Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind.

The Mysteries of London was a best-selling novel in mid-Victorian England, published in four volumes. This is the second volume. Initially serialized in weekly installments, they were the forerunners of today's soap operas. Known as "Penny Dreadfuls", they had no claim to literary brilliance but offered readers entertainment and excitement in the form of vice, poverty, wealth, virtue, mystery and scandal in every combination and reached a mass audience. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

"The Roosevelt Bears - Their Travels and Adventures" is full of fun as we follow the journeys and mishaps of two big, delightful bears. Tired of life in the West of America and eager to see places of which they had only heard, Teddy-B and Teddy-G head east. All ages will laugh and enjoy the antics told in lively rhyme - whether riding a train, donkey, balloon or boat, running a farm, attending school, or ... sitting in jail. - Summary by HannahMary

Quote: "To the quiet Titine her mistress created an impression of bringing not only herself into the room, but also the violent horse and the whole of the out-of-doors besides." --Chapter 1 of Madcap. --In the same chapter, Hermia Challoner, this force of nature pitted against the nature of her social milieu, laughingly tells her maid, "Better die living--than be living dead." --And thus starts the beginning of an early 20th century quest for something beyond the bored and politely veiled cynicism of class and wealth; beyond oneself. --Add to that a little mischief, a bit of Puckish misdirection. And a bit of romance.

Seemingly down-on-his-luck Australian sheep rancher and orchard grower kindly teaches his loving family the value of money through 'plain living'. Fellow fans of Jon Cleary's "The Sundowners", set a generation later, may enjoy this. - Summary by Matt Pierard

It's 1914 London, and it's Waldo and Lucinda's wedding day. Unfortunately, Lucinda is nowhere to be found. A messenger boy brings Lucinda's note to her mother - ‘I can’t do it, Mother. So I’ve gone.’ There seems to be some suspicion that an Italian gentleman was somehow involved. The search for Lucinda is interrupted by the First World War, and it's not until the end of the war that she is finally located and her story unfolds. - Summary by Nick Bulka

When Ken Holt's father, the famous newspaper writer, comes home for a Christmas visit, one of the gifts he brings is an antique iron box. Soon after he arrives a serious of unexplained events occur, including an attempted burglary. A hunch that the iron box is at the center of these occurrences sends Ken Holt and his friend Sandy Allen on an exciting adventure to solve the mystery! Ken Holt was the central characters in a series of 18 mystery stories for boys written by Sam and Beryl Epstein under the pseudonym Bruce Campbell.

Tesno was a troubleshooter. That's why the railroad construction company had hired him. His job was to make sure that nobody interfered with the tunnel that they were digging through that frontier region mountain. Tesno knew one thing for sure--if they had called him in, there must have been plenty interference--and the kind that didn't stop at murder. Frontier towns and frontier wilderness didn't pay much attention to city-made laws. Tesno carried his own law with him and he knew he'd have to make it respected...

Author and editor of numerous children's books, Thornton W. Burgess was also a noted conservationist. In writing for youngsters he combined a gift for storytelling with his love of the outdoors, creating an entertaining menagerie of animals whose adventures he skillfully recounted in a series of charming fables. In them, he taught young readers about nature and encouraged them to love the "lesser folk in fur and feathers." In this delightfully told tale, Burgess chronicles the escapades of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, who's known throughout the Green Forest as a mischief maker...

In a post-apocalyptic world where every government in the world has been overrun by its own military machinery, only to see that military machinery self-destruct, people are randomly being affected by a plague that seemingly takes over their brains and forces them to commit heinous crimes. Chandler is one of these unfortunate victims, the perpetrator of rape and murder. He is driven out of his community as a Hoaxer , branded on his forehead with the letter H. But he is not feigning. In his travels, he finds the source of the plague, and it's not what people think. It's up to him to deal with it, and he does. But to what end? - Summary by Nick Bulka

