Orders Is Orders
Stories form the Golden Age
by L. Ron Hubbard
Directed by Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Brooke Bloom, Corey Burton, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Josh R. Thompson and Michael Yurchak
Studio/Publisher: Galaxy Press
Release Date: March 16, 2009
ISBN: 978-1592122332
Running Time: 2 hours 33 minutes
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Long before Kindles, Nooks and the Tablets, people relied on paperbacks, newspapers and magazines for their reading entertainment. In the 1930s and 1940s, cheap-made magazines, dubbed Pulp Magazines, flew off the newsstands, featuring adventure stores of every genre by well-established writers, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Elmore Leonard and Ray Bradbury. The great science-fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard, published over one-hundred-fifty short stories during this era, known to most as the Golden Age. Galaxy Press has been releasing Hubbard's titles on audiobooks, with a talented voice-cast and amazing sound effects.

Each and every month, I participate in the Earlier Reviewers program on LibraryThing, in which a reader gets a chance to win a copy of a book in exchange for a review. Over the last four years, I have won a handful of titles, several eBooks, a few paperbacks and a couple of audiobooks. Back in November 2013, I won a copy of Orders Is Orders, which I received a few weeks later in December. I was busy around the holidays, so I kept pushing the audiobook aside, well that is until last month when I finally got around to listening to it.

Orders Is Orders first appeared in the December 1937 issue of Argosy and is set in the worn-torn Chinese city of Shunkien, The US has a small consulate that is filled with frightened and starving refugees in the city. To make matters worse, some are suffering from the Asiatic cholera. Their only hope is the USS Miami, which is located two hundred miles away, but the US can't take any sort of military action, including bringing supplies to the consulate, without causing an 'act of war' with the Japanese.

Spy Killer
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Shane Johnson, Jim Meskimen, and Tait Ruppert
Studio: Galaxy Press
Pub. Date: September 8, 2008
ISBN: 978-1592121663
Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

The classic short stories that filled the pulp fiction magazines from the 1930s and 1940s are hard to find these days. Galaxy Press has been releasing author L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from that time onto the Stories from the Golden Age audiobooks. I received a free copy of the Spy Killer in exchange for my honest review.

Spy Killer first appeared in the April 1936 issue of Five-Novels Monthly and tells the tale of an innocent man, Kurt Reid, being charged of murder and grand larceny!  He barely escapes off the ship Rangoon and flees to pre-Communist China and Shanghai.

By chance, Kurt meets the White Russian Varinka Savischna in a tea house and he manages to save the beauty from the Chinese intelligence services. Instead of going into hiding, Kurt agrees to help Varinka in her crusade against the Chinese intelligence, but of course trouble is never too far behind him as  he soon gets himself captured.

On Blazing Wings
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Kelly Ward
Voice Cast: Bob Caso, R.F. Daley, Christina Huntington, John Mariano, Phil Proctor and Kelly Ward.
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: March 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-1592122325
Run Time: 2 hours 8 minutes
Retail: $9.96

Review:

Last week, I listened to the audiobook On Blazing Wings by L. Ron Hubbard courtesy of Galaxy Press in exchange for my honest review. The story was first published in the May 1940 issue of Five-Novels Monthly, a time when many authors (young and old) published stories in pulp magazines. During the 1930s and 1940s (otherwise known as the Golden Age), L. Ron Hubbard wrote 153 short stories from adventures in the sky to journeys on other planets.

On Blazing Wings centers on an American wannabe artist, who pays the bills by being an ace fighter pilot for hire for other countries, despite their differences in politics. His next mission is to go after the Russian Communists, whom are planning on destroying a Finland supply base. While in combat, David's plane is shot down and it seems to be end for him. Or is it?

The Iron Duke 
By. L. Ron Hubbard 
Director: Jim Meskimen
Starring: Michael Yurchak, R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Jim Meskimen, Richard Ricco
Studio: Galaxy Press
Pub. Date: January 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-1592121731
Approx. 2 hours

Review:

I know that audiobooks have been around practically my entire life in some form or another, but I have never listened to one until last year when I reviewed several titles from Stories from the Golden Age, which are all by the late L. Ron Hubbard. The majority of the short stories were written during the 1930s and 1940s where there was a boom of magazines on the newsstands. Many of them were cheap looking, made from pulp paper and featured countless adventure tales from well-known writers. Galaxy Press was generous enough to send me a box of audiobooks last month in exchange for my honest review on each one.

