Robert Grandon was suddenly transported to the mysterious and perilous planet of Venus...excerptRobert Ellsmore Grandon stifled a yawn with difficulty as the curtain went down on the first act of Don Giovanni and wondered what was the matter. It wasn't that opera bored him, or that tonight's performance was inferior; in fact, what he had been able to give his attention to struck him as being among the best performances he had seen. But something was distracting him, something he could not put his finger on; and the effort to keep his attention on the music and the performers was tiring him. Perhaps it was just one of those days, he thought.He was tired of life at twenty-four, he decided--tired and disillusioned and somehow trapped. After his spell of military service, he'd broken away from family obligations and expectations to join revolutionaries in Cuba. The struggle there had seemed important, worth risking his neck for; but he'd seen, much earlier than some others, that the new regime was just a change of masters. He'd gotten out while getting out was easy and returned to take up the career in insurance administration that his uncle wanted him to take--the uncle who had paid his college expenses. Now, Robert and Vincent Grandon would prepare for the position that. Uncle Arthur would be leaving in a few years. It would be a good career for both young men; for while only one could step into Arthur Grandon's shoes, the second spot would be no less desirable.Very likely, with full effort, he could make the top--but his cousin had the extra measure of devotion to the business that Robert Grandon simply couldn't bring. Robert Ellsmore Grandon yearned for action, adventure, romance--something that seemed to be gone in this world of the Twentieth Century.He made his way to the bar thinking that he'd chuck it all in a moment for a chance to think and act for himself, for a chance to accomplish something worthwhile according to his own lights. Yes--insurance was worthwhile, he thought as he sat at the bar and beckoned to Louis, but not worth his while.Louis looked his way, nodded, and started to mix a gibson for him. The bartender had a curious grin on his face as he set the glass down. "Did you get the message, Mr. Grandon?"Robert Grandon blinked. "What message?""Didn't you see the papers today?"

Otis Adelbert Kline was a songwriter, an adventure novelist and literary agent during the pulp era. Much of his work first appeared in the magazine Weird Tales. Kline was an amateur orientalist and a student of Arabic, like his friend and sometime collaborator, E. Hoffmann Price. The critic August Nemo selected seven short stories by this remarkable author for your enjoyment: - The Corpse on the Third Slab. - The Man from the Moon. - The Cup of Blood. - Mignight Madness. - The Malignant Entity. - The Bird-People. - The Thing of a Thousand Shapes.

Almuric is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert E. Howard. It was originally serialized in three parts in the magazine Weird Tales beginning in May 1939. The novel features a muscular hero known on earth as Esau Cairn, a complete misfit in modern America who "belongs in a simpler age". Exploited by a corrupt political boss whom he finally kills with his bare hands, Cairn must flee. A sympathetic scientist helps him get through space to a world known as Almuric where he finds frightening monsters and beautiful women.

A group of brave astronauts make a startling discovery on the moon! It was not as empty as they thought it was! excerptExcerpt"We've got to win that reward, Roger, or close up shop."Ted Dustin, youthful president and general manager of Theodore Dustin, Inc. reached mechanically for his tobacco pouch, filled his black briar, and sighed.Roger Sanders, assistant to the president, deposited his sheaf of papers on his desk, closed the door to the private office, and sat down in the chair facing his superior."You mean--?""I mean," replied Dustin, flicking his lighter with his thumb, "that in order to prepare the projectile for launching, we've spent every cent we had, and borrowed a lot besides. Theodore Dustin, Inc. is flat broke, and the plant is mortgaged from roof to drains. If we don't win that reward our creditors will be picking our bones in thirty days.""Mr. Dustin." A female voice, apparently issuing from empty air, spoke his name. He turned to the radiovisiphone, a plain-looking disc resting on a small pedestal at his elbow. It was wireless, and contained no buttons, levers or controls of any kind."Yes." As he spoke, the picture of his information clerk flashed on the disc. The word "Yes" had completed the connection."Mr. Evans of the 'Globe' would like to know if you are ready to interview the representatives of the press.""Any other reporters waiting?""There are twenty-seven in the reception room. Mr. Evans says you told them all to come at once.""I did," replied Dustin. "Send them up in five minutes. Off."When he spoke the word "Off," the picture disappeared, the connection having been broken by this word uttered alone with sharp emphasis.While Roger went out for chairs, he rose and walked to the window. For some time he stood there, gazing at the smokeless, chimney-less factories beneath him. During twenty of the thirty years of his life, or until 1954, there had been chimneys on these factories. Combustion--the burning of coal and oil--had been necessary to keep their wheels turning.But Dustin had changed all this by his invention which economically captured and stored the energy of the sun, converting it into electricity for light, heat and power, and putting manufacturing on a newer, cleaner basis. Now, at the age of thirty, he had lived to see his sun power units in almost universal use.

Tam Evans, two-year-old son of Major Charles Evans, was carried off by a white tigress while his parents were hunting in the Burmese jungle. The tigress adopted the boy and raised him in a pagoda in an old temple ruin. Tam's foster mother had been reared by a lama named Lozong who had gone on a pilgrimage. Lozong later returned to find Tam half-grown... Illustrated.

Harry Thorne had lost everything: his business, the love of his life, even his own self respect. As he’s contemplating suicide he’s made an incredible offer. He can go back in time and switch places with a look alike who lived on Mars millions of years ago when it was a lush, beautiful planet full of promise and adventure. Seizes his last chance at salvaging his life is transported millions of years into the past to a Mars peopled with beautiful women, mighty warriors, fearsome beasts, and awesome magics.

Jerry Morgan is a man with no future on Earth he is offered a new life on Mars and he takes it. He starts out his new life on Mars on the wrong foot by meeting a princess and killing the fearsome-looking Martian he wrongly believes is menacing her. Which in actuality is the princess's beloved pet. From there Morgan becomes entangled in the politics of the Byzantine Martian royal court spurns the advances of a would-be lover escapes his hosts and role as an expendable political pawn. Various adventures follow with dazzling swordplay feats of strength and other trials tribulations and treacheries.Kline's Mars has multiple parallel canals surrounded by walls and terraces and the construction of the canals by Martian machines is described. The story has a race-war element that may jar the modern reader.