Eric, artist for the king, has created a marvelous painting of a royal wedding. It is finished except for the face of the queen, which appeared to him in a dream. When he awoke, he had forgotten the form of the features. Obsessed with recapturing this vision, he goes on a quest to find the woman because he cannot paint another stroke until he sees those eyes again. During his journey, he discovers much more, perhaps even the true meaning of his dream and of his life. - Summary by Amy Gramour

Fairy Queen Lulea and her merry band, in a quest to relieve themselves of boredom, decide to create a new magical amusement. They weave a beautiful magic cloak that grants its wearer a single wish. The Queen tells a fellow fairy to give the cloak to the most unhappy mortal she happens to meet. She hands it over to the sister of Noland's new king, recently coronated and still trying to figure out how to rule. The witch-queen of Ix, taking notice of the cloak and Noland's power struggles, hatches a...

A charming rogue, a stolen birthright, unrequited love, mutiny on the high seas, with a backdrop of 17th century England and the Spanish Main, make for another historical romance from George Gibbs. - Summary by Donald Cummings

An adventure story for boys, in which the author aims to "impart pleasure, and, at the same time, inspire respect for labor, integrity and every noble sentiment". There is a sense of nostalgia, as Kellogg sets his story in bygone days, when the grandfathers of his readers were mere boys, facing the challenges and perils of frontier life and developing the character needed to transform the wilderness in to the land of freedom and plenty. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

The seventeenth book in the popular "Motor Boys" series sees our heroes as college freshman. Written under the house pseudonym of Clarence Young. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

The frigate Rose of Devon rescues from a wreck in mid-ocean twelve men who show their gratitude by seizing the Rose, killing her captain and sailing toward the Caribbean where they hope to plunder Spanish towns and galleons. Mistaking an English man-of-war for a merchantman, they are captured and brought back to England for trial. Only one, an English lad, Philip Marsham, a member of the original crew of the Rose, is acquitted; and he, after adventures in the forces of King Charles, tires of Cromwell's England and sails for Barbados once more on the Rose of Devon...

These are the fantastic adventures of Galopoff, the talking pony, and his friends. Galopoff experiences some amazing adventures in Russia, meeting some famous people of his time, and joining a circus, until his story finally culminates in a great happy end. - Summary by Carolin

After working several years in foreign affairs, and after winning and then losing a fortune, Rupert Tremorne is stranded in Nagasaki, at the end of his wits and in some debt. His only chance is to take the post as private secretary to the Millionaire Mr Hemster, and to sail on with him on his yacht. Sailing around Asia is big adventure for anyone, but it is a special one for Tremorne, because besides Mr Hemster and his staff, there are the beautiful Miss Gertrude Hemster and her companion Hilda Stretton on board. And suddenly, Tremorne has his hands full with those two ladies... - Summary by Carolin

Gil Blas is born in misery to a stablehand and a chambermaid of Santillana in Cantabria, and is educated by his uncle. He leaves Oviedo at the age of seventeen to attend the University of Salamanca. His bright future is suddenly interrupted when he is forced to help robbers along the route and is faced with jail. He becomes a valet and, over the course of several years, is able to observe many different classes of society, both lay and clerical. Because of his occupation, he meets many disreputable people and is able to adjust to many situations, thanks to his adaptability and quick wit...

The story of an exciting test of wits between world-class thief Arsène Lupin and master detective Herlock Sholmes. Translated from the French. - Summary by Andy Harrington

Ian Holborn was on board the RMS Lusitania when it was torpedoed, and as it sank he rescued a 12 year old girl named Avis Dolphin. She later complained that books for girls were not very interesting, so he decided to write one for her "as thrilling as any book written for boys!" This book is dedicated to her. From the Preface: This story is not written for grown-ups, and if they want to know why it begins with such a gruesome first chapter, let them ask the children. Children like the horrors first and the end all bright. Many grown-ups like the tragedy at the end. But perhaps the children are right and the grown-ups are standing on their heads. - Summary by Beth Thomas

Penny Parker is a teen-aged sleuth and amateur reporter with an uncanny knack for uncovering and solving unusual, sometimes bizarre mysteries. The only daughter of widower Anthony Parker, publisher of the "Riverview Star," Penny has been raised to be self-sufficient, outspoken, innovative, and extraordinarily tenacious. Her cheerful, chatty manner belies a shrewd and keenly observant mind. Penny was the creation of Mildred A. Wirt, who was also the author of the original Nancy Drew series . Wirt became frustrated when she was pushed to "tone down" Nancy Drew and make her less independent and daring...

