Stories from the Golden Age
101 total works
Han Solo of Star Wars could learn a thing or two from Firsten Guide, the tough, wise-cracking rebel leader who's light years ahead of his time-and about to lead his crew into a battle that's Beyond All Weapons. Because the force is most assuredly with Firsten. He and his fellow colonizers of Mars have faced a brutal crackdown engineered by Earth's tyrannical government. But the resourceful Firsten has developed an extraordinary new fuel that enables him and his hardy band to escape into space-and time. Escape, however, is not enough. Firsten wants revenge. But the universe is full of unexpected twists and turns. Just as Prometheus flew too close to the sun, Firsten will soon discover that when you break the laws of physics, you can get burned. Hubbard was a pioneer in his use and development of Einstein's theories of space and time as a plot point in his fiction. In Beyond All Weapons, he explains: "As mass approaches the speed of light ... it approaches infinity. And, as mass approaches infinity, time approaches zero. It was only nine days back from Alpha. But in those nine days, six thousand years have passed by Earth." It stands as one of the earliest-and most succinct-descriptions of the theory. Also includes the science fiction adventures Strain, the story of a space war's brutality and one man's struggle to keep a secret under the pain of torture, and The Invaders, in which the distant crystal mines are under attack until a technician crystallizes a unique strategy to undermine the attackers. "A thrilling space adventure ... the terror and excitement builds through to the end." -Publishers Weekly
American pilot Mike Malloy has been unjustly sentenced to five years in a Moroccan penal battalion - which is French for death sentence. But Malloy, who could easily pass for Douglas Fairbanks, is about to get a reprieve ...if he's willing to fly into the heart of the Sahara and into the teeth of a Berber rebellion. The expedition could have unexpected benefits. One of his passengers is a young woman whose eyes are as beautiful and blue as the wild blue yonder...Hubbard once said that writers too often "forget a great deal of the languorous quality which made the Arabian Nights so pleasing. Jewels, beautiful women, towering cities filled with mysterious shadows, sultans equally handy with robes of honor and the beheading sword ...these things still exist, undimmed, losing no luster to the permeating Occidental flavor which reaches even the far corners of the earth today." Hubbard brings this unique insight to his stories of North Africa and the Legionnaires, investing them with an authenticity of time, place and character that kept his readers asking for more.
They call him Suicide, Smoke or simply Sudden Death. His name is Kit Gordon, and he's tall and tough as a young John Wayne. Now he's about to discover that it takes more than a quick draw and a sure aim to stand up like a man. Falsely accused of murder, Kit escapes to the next county over - and a whole new identity. But drawn into a bloody feud, before it's over he'll have to reveal that he's a wanted man - or turn tail and run for his life.
Enjoy this gripping and gritty tale. China's war ace, a fighter pilot nicknamed "The Falcon Killer ( Tzun Kai )," is actually Bill Gaylord, raised in Peking by his American parents. Gaylord lost both of them as a child during the violent Boxer uprising and then saw his foster family slaughtered in wartime. With a past that's hardened his soul and given him nerves of steel, Gaylord has used his resolve to down more Japanese aircraft than can be counted.When he's not hunting down enemy planes, intrigue constantly follows him - stars of Tzun's rogues gallery include an agent provocateur and a despotic Chinese warlord. Soon enough, events pit Gaylord against a Japanese spy who has caused untold trouble for the Chinese. Gaylord must somehow find and defeat him or risk losing an ancient Chinese kingdom to the land of the rising sun. "Hubbard writes with his usual gusto ('Wings in the sky had passed their shadows over the land to drop their acrid death'), and Gaylord is a typical Hubbard hero, tough and wily but also introspective and romantic." - Booklist
Ride a trail of blazing guns and two-fisted action in the Wild West as L. Ron Hubbard brings American history to life. Growing up in Montana provided him with the first-hand experience that added a tone of authenticity to his western tales. Readers will feel the heat, taste the dust and hear the thunder of horses' hooves in these tales from a master storyteller of the genre. The 4-book collection includes 10 short stories along with illustrations from the original publications and glossaries of historical terms. The titles and short stories in this collection are: King of the Gunmen (includes: "The No-Gun Gunhawk"), The Magic Quirt (includes: "Vengeance Is Mine!" and "Stacked Bullets"), The No-Gun Man (includes: "Man for Breakfast") and Shadows from Boot Hill (includes: "The Gunner from Gehenna" and "Gunman!"). "With the flair of a Louis L'Amour or Zane Grey." - True West Magazine
Private detective Sam Spade nearly died chasing The Maltese Falcon. But what Spade faced in pursuit of the black bird was child's play compared to what Lieutenant Bill Mahone of Naval Intelligence endures in China when he sets out to find The Green God. Mahone's convinced he knows who stole the sacred idol and he's determined to get it back. But he's walking a razor's edge - between worship and warfare, between a touch of heaven and a taste of bloody hell.
