried by this simple though awefull beginning take a whole book to relate.

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.

Dorothy thinks she's lost forever when a tornado whirls her and her dog, Toto, into a magical world. To get home, she must find the wonderful wizard in the Emerald City of Oz. On the way she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. But the Wicked Witch of the West has her own plans for the new arrival... will Dorothy ever see Kansas again?

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.

This collection of 35 short poems was first published in 1927, and is a sequel to When We Were Very Young, which was the first anthology of verse dealing with the domestic adventures of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

The plot follows a crew of 10 trying to hunt the Snark, an animal that may turn out to be a highly dangerous Boojum. The only one of the crew to find the Snark quickly vanishes, leading the narrator to explain that it was a Boojum after all. The Bellman, whose only navigational skills consist of ringing his bell, is my favorite next to the nervous beaver who knits lace most of the time.

"I was 100 miles from Nowhere - and I mean that literally - when I spotted this girl out of the corner of my eye. I'd been keeping an extra lookout because I still expected the other undead bugger left over from the murder party at Nowhere to be stalking me." In a Post-apocalyptic world, the few people left must be strong. And must not hesitate to kill. Of course, killing another Deathlander was one of the chief pleasures and urges of all the solitary wanders in this vast wasteland. Kill and kill again.

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.

A poor queen with three beautiful daughters, but one is more beautiful than the others. She survives plots to kill them all, magic fairies, pirates and oh so much more make in this wonderful tale adapted from Hans Christian Andersen.

Another Oz book! Yes! Lots of unlikely characters and tons of fun. In this story, young King Randy of Regalia is visited by his old friend, Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink. Together, they set out to visit their friend Jinnicky the Red Jinn in the Land of Ev.. On the way, they meet Planetty, the silver Princess from Anuther Planet, and her fire-breathing colt, Thun. When they reach Jinnicky's palace, they find that Jinnicky has been deposed and enchanted by an untrustworthy slave.

Why did everybody step off the ship in this strange valley and promptly drop dead? How could a well-equipped corps of tough spacemen become a field of rotting skeletons in this quiet world of peace and contentment? It was a mystery Peter and Sherri had to solve. If they could live long enough!

"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.