Strange Worlds

by Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter (Narrator)

In this new collection of five short stories from New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry, listeners get an eclectic sampling of the writer's work - from SF parody to murder mystery and beyond.

"The Things That Live in Cages": An MMA fighter at the end of his career is offered the chance to stay young, fit, and stronger than ever - but the price is his humanity.

"The Death Song of Dwar Guntha": Two old warriors prepare to ride into battle for the last time to save the future of Barsoom. Set in the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, this story first appeared in the anthology Under the Moons of Mars.

"Plan 7 From Sin City": A 1950s seedy Las Vegas PI is hired to follow a philandering husband who may be selling atomic secrets to the Reds. This noir science fiction parody is a prequel to the worst movie of all time, Plan 9 from Outer Space.

"Clean Sweeps": A reporter accompanies a special ops team on a dangerous mission against space pirates.

"The Vanishing Assassin": Edgar Allan Poe's brilliant amateur detective Auguste Dupin is called in to investigate a savage murder perpetrated by an invisible killer.

©2015 “The Things That Live in Cages” © 2013 by Jonathan Maberry. “The Death Song of Dwar Guntha” © 2012 by Jonathan Maberry. “Plan 7 from Sin City” © 2012 by Jonathan Maberry. “Clean Sweeps” © 2011 by Jonathan Maberry Productions, LLC. “The Vanishing Assassin” © 2013 by Jonathan Maberry Productions, LLC. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook

4 pages, Audible Audio

First published February 27, 2015

About the author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange Worlds is a very nice audio collection of five of Maberry's short works read by Ray Porter. There's a good military sf-space piece, a fun Burroughs/Barsoom story, a horror story with an unusual fighting background, and a mystery featuring Poe's detective Dupin, along with my favorite of the bunch, Plan 7 From Sin City. It's a semi-comedic '50s noir detective story that serves as a prequel to Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's a fun and diverse bunch.

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I listened to the audiobook version of this short story collection, I kept thinking back on variety shows like the old Carol Burnett Show. I was surprised I didn't think of The Twilight Zone. The stories were more appropriate to The Twilight Zone, certainly, with sci-fi and mystery and comedy and fantasy covered. But I think why I thought of The Carol Burnett Show was the extremely good narration of Ray Porter. Porter was able to inhabit the different roles in these very different genres with unique character. Porter did an excellent job as these stories Lyle Waggoner. The stories, in all their variety, were fine entertainment -- not unlike watching a good television show episode. My favorite was the take off of Plan 9 from Outer Space. I also appreciated the author aping the styles of the other stories, especially the John Carter of Mars story. This was quite like what you would read in those original stories, I believe.

[Ed Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great audio book! Ray Porter's talent to change voices on a dime is always astounding. He tells each story in that same consistent manner.

[Ingrid Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can not go wrong with anything by Jonathan Mayberry. He is tops in horror, ghost, and sci-fi stories. I love the Pine Deep novels and stories the best and his novel Glimpse is a do not miss (trust me on this, you can thank me later.) His short stories are always,gun,funny, spooky and never disappoint. Read one but be warned, you will soon be searching out each and every story in any and all anthologies just to have the joy of a good story.

[Richard De · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest strengths of this audio anthology were the pastiches of Burroughs, Wood and Poe and the voice acting talents of narrator Ray Porter.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top-notch storytelling and narration.

[Scott Benoit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray porter is the best narrator out there

[Darrell Grizzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 5 very different short stories from a masterful writer, each written in a distinct literary style: a mixed martial arts story that turns supernatural; a story set in the world of John Carter, Warlord of Mars; a private-eye story that morphs into science-fiction ("with apologies to Plan 9 from Outer Space"); a hard-hitting military science-fiction story; and a tale featuring Edgar Allen Poe's detective, Auguste Dupin. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Charmer (+ Vibes Only) · Rating 1 out of 5]

The stories did not make any since to me, and I didn't like any of them. That sucks.