Imagine a young Laurence Olivier cast as a scholarly Oxford professor-an academic snatched out of his bookish world and pressed into service aboard Lord Nelson's legendary British fleet-in the position of schoolmaster. Such is the life of the land-loving, seafaring Mister Tidwell, Gunner. Thrust into service at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Tidwell soon finds himself directly in the line of fire and way out of his depth. Fate has cast him into a terrible and terrifying spot-alone on deck to face the fearsome approach of a French man-o'-war. The professor is about to get an object lesson in war, self-reliance ... and survival. Overwhelmed by the smell of gunpowder, the sound of cannons, and the sight of death, he will either experience the sweet taste of victory ... or the bitter taste of his own blood. In an essay called Search for Research Hubbard wrote about how he came up with story ideas: "I want one slim, forgotten fact. From there a man can go anywhere.... In one old volume, for instance, I discovered that there was such a thing as a schoolmaster aboard Nelson's ships.... When did this occur? The Napoleonic Wars." Drawing on this single obscure discovery, Hubbard delved deeper into the history and let his remarkable imagination do the rest. "Complete after a few days of search, I had my Mister Tidwell, Gunner." Also includes the sea adventures The Drowned City, the story of two deep-sea divers who set out in search of a long-lost treasure only to find that the waters are full of treacherous currents and even more treacherous men; and Submarine, in which a young sailor on leave enjoys a quiet interlude with his girlfriend-only to have it interrupted by a call to duty and danger.
Vic Kennedy is quick - witted and sharp - tongued with Nicholas Cage's maverick sense of adventure, Vic's flown out of trouble by the skin of his teeth ...and straight into the jaws of disaster. Racing away from a date with an executioner, he lands in a Saharan oasis, where things are looking up. A gorgeous princess mistakes Vic for a genie, and if he gets his wish, the Sky Devil will have his day. In 1933, when L. Ron Hubbard began his professional writing career, he entered a crowded and competitive field. But he very quickly separated from the pack, making a name for himself as a writer who was both good and fast. So good and fast, in fact, that in 1935 the three stories included in this volume were all published in the same issue of an all - fiction magazine. Fully a quarter of the issue had been written by Hubbard - though readers didn't know it, two of the stories appearing under two different pseudonyms. Also includes the adventures Buckley Plays a Hunch, in which an adventurer seeks to solve the mystery of three castaways who refuse to be rescued, and Medals for Mahoney, the story of man who journeys into the heart of darkness to thwart a murderous conspiracy.
Enjoy this triumphant tale. Flame - haired Michael Stuart's career as an officer in the US Marine Corps abruptly ended after a failed attempt to return the Chinese Imperial Dynasty to power in 1930s Asia. Abandoned by his country, he's unable to find safe passage out of China by land or sea. Now Stuart, also known as the "The Red Dragon," has a new occupation; he intervenes in matters for the good of the people. Despite the danger, Stuart agrees to help a beautiful young woman search for a mysterious black chest which her father hid in Manchuria before his murder. Their quest takes them from Peking north to the Great Wall of China and beyond. With enemies coming at him from every corner, Stuart finds he's playing a most deadly game of hide - and - seek. "Primo pulp fiction." - Booklist
Explore exotic new worlds. In a future where Mother Earth has cast her children to the distant stars to begin anew and colonize the cosmos, the planet remains depleted of natural resources. Its air polluted by caustic iron and belching smoke, Earth faces her last desperate days in the grip of global environmental collapse.In one final and feeble effort, Earth's Grand President Makin musters the dregs of his fleet and sends three separate missions to the deepest reaches of space. Their mission: solicit help from the far - flung colonial civilizations, or watch the planet die. ALSO INCLUDES THE SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TOUGH OLD MAN AND BATTLING BOLTO. "Hubbard was a first - rate pulp writer". - Locus Magazine
Launch into the action with this gritty tale. An American lieutenant in the French Foreign is caught in the middle of an ancient feud between the Jeppas of the Atlas Mountains and the bloodthirsty tribe of Perviz al Bahman.Tension mounts as a gorgeous female Jeppa warrior with golden red hair is drawn into the midst of the conflict and captured by Perviz's tribe. When the American lieutenant later finds her being sold on the slave market, he unthinkingly does what any man must: he rescues her. But while his actions may have saved a beauty, they have also just ignited all - out war. "...one of the best pulp writers of the 1940s." - Library Journal
When he learns that his partner's been murdered attempting to gather gold worth half a million dollars, Tom Christian sets off to the jungles of the Solomon Islands to retrace his partner's footsteps and finish the job. But Tom's gold fever makes him unaware that the notorious thief Punjo Charlie has laid a trap to snare the young man and collect the treasure himself. Christian's problems soon triple when a trio of Americans are taken hostage by the same bandit-and one of those hostages just happens to be the beautiful Diana Forsythe. What follows is an all-out war which pits Christian, his first mate Hihi and their contingent of coast men against a horde of bloodthirsty headhunters, all under the control of the man who killed his partner.
