Meet "Fanner Marston" a petty thief who as an adult masters his own craft but goes completely mad! With his vicious greed and slavering lust for power, he alone of 40 men survives a blistering trek through the desert to find the magical city of Parva. Legend has it a great secret awaits that could give him absolute control over the universe. However, the key to all power is not what he expected!
This classic story was written by author L. Ron Hubbard in 1943 in the pulp fiction magazine "Science Fiction Stories. He along with other great writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Lester Dent, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and many others, were pioneers in their field in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, far flung adventures and more.
The era of the pulps is unique for at least two reasons; a) it was a time of the great depression where people were very much in need of something that could take them on adventures they would not otherwise experience and b) discoveries in science and physics were expanding at a rapid rate giving the creative minds of writers a whole new genre of fantastic futuristic and wildly colorful characters to entertain their readers with. There was so much new material to work with that the above mentioned writers led the way in how to get the job done influencing future budding writers.
The pulp fiction era that lasted up to the early 1950s produced characters such as "Tarzan of the Apes, the space adventures of Buck Rogers, Conan the Barbarian and the Avengers." When Hollywood was in full swing, these pulp fiction classics were the ideal stories to put up on the big screen immortalizing these characters forever.
Pulp fiction writers who created space stories and characters were a unique breed of writers due to the fact that space travel did not occur until the 1960s. The idea of space travel up until then was there, but it was just that, an idea! It takes a creative mind indeed to develop an entire story with believable characters and situations and completely capture the imagination of the reader. Cosmic adventure at its best!
Fantasy is somewhat of a different animal than science fiction in that science fiction has some element of a believable truth, it is in the realm of possibility where as in fantasy, anything goes. Fantasy can encompass space fiction, but for the most part it has wildly unique characters such as fairies, elves, trolls, swamp creatures and such.
Life today moves at a much faster pace. Many are hard pressed to squeeze reading a book into their busy schedules. For those in that situation, they are in luck! Audio books have been experiencing a rebirth and many of these classic science fiction/fantasy stories are now making its way to back the general public. Whether on a cd, mp3 player or even an ipod, these classic stories are worth experiencing not only for the pulp fiction generation but our newest generation.
Fred Duckworth is a passionate advocate of lifelong learning through audio books on cd collections from http://www.goldenagestories.com/. Galaxy Press Publishing, publisher of "The Golden Age Stories" and all genres of pulp fiction stories and novels, offers a convenient subscription service, so you never have to miss an issue. It's a pulp fiction lover's dream!
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