Showing results by narrator "Phil Chenevert" in All Categories

"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.

Dear children: Do you like Elephants? Do you believe in Giants? And do you love all the jolly people of the Wonderful Land of Oz? Well then you'll want to hear about the latest happenings in that delightful Kingdom. All are set forth in true Oz fashion in "Kabumpo in Oz," the sixteenth Oz book. Kabumpo is an Elegant Elephant. He is very old and wise, and has a kindly heart, as have all the Oz folks. In the new book you'll meet Prince Pompa, and Peg Amy, a charming Wooden Doll. There are new countries, strange adventures and the most surprising Box of Magic you have ever heard of.

In Larson's Luck, Gerald Vance takes us on a light hearted jaunt into hot shot space ship pilots, piracy and the good part of breaking the rules. Just how does Larson stay so lucky? Listen and you just may find out.

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.

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.

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 Story of Doctor Dolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts (1920), written by Hugh Lofting, is the first of his Doctor Dolittle books, a series of children's novels about a man who learns to talk to animals and becomes their champion around the world. It was one of the novels in the series which was adapted into the film, Doctor Dolittle.

The planet where his new plantation was established was very strange, with a complete lack of sex; all of his workers and all the animals and plants had no sex at all; they were all "its". But like every farmer on every planet, Duncan had to hunt down anything that damaged his crops - and whatever animal ate his vua plants was going to die. Of course he had no idea what this one looked like or what it was like, but whatever it was, he would track it and his rifle would bring it down.

Conan the Barbarian is after fabulous treasure in this exciting story. But he finds himself in more difficulties than he had counted on. Crafty and powerful human opponents seek to skin him alive, bestial mutations seek to rip his arms off, denizens of the deep want to devour him whole and scantily clad dusky beauties try to waylay him at every step. And all of this to find the Jewels of Gwahlur, the most fabulous treasure every hidden in a secret temple.

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.

"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.

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same very optimistic outlook.

The Apology is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel". "Apology" here has its earlier meaning of speaking in defense of a cause or of one's beliefs or actions. The general term apology, in context to literature, defends a world from attack (opposite of satire-which attacks 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.

Retief, the somewhat reluctant diplomat, does not always follow what his superiors define as "proper procedure". His suave and sardonic approach to intergalactic maneuvering and his attempts to smooth over the bumblings of his other diplomats is documented in this funny story. Keith Laumer adds another delightful episode in Retief's career here.

"Herbert West -Reanimator" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written between October 1921 and June 1922. It was first serialized in February through July 1922 in the amateur publication Home Brew. The story is the first to mention Lovecraft's fictional Miskatonic University. It is also one of the first depictions of zombies as scientifically reanimated corpses, with animalistic and uncontrollable temperaments.

Earth is doomed. But there is one hope and it rests on the shoulders of 98 brave men. Can they do it? Can they find a way of retaliating?

A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen. The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th-century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself. Ibsen was inspired by the belief that "a woman cannot be herself in modern society", since it is "an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint".

The land of OZ is the happiest fairyland anywhere, but there are evil creatures whose only ambition is to destroy that happiness. Lurking inside Mount Illuso, just south of the Deadly Desert, live the Magic Mimics, a race devoted to causing the maximum chaos and unhappiness everywhere, but mainly in the land of OZ. Until now they have been kept at bay by a spell, but when Princess Ozma leaves OZ for 3 days, their foul machinians are quicly put into play. Princess Dorothy is left in chage of OZ and must deal with these happiness crushing beings.

The full title of Swift's pamphlet is A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burtden to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick."The tract is an ironically conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics, are living in squalor because their families are too poor to keep them fed and clothed.