Drilling for oil is a dirty business, and for Bill Murphy, it's about to turn positively filthy. But Murphy's a man in the mold of a young John Wayne, and he's more than a match for everything Venezuela can throw at him. Everything, that is, except for Marcia Stewart. She's convinced Murphy killed her father, and she wants revenge. Murphy's drilling down for the truth, and it's his land, his love for Marcia - and his life - that are on the line. When Black Towers to Danger was first published in 1936, the editor wrote: "L. Ron Hubbard, as you know, is a pilot, a writer and an engineer. The one thing he doesn't work at is engineering. He was in China at 15 and has covered a lot of territory since then. If he's on a flying field - or anywhere else - you can't miss him - he's a tall, slender chap with very fair skin and bright red hair. Something picturesque about him as there should be about a flyer." And not only was he a man with a commanding presence, so too did he have command over his material, researching the entire oil drilling process for this story. 'Roars to life.' Publishers Weekly
Triumphant tales of heroes and honor against impossible odds. Launch into the action with these gripping and gritty tales that appeared in the pages of the most popular pulp fiction magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. This collection includes: International Book Awards Winner: On Blazing Wings, International Book Awards Finalists: The Phantom Patrol and Hostage to Death as well as Orders is Orders, While Bugles Blow!, Sabotage in the Sky, Wind-Gone-Mad, The Falcon Killer, Hell's Legionnaire and Red Death Over China.
Breathtaking, pulse-pounding adventures that would put Indiana Jones on edge. Buckle up for adventure in these action-packed tales that appeared in the pages of the most popular pulp fiction magazines of the 1930's and 1940's. The Collection includes: International Book Awards Winner: The Trail of the Red Diamonds , AudioFile Earphone Award Winners: The Iron Duke and Sea Fangs as well as Golden Hell, The Headhunters, Destiny's Drum, The Black Sultan and The Devil-With Wings .
When the Asiatic Federation splits off from the oppressive United Continents with the help of a device that keeps them separated, space navy lieutenant George Marquis Lorrilard's greedy actions are on a course to change the universe's fate.
Murder Mystery 10th Anniversary Book Collection (False Cargo, Hurricane, Mouthpiece and The Slickers)
by L Ron Hubbard
Published 7 November 2018
Do you love a good whodunit? Detectives and mobsters, newshawks and murderers-all ingredients for disaster in this murder mystery collection. Whether it was sending a detective after zombie killers on the prowl or chasing down headhunters at a grisly carnival, Ron knew how to thrill readers and keep them guessing until the end. The 4-book collection includes 10 short stories along with illustrations from the original publications and glossaries of historical terms. The titles and short stories in this collection are: False Cargo (includes: "Grounded"), Hurricane, Mouthpiece (includes: "Flame City," "Calling Squad Cars!" and "The Grease Spot") and The Slickers (includes: "Killer Ape" and "Murder Afloat"). "One of the great pulp writers, with colorful prose, lively action writing, exotic locales, fresh variations on standard characters and situations, and well-constructed plots." - Ellery Queen
For SF and fantasy enthusiasts who love to escape to unknown worlds. As a master of the art of narrative and one of the leaders in the Golden Age of Science Fiction, L. Ron Hubbard's Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories helped reshape the future of speculative fiction. The universe is yours as you explore fabulous worlds of unfolding mystery and unlimited potential. Discover the herald of possibility in these out-of-this-world adventures. The 4-book collection includes 10 short stories along with illustrations from the original publications and glossaries of hard-to-find terms. The titles and short stories in this collection are: The Great Secret (includes: "Space Can," "The Beast" and "The Slaver"), If I Were You (includes: "The Last Drop"), One Was Stubborn (includes: "A Can of Vacuum" and "240,000 Miles Straight Up") and The Tramp. "A super-writer of the Golden Age of Science Fiction." -A. E. van Vogt