Timeless stories brought to life.
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The Defenders by Philip K. Dick – a classic Cold War science fiction short story, first published in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1953.
For eight years, humanity has lived underground. After a devastating nuclear war, the survivors of both East and West have retreated deep beneath the surface, working in endless factories to build weapons. On the radioactive surface above, the war goes on, fought on their behalf by tireless robot soldiers, who send back daily reports of burning cities and poisoned land.
But when a robot returns from the surface showing no trace of radiation, a small group is sent up to see the truth with their own eyes. What they find there will change everything they believed about the war, about their enemies, and about the machines built to defend them.
A sharp, ironic and surprisingly hopeful story about propaganda, fear and the lies we are told "for our own good." Philip K. Dick later expanded this idea into his novel The Penultimate Truth (1964). The Defenders is an essential read for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction, atomic age retro-futurism and classic golden age sci-fi.
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17 Sept 2026
King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:04:23) Chapter I - I Meet Sir Henry Curtis
(00:25:37) Chapter II - The Legend of Solomon's Mines
(00:46:51) Chapter III - Umbopa Enters Our Service
(01:12:37) Chapter IV - An Elephant Hunt
(01:34:35) Chapter V - Our March into the Desert
(02:04:21) Chapter VI - Water! Water!
(02:30:01) Chapter VII - Solomon's Road
(03:06:03) Chapter VIII - We Enter Kukuanaland
(03:25:00) Chapter IX - Twala the King
(03:53:27) Chapter X - The Witch-Hunt
(04:22:37) Chapter XI - We Give a Sign
(04:53:15) Chapter XI - We Give a Sign
(05:16:58) Chapter XIII - The Attack
(05:37:07) Chapter XIV - The Last Stand of the Greys
(06:16:09) Chapter XV - Good Falls Sick
(06:39:48) Chapter XVI - The Place of Death
(07:04:43) Chapter XVII - Solomon's Treasure Chamber
(07:20:31) Chapter XVIII - We Abandon Hope
(07:53:50) Chapter XIX - Ignosi's Farewell
(08:13:48) Chapter XX - Found
Veteran elephant hunter Allan Quatermain is hired by Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good to find Sir Henry's missing brother, who vanished while searching for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon. Armed with a centuries-old map drawn in blood, the three men cross a scorching desert and freezing mountain passes into the hidden land of Kukuanaland. There they face the tyrant king Twala, the sinister witch Gagool, and a civil war, all before reaching the legendary treasure vault deep beneath the mountains.
Fast-paced, atmospheric and packed with danger, King Solomon's Mines is one of the most influential adventure novels ever written. It inspired a century of explorer stories, from pulp magazines to Indiana Jones and modern action-adventure games.
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28 Aug 2026
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
Beyond the fields we know lies Elfland, where time does not move and nothing ever ends.
The people of Erl grow weary of ordinary rule. They want to be governed by a magic lord, so they send their young prince Alveric across the twilight border of Elfland to win Lirazel, the daughter of the Elf King. He returns with her - but an elf-princess cannot be held by mortal hours, by village custom, or by the slow grief of a world that ages. When her father's third and mightiest rune calls her home, Elfland withdraws to the utmost east, leaving Alveric to wander the years in search of a country that will not be found, while their son Orion grows up hunting unicorns along the border of two worlds.
First published in 1924, this is Lord Dunsany's masterpiece and one of the foundational works of modern fantasy literature; a direct influence on Tolkien, Lovecraft, Le Guin, Neil Gaiman and Peter S. Beagle. A lyrical, dreamlike fairy tale for adults about longing, mortality, and the cost of inviting magic across your threshold.
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