"Greed" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Greed"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx. 2 hours

Once again I dive into the enjoyment of an audio collection of some pulp sci-fi from "The Stories from the Golden Age." Galaxy Audio & Galaxy Press have taken 150 short stories written by L. Ron Hubbard during the mid-twentieth century, more specifically during the 1930s through the 1950s. Many of these stories appeared in various pulp fiction magazines during that period and cover the genres of "Far Flung Adventure," "Sea Adventure," "Air Adventure," "Tales from the Orient," "Mystery," "Western," "Fantasy," and of course "Science-Fiction." Each of these stories have been reproduced into two hour Audio books and the physical books for the pulp fiction feel.

The production values for every book has been set pretty high. Original music has produced for the stories. Sound effects added where needed, and placed in a near subtle level where the effect helps to tell the story but does not overcome the dialogue, and speaking of dialogue the characters are all voiced by actors that portray perfect over-the-top characters.

This installment in the collection contains three stories that each have a unique approach to sci-fi story telling.


"Greed"
Originally published in "Astounding Science Fiction," April 1950, is a story that mixes a little bit of philosophy from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" with the typical L. Ron Hubbard sci-fi little twist in the end. The main premise is that space cannot be explored or conquered with out greed. It is greed that guides the conquest of space in that something has to be procured to make planetary travel worth while. This story is about George Marquis Lorrilard, a sometime lieutenant in the United contenents Space Navy and space exploiter, as he conquers an Asian run planet.

"Final Enemy"
Originally published in "Super Science Stories," September 1950, this story tells of how travellers of space from the two separate powers on Earth, the Asians and Us, seek to explore the outer reaches of space. Each find stories of how a powerful entity has landed before and terrorized and nearly wiped out each new planet's population. Upon hearing there is a stronger enemy out there the two powers team up to find this other race. The twist in this story is one easily equivalent to that of a Twilight Zone episode.

"The Automagic Horse"
Originally published in "Astounding Science Fiction," October 1949, this story is a humorous story in which an engineer for a Hollywood movie production company is seeking to build a ship to explore space while creating special effects for the movies. This time he needs to build a realistic looking horse that will bust out of a barn and survive having the same barn while burning fall on the horse. The ASPCA will not allow a real horse so the engineer makes one. His secret is to rais money for his side project by getting the movie company to pay more than he needs on the horse. Upon completion of the horse the engineer finds some alternate ways to raise money.

For two hours of great audio book entertainment you cannot go wrong with this or any other Audio Pulp from Galaxy Audio.