My latest audiobook that I listened to this week is titled The Iron Duke (winner of the Earphones Award from AudioFile Magazine) and it originally appeared in the July 1940 issue of Five-Novels Monthly. The plot centers on a weapon smuggler Blacky Lee, who isn't liked by the Nazis and most of Europe due to him selling malfunction weapons. He doesn't have very many friends, beside from his loyal companion Stub Doyle.

Sea Fangs
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Gino Montesions, R.F. Daley, Shane Johnson, Jim Meskimen, Kristin Proctor, Phil Proctor
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: June 18, 2010
ISBN:  978-1592122233
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours

Review: 

Before there was the internet, television, video games, and cell phones in every home, the people of the 1930s and 1940s (otherwise known as the Golden Age) spent their time going to the theater, listening to the radio shows, and reading cheap novels and pulp fiction magazines. Many famous authors wrote countless short stories that were published in brown pulp paper magazines, including the late L. Ron Hubbard.

Galaxy Press has been releasing audiobooks versions of Hubbard's short stories for the past few years and they have kindly sent me a few free copies in exchange for my honest review. I had the privilege to listen to Sea Fangs, which originally appeared in the June 1934 issue of Five Novels.

Sea Fangs is a fast-paced action adventure with Bob Sherman, a sailor, who tries to save the yacht Bonito from being destroyed by a powerful hurricane off the shores of Venezuela. What is he doing on the yacht in the first place? Well, a few years earlier a man named Herbert Marmion greedily stole the land and the drilling business that belonged to Bob, who now finds himself on the very yacht owned by Herbert. The only thing that is on his mind is revenge. That is until he meets the stunning raven-haired Phyllis Marmion, who happens to be his enemy's daughter.

Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Josh Robert Thompson, R.F. Daley, Ralph Lister, Jim Meskimen, Joey Naber, Noelle North, Enn Reitel, Fred Tatasciore and Michael Yurchak.
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: June 21, 2011
ISBN: 978-1592123230
APPROX. 2 hours

Review:

I've never listened to an audiobook until I started reviewing the Stories from the Golden Age from Galaxy Press. Each audiobook is based on the short stories by the late author L. Ron Hubbard, consisting of one or more great adventure tales that were written back in the 1930s and 1940s, or otherwise known as the Golden Years when these types of stories were published in Pulp fiction magazines. Galaxy Press has been kind of enough to send me a free copy of the award-winning Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead in exchange for my honest review.

Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead was originally published in the October 1936 issue of Thrilling Adventures and it takes place in Pakistan where a pilot Captain Gordon has been hired to fly a team of American anthropologists to the arid mountain region. The excitement begins when they discover an ancient map inside an old pottery jar. The map is supposed to lead you to the lost treasures of Baluchistan that Alexander the Great was bringing from India to Greece. Legend has it that his 10,000 soldiers' remains lay buried in the dessert near the tomb that hides the treasure. The anthropologists want the treasure for themselves. They will even murder someone for it. Now, Gordon is stuck in an unwanted expedition, where he will fight to save his life.

This audiobook contains two more stories, Price of a Hat and Starch and Stripes.

Under the Black Ensign
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voices: Marisol Nichols, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Phil Proctor, Thomas Silcott, Michael Yurchak
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: September 8, 2008
ISBN: 978-1592123339
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours

Review: 

The golden age of the 1930s and 1940s was otherwise known as the Pulp Fiction Era as the newsstands were overflowing with magazines. Some were the fancy, glossy magazines and the rest had ragged trims, vivid covers, cheap brown pulp paper, and very cheap prices. These pulp magazines were full of stories ranging from adventures on the high sea to quests on other planets. Galaxy Press has been releasing L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from that era onto audiobooks under the Stories from the Golden Age, which they sent me a complimentary copy of Under the Black Ensign in exchange for my honest review.

Under the Black Ensign was originally released in the August 1935 issue of Five Novel Monthly and centers on the first mate of the ship Randolph, Tom Bristol, who happens to be forced in becoming a crewman aboard the British HMS Terror led by Sir Charles. The crew aboard the military ship is treated horrible. Trouble occurs for Tom when he is accused of trying to kill someone with a marlinspike. Then the unthinkable happens! The HMS Terror is attacked and taken over by a band of deadly pirates!

