The Vortex BlasterE. E. "Doc" Smith
One man against the basic energy of the universe, unleashed in ravening fury that was Storm Cloud. Unique was the only way to describe him, yet alone in his single-handed battle. The appalling destructiveness of a loose atomic vortex could be cancelled out only by destroying the vortex itself. While not even the... read more »
The Voyage OutVirginia Woolf
In The Voyage Out, one of Woolf's wittiest, socially satirical novels, Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship, and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a modern version of the mythic voyage. Lorna Sage's Introduction and Explanatory Notes offer guidance to the reader new to Woolf, and... read more »
The Voyages of Doctor DolittleHugh Lofting
Doctor John Dolittle, the veterinarian who can actually talk to animals, sets sail on the high seas for new adventures! Accompanied by his young friend Tommy Stubbins and the beloved animals of his household -- Polynesia the parrot, Jip the dog, and Chee-Chee the monkey -- the good doctor is off to forbidding Spider... read more »
Vril: The Power of the Coming RaceEdward Bulwer-Lytton
From Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth to Rudy Rucker's The Hollow Earth, subterranean worlds have been a source of both fascination and fear for the literary imagination, and The Coming Race is no exception. An evolutionary fantasy first published in 1871, the story draws upon ideas of Darwinism to... read more »
WaldenHenry David Thoreau
In 1845 Henry David Thoreau left his pencil-manufacturing business and began building a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. This lyrical yet practical-minded book is at once a record of the 26 months Thoreau spent in withdrawal from society -- an account of the daily minutiae of building... read more »
WalkingHenry David Thoreau
In this essay, first published in 1862 and vital to any appreciation of the great man's work, Thoreau explores: the joys and necessities of long afternoon walks; how spending time in untrammeled fields and woods soothes the spirit; how Nature guides us on our walks; the lure of the wild for writers and artists; why... read more »
Wandl the InvaderRay Cummings
There were nine major planets in the Solar System, and it was within their boundaries that man first set up interplanetary commerce and began trading with the ancient Martian civilization. And then they discovered a tenth planet -- a maverick!
This tenth world, if it had an orbit, had a strange one, for it was... read more »
War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy
The most famous—and perhaps greatest—novel of all time, Tolstoy’s War and Peace tells the story of five families struggling for survival during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.Among its many unforgettable characters is Prince Andrey Bolkonsky, a proud, dashing man who, despising the artifice of high society... read more »
War In HeavenCharles Williams
The Holy Grail mysteriously surfaces in an obscure country parish becoming a sacramental object to protect, or a vessel of power to exploit. Williams gives a contemporary setting to the traditional Grail quest, examining the distinction between magic and religion. War in Heaven is an eerily disturbing book, one that... read more »
The War in the AirH. G. Wells
This thrilling tale is H. G. Wells at his modernist, visionary best. In 1907, a naive Londoner named Bert Smallways finds himself an unwitting passenger on a fleet of German airships heading over the Atlantic to attack New York. What unfolds in characteristically Wellsian fashion is a clash of early flying machines... read more »
War is KindStephen Crane
War is Kind, was unconventional for the time in that it was written in free verse without rhyme, meter, or even titles for individual works. They are typically short in length and although several poems, such as 'Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind', use stanzas and refrains, most do not. Crane also differed from... read more »
The Warlord of MarsEdgar Rice Burroughs
The Warlord of Mars completes the story begun in A Princess of Mars and continued in The Gods of Mars, finally bringing together John Carter and his beloved Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. Carter last saw his beloved in the Temple of the Sun of the Holy Therns, with the blade of Phaidor descending toward her... read more »
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells
"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s..." So begins H. G. Wells’ classic novel in which Martian lifeforms take over planet Earth. As the Martians emerge, they construct giant killing... read more »
War PoemsSiegfried Sassoon
The poems gathered here, which trace the course of the First World War, are an extraordinary testimony to the almost unimaginable experiences of a combatant in that bitter conflict. Moving from the patriotic optimism of the first few poems (...fighting for our freedom, we are free) to the anguish and anger of the... read more »
Washington SquareHenry James
Washington Square follows the coming-of-age of its plain-faced, kindhearted heroine, Catherine Sloper. Much to her father’s vexation, a handsome opportunist named Morris Townsend woos the long-suffering heiress, intent on claiming her fortune. When Catherine stubbornly refuses to call off her engagement, Dr... read more »