George Alfred Henty was an English newspaper correspondent who became a prolific author of, predominantly, adventure stories for boys. Most were based on true historical events. In this volume, published posthumously, we are presented with thirteen signature stories taken from within his novels. We are taken to India, to Canada, aboard a plague ship and back to Hannibal's army. We confront the Chinese, the Black Death and numerous brushes with death in these gripping tales, which give us a taste of Henty's storytelling mastery. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Quote: "In the following pages I have told the story of that body of adventurers who, from 1822 to 1829, opened the way for the expansion of our nation beyond the Missouri. I have made Jedediah Smith the central figure of my story, for of all explorers of the Great West he was in many ways the most remarkable, though, heretofore, our school children have not even heard his name. In order to give the student a sense of the continuity of history, I have begun my narrative with a brief account of the...

Four young American women have joined the Allied forces under WWI. In this volume of the series they are in Belgium, and they are dealing with the mysterious past of one of the girls, the possible romance between a French Count and another of the girls , Belgian children, and other civilians. Summary by kathrinee

The Curse of Capistrano is the first work to feature the fictional character Zorro . The story was later republished under the name The Mark of Zorro. The outlaw Zorro is Public Enemy #1 in southern California during the period of Mexican rule. But he's not a bad guy, really - he fights for justice for the oppressed. And when he meets the lovely Lolita, daughter of Don Pedro, who is on the governor's bad side, he has even more reason to fight. But she's being wooed by the rich and influential but wimpy Don Diego...

This is a collection of 22 stories of action and adventure. We follow the narrators as they escape pirates and cannibals, overcome natural disasters, and are attacked by wild animals. Cunning plans are executed and daring escapes are accomplished, all in the particular style of the 19th century adventure story. Thomas Knox was an author who had travelled around the world by the time he wrote the stories in this volume, and who was no stranger to any of the geographic areas in which he set his stories. - Summary by Carolin

Frank L. Baum, author of the Oz books, delivers an engaging story for all ages. Orissa Kane works in order to provide for her family. Her mother is blind, while her brother devotes his time to his invention, a flying machine. Everything changes when he brakes his leg and Orissa decides to continue developing the machine. This fascinating and relatable book explores the early days of aviation, and the changing role of women. Frank L. Baum chose to publish this book under the name Edith Van Dime. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

In the present [1908] collection those [stories] have been brought together which are concerned with the grotesque and with the terrible—such tales as might well be read “round the fire” upon a winter’s night. This would be my ideal atmosphere for such stories, if an author might choose his time and place as an artist does the light and hanging of his picture. However, if they have the good fortune to give pleasure to any one, at any time or place, their author will be very satisfied. Summary by Book Preface

The Silver Fox Patrol is up in the Maine Woods, hiking and hunting for big game. The boys find out that guns, and other explosives, can be fun, and dangerous, too! But all the fun comes to an end when some fugitives enter the woods nearby. Herbert Carter is one of many pseudonyms used by St George Rathborne.

A sequel to "Her Mothers Secret" and "Love's Bitterest Cup"

The Mystery of the Chinese Ring is an exotic adventure story and is set in locations such as Burma and China, with the historical and political ramifications which applied to the mid Twentieth Century and still ring true in the early 21st Century. What is the purpose of the ring? What is the significance of the letter “K”? Why the interest in a sixteen year old boy going to visit a relative in Burma? Why are family dynasties so important, and why the secrecy concerning their survival? This is an audiobook that will find eager listeners from the ages of about ten to octogenarians, male and female, and also those enjoying adventure stories with many twists and turns...