Instead of being taken prisoner, Tom gets appointed to navigator for the now pirate ship HMS Terror, but trouble seems to follow the poor lad. He is soon accused of killing a fellow shipmate and for knowing that an ensign happens to be a Lady. For punishment, he is marooned on a deserted island. He is left with a supply of water and a gun with only a few bullets. As it turns out, he is not exactly alone on the island. After some quick thinking, Tom comes up with a plan for revenge.

Man-Killers of the Air
Director: Jim Meskimen
Starring: Shane Johnson, Cory Burton, R.F. Daley, Keli Daniels and Jim Meskimen
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: April 15, 2009
ISBN: 978-1592122295
Approx. 2 hours

Review:

During the 1930s and 1940s, newsstands were overflowing with magazines, especially those made from cheap brown pulp paper, or otherwise known as Pulp magazines which featured popular authors such as Louis L'Amour, Robert E. Howard, Erle Stanley Gardner, and John D. MacDonald. In its hey-day pulp magazines had over thirty million avid readers each and every month. Pulp fiction authors only got paid one cent per word, forcing the majority of authors to write aggressively at times. They didn't write to impress critics, but instead they wrote for the readers, who devoured story after story and adventure after adventure.

Author L. Ron Hubbard also wrote over 150 short stories during the golden age and now Galaxy Press is releasing the stories onto audiobooks with talented voice actors and dazzling sound effects. Galaxy Press nicely sent me a complimentary copy of the award-winning Man-Killers of the Air, which first appeared in the June 1935 issue of Five Novels Monthly.

Smoke Burnham zooms in the sky in his mystery plane along with his flying companion, a pet cheetah named Patty. The crowd loves to watch him fly at the air shows, but Girard, a newspaper mogul that invested in Burnham, doesn't like him. Sure, he gives Girard great publicity, but Girard just wants the plans to his secret plane, which legally belongs to Smoke's girlfriend, the lovely Melanie King.

Trouble on His Wings
Director; Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Jennifer Aspen, Bob Caso, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen and Matt Scott
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: March 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1592123087
Approx. 2 hours 7 minutes

 

Review:  

There was no internet, cell phones, or cable TV during the 1930s and 1940s, so people would find entertainment by seeing picture shows, listening to the serials on the radio, and reading magazines. The magazine stands were full of pulp magazines with ragged edges, pulpwood paper, embellished covers, and cheap prices. Pulps contained countless adventure stories by real storytellers of the time, such as H.P. Lovecraft, Elmore Leonard, and Ray Bradbury. Stories from the Golden Age is releasing all of author L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from the 1930s and 1940s onto audiobooks. Galaxy Press nicely sent me the award winning audiobook, Trouble on His Wing, originally published in the January 1939 issue of Five-Novels Monthly.

Trouble on His Wings is about a journalist (AKA a picture-chaser) named Johnny Brice, who will do anything to get the best story for World News. Along with his cameraman sidekick, Irish Donnegan, Johnny plans on getting the best newsreels of the cruise ship that caught on fire at sea. By time he arrives, the waters had claimed the cruise ship and the survivors were rescued. Johnny comes up with the bright idea of paying $5,000 for the pictures that the survivor took. It was great idea until Johnny risked his life saving a woman from the ocean. He has looses all footage from the shipwreck and gets stuck with a beautiful woman whom he names Jinx.

Killer's Law
By L. Ron Hubbard
Directed by Jim Meskimen and Tait Ruppert
Voice Cast: Jennifer Darling, Brooke Bloom, Corey Burton, Bob Caso, R.F. Daley, John Mariano, Jim Meskimen, Enn Reitel, Richard Rocco and Tait Ruppert
Studio: Galaxy Press
ISBN-13: 978-1592122769
Release Date: October 22, 2012
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours

Review:

The 1930s and 1940s were known as the golden age, a time when many unknown writers published their work in Pulp Fiction magazines as they were paid around a penny a word. Unlike the higher-class magazines that were printed on glossy paper with higher production values, pulp magazines were published on cheap brown pulp paper and featured adventures, science fiction tales, mysteries, and many other stories.

Galaxy Press has been releasing the short stories written by author L. Ron Hubbard that were published during the golden age under the Stories of a Golden Age line of paperbacks and audiobooks. They nicely sent me a free audiobook of the "Killer's Law" for this review.

