A man who refused to wear a Skin was labeled a "devil." Rastignac was such a man. He was a meat eater, adhered to the Philosophy of Violence, and was the leader of the Legal Underground of the Kingdom of L'Bawpfey. He could also see the end of Homo Sapiens on their adopted planet. All he wanted to do was to get to the Six Flying Stars—the space-ships that had brought humanity to this planet—and fly away to the stars.

"Rastignac the Devil" appeared in "Fantastic Universe," May 1954, pages 2 - 44.

Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He is best known for the World of Tiers (1965–93) and Riverworld (1971–83) series. He is noted for the reworking of the lore of celebrated pulp heroes. Farmer often mixed real and classic fictional characters and worlds. Such works as The Other Log of Phileas Fogg (1973) and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973) are early examples of literary mashup novels.

Links

Reaper: reaper.fm

LibSyn: libsyn.com

"Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know using the Contact Form.

People had been telling Henry Westing, who just wanted to live his own life in his own manner, that he should belong to something, that he should join. When The Organization started to pester him to join them, he knew they would evetually wear him down, unless...

"The Man Who Wouldn't Sign Up" appeared in "Infinity Science Fiction," October 1958, pages 68 - 77.

Thomas Edward Purdom (born 1936) is an American writer best known for science fiction and nonfiction. His story "Fossil Games" was a nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2000.

Links

Reaper: reaper.fm

LibSyn: libsyn.com

"Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

If there is a particular story that you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know using the Contact Form.

The Repairman

A Mark III beacon, one of the earliest beacons deployed, possibly even the first, had broken down, and he had to go and fix it. Trouble was, there was a religious war going on around it. Time to get creative with the rules surrounding interactions with native species...

"The Repairman" appeared in "Galaxy Science Fiction" February 1958, pages 60 - 73.

Navy Day

The U.S. Army was calling for the abolition of the anachronistic U.S. Navy, and they had a strong case to make. The U.S. Navy, however, would not go without a fight...

"Navy Day" appeared in "Worlds of If Science Fiction," January 1954, pages 63 - 67.

Toy Shop

Colonel "Biff" Hawton knew it was a trick when the salesman opened the 'toy,' revealing the cheap components inside. He bought one anyway. His engineer buddies would get a kick out of his little magic show at their next poker night...

"Toy Shop" appeared in "Analog Science Fact & Fiction" April 1962.

Harry Max Harrison (March 12, 1925 – August 15, 2012) was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

Links

Reaper: reaper.fm

LibSyn: libsyn.com

"Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

If there is a particular story that you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know using the Contact Form.