WaverleyWalter Scott
Waverley is set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which sought to restore the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles Edward Stuart (or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'). It relates the story of a young dreamer and English soldier, Edward Waverley, who was sent to Scotland in 1745. He journeys North from his... read more »
WaxEthel Lina White
The residents of the British town of Riverpool are disturbed by a series of murders in the local waxworks museum. As tensions mount, local journalist Sonia Thompson determines to investigate - but when she spends the night alone at the museum, she soon finds horror stalking the exhibits. A classic crime thriller... read more »
The Well-BelovedThomas Hardy
The Well-Beloved completes the cycle of Hardy's great novels, reiterating his favourite themes of man's eternal quest for perfection in both love and art, and the suffering that ensues. Jocelyn Pierston, celebrated sculptor, tries to create an image of his ideal woman - his imaginary Well-Beloved - in stone, just as... read more »
West of the PecosZane Grey
Young Terrill "Rill" Lambeth could ride and shoot with the best men in the South. When her widowed, war-ruined father packs up a caravan and drives toward Texas, she gets the chance to test her skills and prove herself on the rugged and dangerous trail west. Facing harrowing buffalo stampedes, harsh elements and... read more »
WetwareRudy Rucker
In 2030, bopper robots in their lunar refuge have founds a way to infuse DNA wetware with their own software code. The result is a new lifeform: the meatbop. Fair is fair, after all. Humans built the boppers, now bops are building humans. . .sort of. Its all part of an insidious plot thats about to ensnare Della... read more »
What Every Woman KnowsJ. M. Barrie
Married by special agreement to John Shand, Maggie Wylie proves to be a highly effective voice for her politician husband. One of the author's most realistic and important theatrical works — graced with flashes of sly humor and dramatic irony — entertainingly develops the theme that behind every successful man... read more »
What Happened to the CorbettsNevil Shute
Set in 1938, this novel tells the story of the Corbetts, a family preparing for the coming war. As the world begins to collapse around them, they decide to chance their one means of escape and take to their small yacht on the Solent. Peter Corbett, a local lawyer, his wife, Joan, and their three children make the... read more »
What Katy DidSusan Coolidge
What Katy Did is a children's book written by Susan Coolidge. It follows the adventures of a twelve-year-old American girl, Katy Carr, and her family who live in the fictional lakeside Ohio town of Burnet in the 1860s. Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and... read more »
What Katy Did at SchoolSusan Coolidge
What Katy Did at School is the the sequel to Susan Coolidge's classic novel of American childhood, and follows directly on from the last novel; just a few days later. A story of the high-spirited and rebellious American girl Katy Carr and her family, as Katy and Clover as they go away to school and make new friends. read more »
What Katy Did NextSusan Coolidge
What Katy Did Next is the third installment of Coolidge's series about a playful young girl called Katy Carr. The story begins with Katy getting an invitation to spend a year in Europe. She is overjoyed at the thought of exploring the interesting places she has read about. However, once she gets there she faces... read more »
What Maisie KnewHenry James
What Maisie Knew represents one of James's finest reflections on the rites of passage from wonder to knowledge, and the question of their finality. The child of violently divorced parents, Maisie Farange opens her eyes on a distinctly modern world. Mothers and fathers keep changing their partners and names, while... read more »
What the Moon SawHans Christian Andersen
Considered as a sequel to Stories and Tales, this book contains tales and sketches various in character; and following, as it does, an earlier volume, care has been taken to intersperse with the children's tales stories which, by their graver character and deeper meaning, are calculated to interest those 'children... read more »
The Wheels of ChanceH. G. Wells
Although H. G. Wells is best known for his science fiction stories he wrote in many genres including history, and social commentaries. The Wheels of Chance was written when the bicycle was beginning to become very popular (1890 -1905) and saw bicycles becoming a part of social changes in England. People could move... read more »
When Patty Went to CollegeJean Webster
When Patty Went to College is a humorous novel about life in an all-girls' college at the turn of the century. Patty is a happy, fun-loving prankster who defends the weak and uses her clever brain only when it suits her. The end of the novel sees her contemplating life outside of college, and wondering whether her... read more »
When the Sleeper WakesH. G. Wells
The Sleeper is just an ordinary man, no one special, just someone going about his everyday business. Until one day he awakes, and finds that the world around him has changed. No longer a nobody, he has been catapulted into the unenviable position of a pawn in a dangerous conspiracy where the stakes are high and the... read more »