"Killer's Law" was originally published in the September 1947 issue of New Detective Magazine, where Sheriff Kyle travels from Deadeye, Nevada to Washington D.C. to personally deliver evidence against a rich copper king to Senator Meringue. Suddenly, Kyle is knocked unconscious. When he awakes he is surrounded by policemen asking questions and reporters snapping pictures. It seems that the Senator was murdered and Kyle is holding the murder weapon.

The Chee-Chalker
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Starring: Tamra Meskimen; Bob Casco, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Tait Ruppert, and Josh R. Thompson
Studio: Galaxy Press
ISBN-13: 978-1592121748
Running Time: Aprox. 2 hours 

Pulp fiction magazines were extremely poplar during the 1930s and 1940s covering any genre you can think of. There was no internet and cable television to occupy your free time with, so people read pulps and cheap novels for entertainment, not to mention listening to radio serials. Author L. Ron Hubbard wrote hundreds of short stories in about every genre during these years. Now Galaxy Press is bringing out these great stories through their new audiobooks line called Stories from the Golden Age.

Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me a free copy of The Chee-Chalker that first appeared in the July/August 1947 issue of Five-Novels Magazine.

*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

The 1930s and the 1940s has been called the Golden Age, a time where people didn't sit at home watching reality television and surfing the internet. People spent their free time going to movie shows and they also read magazines and dime store books. During these years many fancy magazines and pulp magazines were in circulation, which gave authors an opportunity to publish short stories. Since there were so many different types of fiction magazines, authors published their short stories in record numbers and this was a good way to make a little extra income as most magazines paid per word.

One of these authors was L. Ron Hubbard. The majority of the general public knows him as the guy who invented Scientology and some may turn away when they see his name because of it without realizing that he was also a talented author. Stories from the Golden Age is releasing his short stories in paperbacks and audiobooks, in which they kindly sent me this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

L. Ron Hubbard often used different pen names during these years, in which case he used the name Lt. Jonathan Daly for the story The Trail of the Red Diamonds that first appeared in the January 1935 issue of Thrilling Adventures. The main character's name just happens to be Lt. Jonathan Daly who is recovering from being shot at the Gran Chaco hospital. While there he happens to get a hold of the manuscript about Marco Polo's travels. The book reveals the location of Kublai Khan's burial.

Dead Men Kill
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Voice Cast: John Mariano, Jennifer Aspen, R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Jim Meskimen and Matt Scott
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1592123506
Pub Date: January 1, 2010
Approx: 2 hours 5 minutes

Stories from the Golden Age from Galaxy Press are a line of audiobooks and paperbacks, in which all titles are by the short stories written L. Ron Hubbard in the 1930s and 1940s. The stories appeared in Pulp Magazines. Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me several free audiobooks in exchange for an honest review. Yes, I'm aware that L. Ron Hubbard is the founder of Scientology. People tend to ignore his writings because of his religion. I'm a Christian and it doesn't bother what religion L. Ron Hubbard believed in as he was a talented author, writing in many genres.

All 150 short stories written by the author are being released in both audio and paperback from Stories from the Golden Age. For each story they use a variety of talented voice actors, such as John Mariano, Jennifer Aspen, R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Jim Meskimen and Matt Scott. 

The Carnival of Death
By L. Ron Hubbard
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ASIN: 978-1592122684
Pub Date: February 11, 2011
Running Time: 2 Hours 
Directors: Jim Meskimen and Tait Ruppert
Voice Cast: Jim Meskimen, R.F. Daley, Jason Faunt, Christina Huntington, Lori Jablons and Tait Ruppert.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Carnival-Death-Stories-Golden-Age/dp/159212268X/

Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me another package of audiobooks from their Stories From The Golden Age series, which are all written by legendary author L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) and were published in Pulp Magazines during the 1930s and 1940s (aka The Golden Age). This time around I was sent six two discs audiobooks (in which a few have two or more stories), which all them are in the mystery/suspense genre.

I picked out The Carnival of Death to review first because I was intrigued by the creepy cover of death strangling a woman. The story originally appeared in the November 1934 issue of Popular Detective, and tells the tale of a US narcotics agent Bob Clark going undercover as a security guard at Shreve's Mammoth Carnival as there was rumors of drugs being sold by someone there. Just when he thought he had a lead, several gruesome murders occur. All of the victims were decapitated!

