When Shadows Fall
Written by L. Ron Hubbard
Narrated by R.F. Daley
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Star Trek’s Captain Kirk has a kindred soul in Lars the Ranger, a commander of his own star fleet. But whereas Kirk’s mission is to boldly go where no man has gone before, Lars is boldly going where other men are-in a desperate attempt to save his home planet . . . Earth. He’s not exploring the final frontier. He is our last hope.
Earth is way past global warming. It’s totally fried-an environmental disaster-and most of its inhabitants have cut out for greener pastures, colonizing distant worlds. Lars leads an expedition across the galaxy to visit those worlds in hopes that he return with the resources needed to bring Earth back from the brink of extinction.
But Lars has apparently failed. A mammoth fleet of mysterious starships are descending on the third planet from the sun. Is Earth history? Yes . . . and that may just be its saving grace.
By the spring of 1938, Hubbard’s stature as a writer was well established. As author and critic Robert Silverberg puts it: he had become a “master of the art of narrative.” Hubbard’s editors urged him to apply his gift for succinct characterization, original plot, deft pacing and imaginative action to a genre that was new, and essentially foreign, to him-science fiction and fantasy. The rest is SciFi history.
Also includes the science fiction adventures, Battling Bolto, the story of a giant, con man who’s running an interstellar scam, while the biggest trick of all lies right under his nose; and Tough Old Man, in which an aging constable’s lack of feelings is not a matter of insensitivity, but of a secret-and surprising-side of his character.
L. Ron Hubbard
With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.
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Reviews for When Shadows Fall
8 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In a continuing effort to republish the fiction of writer L. Ron Hubbard, Galaxy Press put out “When Shadows Fall,” a short anthology of space stories from the 1940s.
The first story in this anthology, “When Shadows Fall” is an indictment of colonization, where the colonizer, committing atrocities on its citizens, itself gets back the “karma”.
In a future where the Earth is dying, both as a planet and as a people, the few citizens left, in an apathy, desire to get in touch with their now-rich colonies across the stars. But the citizens across the stars want nothing to do with Earth’s demands to help it. Bummer!
What I liked about the story was not only the clear criticism of those who ruin a planet and therefore their own lives, but also that there is hope. One can rise out of the ashes, if only to remind those who could help that the civilization, though now broken, was once great and could be great again. Well-written.
“Tough Old Man” is about a young recruit who is sent to work under Keno, a constable who is taking care of the law on a frontier planet, known for its harsh environment but also its billions of dollars’ worth of diamonds lying around. Moffatt at first thinks he’s hot stuff until Keno shows him up. Good ending, with the bad guys captured and a twist ending.
“Battling Bolto” about a guy who works for a charlatan “Professor.” This guy makes robot shells and sells them as the real thing, and takes off before anyone else finds out. To snag our hero, the Prof convinces him to pretend to be a robot and win fights. This is fine until a particular population creates their own fighter. Can “Bolto” fight his way out of this one?
Both stories are not badly done, and reflect the pulp fiction mania of the time.
Recommended, and not just for Hubbard fans, but anyone interested in some quick fiction to get through the day!