Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Action & Adventure

Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope. In this moving poetic study of his experiences in the Victorian penal system, Wilde relates the relentlessness and tedium of prison life, and of the haunted thoughts which trouble these "souls in agony" within their "numbered tombs". Oscar Wilde wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" after his two-year imprisonment at the establishment. During his incarceration, a former trooper was convicted of the murder of his wife and hanged at the Gaol. This event is central to the poem's narrative.

A breathtaking piece of luck, coupled with an unlikely coincidence, secured by a piercing intellect and curious nature, lead three friends to believe they might possibly uncover pirate gold! With all the insight and reasoning of a Sherlock Holmes, Poe's William Legrand plucks faint clues seemingly from mid-air and carefully arrives at a conclusion of exactly where in the world to dig.Has he reasoned - and guessed - correctly? Or, will the only gold he sees be the color of his eponymous beetle?

Queen of the Black Coast is a thrilling tale by Robert E. Howard, first published in Weird Tales in May 1934. It follows Conan the Cimmerian, a barbarian adventurer, as he joins a pirate crew led by the fierce and captivating Bêlit, the Queen of the Black Coast. Together, they embark on daring raids, confront supernatural horrors, and explore mysterious jungles and ancient ruins. The story is a blend of high adventure, romance, and dark fantasy, showcasing Howard's vivid world-building and dynamic characters.

This book was an instant best-seller and became (and remains to this day) an international sensation, much like Harry Potter today. The story of the infant son of an English Lord and Lady marooned on the coast of Africa made its author famous and wealthy. Adopted by the she-ape, Kala, Tarzan becomes a "mighty hunter, mighty fighter" - the first superhero in American literature.

Mary Shelley wished with her classic Gothic novel Frankenstein to "make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart". Mary Shelley succeeded. Victor Frankenstein finally fulfills his dream of creating his own living creature, stitched together from the macabre remains of corpses. To his horror he finds he has created something even more ghastly than in his worst imaginings. Frankenstein has created a monster with a soul!

Audie Award-winning narrator Johnny Heller is Huckleberry Finn in this brand-new edition of the classic American story. Huck's understanding of the world around him evolves as he and Jim, a runaway slave, travel the Mississippi River. A coming-of-age journey for both Huck and listeners alike for over 100 years and counting.

The Western Conference discovers the Reds have stolen their alien-source data on a colonizable planet...and so must rush their plans for an expedition. When their spaceship crashes on Topaz, Travis Fox and his party of modern Apache Indians, reverted to their tribal ancestral memories, find they have already been beaten there. And they must deal with more than Reds - for the Reds have brought along reverted members of Ghenghis Khan's Mongol Horde!

John O'Brian travels to Dagon's Cave to murder Richard Brent for the love of Eleanor Bland. Eleanor is a beautiful blonde who won't commit to Brent or O'Brian so John has decided to settle it for her. The cave is a really creepy place with lots of local myths surrounding it including mysterious Little People, the prehistoric beings of British legend. Celts and Saxons battled in the area for decades. O'Brian wanders into the cave and manages to fall headlong down a flight of stairs knocking himself unconscious. To say he wasn't himself when he came to is an understatement.

Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth, is betrothed to Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, in an arranged marriage. She spurns the advances of a suitor, Astok of Dusar, who then plots to abduct Thuvia and frame Carthoris, son of John Carter, for the crime, igniting a war between Kaol, Ptarth, and Helium.

At the conclusion of The Gods of Mars, John Carter's wife and two other women were locked in a slowly rotating prison attached to the Temple of the Sun, each of whose hundreds of cells are only open to the outside world once every year. John Carter must discover the secret of the Temple of the Sun to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter Phaidor, who has been imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth.

After a 10-year absence, John Carter returns to Barsoom. He finds himself among the Therns, a white-skinned race of self-proclaimed gods, who have for eons deceived the Barsoomians elsewhere that the pilgrimage to the Valley Dor is a journey to paradise when it is in fact a valley of death. This is book two of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series.

Two adventurers discover a lost city in the Mexican jungle, returning not only with an ancient idol, but also an unimaginable horror that threatens the existence of the world.

An innocent solo airplane excursion plunges Tarzan into a previously unknown jungle valley, where he meets new races of astounding humans. Tarzan finds himself not only enslaved, but imprisoned by an advanced technology that may prevent his return to his former life forever. Tarzan and the Ant-Men is the 10th book in the Tarzan series, continuing the saga a year after Tarzan and the Golden Lion.

Nova is a rogue adventurer who needs money - fast - or she'll be hauled to a labor camp. One cargo could solve all her problems, but there's a catch: The goods aren't legal. Now, Nova must choose: cave to criminals or do the right thing and risk being killed?

First serialized in the French magazine Je sais tout, The Hollow Needle was released in 1909. It featured the writer’s famed gentleman burglar, Arsene Lupin, who encountered the surprisingly apt amateur-detective qualities of young Isidore Beautrelet. As fans of Lupin would come to expect over subsequent novels, the burglar nonetheless always remained at least one step ahead of his adversaries, until...

Jack London was one of the most prolific and imaginative writers America has ever produced. This collection includes eight masterpieces that showcase London's literary versatility and his genius at creating memorable, one-of-a-kind characters: "Moon-Face" - a study of extreme motiveless antipathy; "The Leopard-Man's Story" - passion and mayhem under the big top; "Local Color" - a wandering polymath might be too smart for his own good; "The Minions of Midas" - a tale of terrorism perhaps more disturbing today than it was 100 years ago; and much more.

Norman Gilligan provides just the right amount of British accent narrating The Time Machine, a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term time machine, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle.

A tale of romance, greed, blackmail, secrets, Spain, and ships. Loss and intrigue, too, as we follow twin brothers along their life paths.

Between 1895 and 1897 Oscar Wilde served a prison sentence for offences "of gross indecency". Most of this time was spent at Reading Gaol, where Wilde encountered another prisoner, Harles Thomas Wooldridge, sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. Wooldrige was hanged at the gaol on 7th July, 1896. Wilde wrote the poem in France in 1897 after his release from prison. The poem is a long reflection on the inequity and ineffectiveness of statutory punishment and the redeeming power of the Christian message of forgiveness.

Written in 1915, Beyond Thirty is a fascinating tale of the future after World War I as seen from 1915 - as the carnage and slaughter on the fields of France stunned the world, and men of good will all wondered where civilization was headed. For Edgar Rice Burroughs, "The Great War" results in a two century division between the eastern and western hemispheres. Inhabitants of Pan-America are forbidden to cross the 30th parallel. Europe and the Old World are forever cut off from America.