Showing results for "In the Air" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

The War in the Air: And Particularly How Mr. Bert Smallways Fared While It Lasted is a military science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. The novel was written in four months in 1907, and was serialized and published in 1908 in The Pall Mall Magazine. It is (like many of Wells's works) notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts—particularly the use of aircraft for the purpose of warfare—as well as conceptualizing and anticipating events related to World War I.

Portia Hastings has spent her life rescuing her younger sister from one scrape or another. But this time, she has to step through time to do it, following Miranda from the 19th century to the 18th. Almost immediately, Portia is beset by highwaymen, which might be the most exciting thing to happen to her in a long time, even if she’d never admit it.

Olivia Ayala has mastered the art of blending the perfect ingredients to create magical confections in her small-town bakery in Addersfield, Rhode Island—a sanctuary for witches since 1697. As a fiercely independent single mom and a powerful witch, Olivia has crafted a life of sweet serenity for herself and her son, navigating the challenges of cerebral palsy with strength and grace. But beneath the surface of her contented life, a whisper of loneliness lingers. Enter Draven James: charming, annoyingly handsome, and mysteriously capable of finding a town hidden from the outside world.

Bert Smallways, a “kind of bicycle engineer,” is creatively trying to avoid bankruptcy when he meets by chance a certain Mr. Butteridge—the inventor of a new form of aircraft. Butteridge, Bert discovers, has plans to sell his invention either to British Government—or to the Germans, if the British won’t have it. When one of Butteridge’s aircrafts is shot down while Bert is aboard, Bert stumbles across a secret German plot to destroy the United States. As the story unfolds, Bert finds himself in an unexpected position, called upon to perform tasks he never could have foreseen.

This remarkable tale of the devastation and horrors of an international war was written in 1908—six years before the start of World War I. It describes the results of aerial attacks on New York and other cities in terrifying detail. It is provocative and sadly, prophetic in many ways. In the end, we can only agree with Wells that "it should never have begun".

Encounter the death who walks, rats, descents into madness, ghosts, mad scientists, crimes against nature, and much more in this classic collection presenting 22 tales of the supernatural from authors such as Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, and Ambrose Bierce. Features performances from Peter Lorre, Hal Holbrooke, Boris Karloff, and the work of many leading radio directors, writers, and actors of the day. Also included are episodes from Strange, a rarely heard series narrated by Walter Gibson, creator and author of The Shadow.