Publisher: Charles River Editors
Edgar Allan Poe (19 January 1809 7 October 1849) was an American writer best known for stories of mystery and horror. Poe also wrote poetry, including the well known poem The Raven. Not much is known about Poes untimely death, but it cannot be debated that he has had a great influence on American literature.
A young woman, almost just a girl, is found dead in the town wizard’s shop. It looks like suicide but she has scratched down some runes as she died – a message to Turik the wizard. With his friends Jendra and Pym he sets out on town to find who’s behind a series of deaths among the young women – they were all forced into the labour of night fairies. In the series of The Wizard of Moorport, we get to follow the old town wizard Turik, his sword wielding friend, the half elf Jendra Andoral and the faun Pym, how runs errands and do odd jobs for the old wizard. This is a short fantasy/mystery story set in the town of Moorport, an independent township in Eeyr. It is run by the Portmaster and is considered a safe and lawful part of the world. But danger still lurks in the cobbled alleys and Turik the Wizard takes on the task of protecting his people.Show book
The successful lawyer Geoffrey is on a date when his friend Martin unexpectedlly arrives accompanied by an Asian Bombshell. But why is Martin at the same venue and how can his arrival destroy Geoffrey's prospect? There is only one way to find out. Listen to this story.Show book
Six short tales of life, death and optimism from Luna Harlow. A young woman looks back on a grandparent and the nature of stories. Robots question the meaning of their existence. An old woman time travels through memory. A young man leaves a party and questions what he wants from life. Thirty-somethings talk about chemistry over brunch.Show book
Tender, nostalgic, romantic, funny, absurd, magically real, speculative, ironic, nightmarish, entertaining and elegantly rendered…these stories span a century of Man’s consciousness. Once, a man might be a Gatsby chasing his girl half-way around the world, the captain of a football World Cup winning side, a raging Picasso bull in a mythical maze refusing to yield lover or art till his last mortality-defiant egotistic gasp. Straightforward enough choices, dreams, behaviour. Suddenly he is man interrupted, underwhelmed, overworked, ridiculed, young, rock-solid or unreliable family man, father, husband, friend; his freedom evaporates: he’s globe-trotting inbox-fatigued nonsense-hearing corporate, military civil-serving quiet ministry of Everyman. He’s so exasperated he might just run away and prop up a bar, or contemplate mild treachery just to get by, and he’s put-upon, as he zigzags across #TimesUp, political correctness, game theory, oh… and… the women in his life. Now here he stands staring down the barrel of the 21st Century – he’s superman, he’s transhuman, he’s disassembling, he’s nearly done for …or is he?Show book
John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English playwright and novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.A Long-Ago Affair is a poignant story of requited love and betrayal. A 16-year-old boy with a torrid crush on an older married woman finds himself unwittingly facilitating her secret love affair with another man.Show book
In 1918 the Society of Arts and Sciences established the O. Henry Memorial Awards to reward the very best short stories published during the previous year with cash prizes. 1921 was a particularly productive year with sterling and brilliantly varied examples of the art of short story writing as are included here. The selection committee struggled to agree on these, but finally, here they are for us to enjoy and record. The length varies but most are sufficiently long for a reader to get their teeth into and enjoy. The stories are listed in a rough order of how they were judged, but all are excellent. - Summary by Phil ChenevertShow book