A Matter of Matter
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1592122394
Pub. Date: June 28, 2010
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours 30 minutes


Many famous writers got their start writing countless short stories that appeared in Pulp Magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. These magazines were made from pulpwood paper, which were the complete opposite of the higher-class magazines of the time period. Pulp magazines didn't need fancy designs as all they needed were amazing stories written by great authors. Times were tough back then with the depression, and readers were looking for cheap adventures to take their mind off their problems.

Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me five audiobooks last month from their Stories from the Golden Age collection. A Matter of Matter is my last audio from these five, containing four science fiction shorts - A Matter of Matter, The Conroy Diary, The Planet Makers and The Obsolete Weapon. The voice actors in these stories are Josh R. Thompson, Corey Burton, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen (He also was the director.), Tait Ruppert, and Michael Yurchak.

Danger in the Dark
Written by: L. Ron Hubbard
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1-59212-240-0
Pub Date: January 19, 2009
Running Time: Approx 2 hours


Danger in the Dark is the fourth audiobook I have reviewed from Galaxy Press's Stories from the Golden Age. In which all their titles are by L. Ron Hubbard. Many may have different opinions about him because he was the founder of the religion Scientology, but many forget that he was a talented writer. He wrote more than 150 stories during the 1930s and 1940s, mainly being published in Pulp fiction magazines of the time. He published a wide variety of short stories, such as air adventure, sea adventure, far-flung adventure, mysteries, and tales from the orient, science fiction, fantasies, and westerns.

The audiobook consists of three stories, Danger in the Dark, The Room, and He Didn't Like Cats," on 2 discs.

The main character in Danger in the Dark, which was first published in the May 1939 issue of Unknown, is Billy Newman who becomes rich when he strikes gold while mining in the Philippines. He may be rich, but he likes a good bargain as anyone else does. He buys a South Seas island for a low price. Billy believes that he is the luckiest person alive, but the island comes with another price. Soon the crops start dying and the local natives become ill. The tribal chiefs tell Billy that he has angered the island's 75-foot god Tadamona because he bought the island, as the island can not be owned by anyone. The only way to stop the Tadamona is a sacrifice of a young girl. Billy tells them not to go to that extreme and to give him 24 hours to cure their ill ones. Now Billy doesn't actually believe in the god, and dares the god to show himself, but to Billy's surprise Tadamona does exist.

The Great Secret
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Published By: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1592122493
Pub Date: September 8, 2008
Approx. 2 hours

The Great Secret is one of five audiobooks that Galaxy Press sent to me free of charge for an honest review. These audios are from the Stories of the Golden Age, which represents the periods of the 1930s and 40s. During the years, writers such as L. Ron Hubbard published numerous short stories in pulp magazines. Included in each two CD set is a thirty-seven page booklet about L. Ron Hubbard.

Bruce Boxleitener, who starred in such popular television shows as Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Babylon 5, narrates The Great Secret that was originally published in the April 1973 issue of Science Fiction Stories. While searching for the mythological city Parva, a starship crashes leaving only one survivor, Fanner Marston, who wants to control the universe. He has heard the stories of The Great Secret that lies within the walls of Parva and he knows that city really does exist. The Sun’s rays are extremely hot on this unknown planet. He has no supplies, and he could die of thirst at any minute, but obsession with power force him to beat the odds as he continues the search for the great city.

The Crossroads
By L. Ron Hubbard
Published by: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1-59212-241-7
Release Date: June 28, 2010

    I recently had the opportunity to review some audio books, courtesy of Stories from the Golden Age in exchange for a few reviews. I’ve written book reviews and DVD reviews, but never an audio review, so I was intrigued and agreed to review a few of the titles. Within a week, I received a box with five audios (each on two Cds), a free copy of the ASI Magazine, and a small calendar.

    The Crossroads was originally published in the February 1941 issue of Unknown magazine. The story involves a farmer Eben Smith, who was told by the government to destroy his crop’s surplus to help stabilize the failing economy. He is tired of the government controlling everything while people are starving. He loads his wagon with fruits and vegetables and heads for the city. His plans come to halt when he comes upon a bizarre crossroads, consisting of four odd roads. Each of these roads takes Eden to different realities, where he comes across soldiers and strange beings. Just because he cannot reach the big city does not mean Eben cannot barter his goods.