
ONCE UPON A PLANET - By J. J. ALLERTON
A tyrant known across the world for his relentless appetite for battle finds his empire at a standstill when both soldiers and enemies simply drop their weapons. King Miotis, the fiercest warrior ever raised, sits restless in his palace, plagued by a boredom that no cruelty or conquest can dispel. When his aging vizier, Kannot, suggests an unknown force has shifted the very nature of war, the ruler orders a desperate investigation, granting his counsel just a week to uncover a remedy.
The tale follows the uneasy partnership of the war‑driven monarch and his cautious adviser as they scour a planet reshaped by an unsettling calm. Their search pulls them into strange encounters and philosophical debates about power, purpose, and the lure of conflict. Listeners will be drawn into a vivid, otherworldly court where the usual clang of battle is replaced by a haunting silence, prompting a mighty king to question what truly fuels his desire for domination.
Language
en
Duration
~32 minutes (31K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2010-06-12
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
A mysterious pulp-era writer, remembered mainly through a small cluster of mid-20th-century science fiction and western stories. What survives suggests a brief, curious career tied closely to the lively magazine world around editor Ray A. Palmer.
View all books
by Vinceslas-Eugène Dick

by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé

by Abraham Cahan

by Pauline E. (Pauline Elizabeth) Hopkins

by Laure Conan

by Eliza Fowler Haywood

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps