The story shelf

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30 stories · Selected from the catalog · Page 2 of 2

Science fiction

Meeting of the Minds

Robert Sheckley

Treasure hunters on a remote Pacific island discover that a Martian parasite can unite animals and people into one obedient mind.

59 min · Suspenseful

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Themes: Identity · Autonomy & control · Survival
Settings: The tropics & colonies · Wilderness
Tone: Wry
Style: Plain · Conversational
Pace: Brisk
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical · Told in dialogue
Motifs: Buried treasure · Hunts & pursuits

Science fiction

Watchbird

Robert Sheckley

Autonomous machines built to prevent murder begin expanding their definition of whom and what they must protect.

31 min · Suspenseful

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Themes: AI ethics · Law & justice · Pride
Settings: The city · Offices & workplaces
Tone: Ironic
Style: Plain
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Forbidden experiments

Folklore, myth & moral tales

The Badger

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A moonlit song outside a village house becomes the first chapter in a legend about Japan’s shape-shifting badgers.

5 min · Dreamlike

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Themes: Superstition · Faith & doubt · Appearance vs reality
Settings: Villages & small towns · The countryside
Tone: Moralizing
Style: Ornate · Descriptive
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Shapeshifters & werewolves

Folklore, myth & moral tales

The Wine Worm

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A Chinese landowner who can drink without ever growing drunk submits to an eccentric monk’s treatment for the creature said to live inside him.

14 min · Dreamlike

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Themes: Identity · Transformation · Addiction & dependence
Settings: The countryside
Tone: Moralizing
Style: Descriptive · Ornate
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical

Science fiction

Conditionally Human

Walter M. Miller Jr.

A government animal inspector discovers that one engineered pet can think and speak like a child, forcing him to decide who counts as human.

55 min · Unsettling

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Themes: Parenthood · Personhood · Genetic engineering
Settings: The home · Offices & workplaces
Tone: Ironic
Style: Plain
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Forbidden experiments

Science fiction

The Ties That Bind

Walter M. Miller Jr.

A defeated space fleet returns to peaceful Earth for fuel and turns a willing welcome into occupation, forced labor, and revolt.

46 min · Foreboding

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Themes: Empire & colonialism · Memory · War & peace
Settings: The countryside · Offices & workplaces
Tone: Earnest
Style: Descriptive · Symbolic
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Homecomings