The Well Told Tale
Hi everyone. This is Robert. Welcome to The Well Told Tale. Every week I narrate a classic story; the greatest science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction stories ever written, not just in a small chunk at a time, but enough for you to really relax into. No adverts in the middle, just the story itself. All stories are pubic domain and free from copyright.
Episodes
In our last episode, our heroes found a mysterious tunnel marked by Arne Saknussemm, whose writings sent our heroes on their journey to the centre of the Earth. They now need to blast their way through, but where will this tunnel take them?
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What lies ahead for our heroes? In the last episode's finale, they found that the storm had taken them back to their starting point on the raft. Will they make another attempt across the subterranean sea or return to the surface?
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, a...
Our heroes have discovered a vast ocean beneath the Earth. They are now on a raft speeding across it. How large is this ocean (or is it a sea?) and will they reach the other side?
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Books by our favourite authors - ht...
In our last episode, Axel had fallen and slipped into unconsciousness. He had been separated from the group and was returning to them through sound. Will the professor and Hans find him in time?
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Our heroes have been travelling steadily toward the centre of the Earth. With their water replenished, they have decided to rest for a day and calculate exactly where they are and where they should head next...
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Our heroes are running out of water. The professor urges them to continue, but to survive, they must find a way to replenish their dwindling supplies...
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists...
Our heroes have found the crater and are ready to begin their descent to the centre of the Earth...
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-told-tale
Jules Verne:
Axel and Professor Lidenbrock are travelling to Snæfellsjökull with their guide, Hans, where they believe they will discover the gateway to the centre of the Earth.
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.booksh...
We pick up our tale in Copenhagen, where Axel and Professor Lidenbrock are about to head to Iceland. They have followed the clues and are hoping to find the entrance to the centre of the Earth...
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
Last week, our main characters Axel and his uncle, Professor Lidenbrock, discovered a coded message from a 16th-century alchemist, Arne Saknussemm. Axel has decoded the message but has decided not to share this information, with his uncle.
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local booksh...
Our next story has seen numerous adaptations, including films, plays, radio dramas, and even a theme park ride. 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', a classic by Jules Verne first published in French in 1864, gained further popularity with the English translation by Frederick Amadeus Malleson in 1877. This is the edition we have selected to read.
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Our story this week is by Miles J Breuer, an American-Czech physician who wrote science fiction and short stories in his spare time. This story is typical of Breuer's writing: fast paced and full of interesting ideas. In this case, what would you do if, driving down the road, you suddenly encountered a Roman legion...?
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Books - (buying books f...
We rejoin Nathaniel in Australia, where he is excavating ancient ruins. He believes these ruins are the place where he was held captive during his period of amnesia. Despite his apprehensions, he finds himself increasingly drawn into the darkness of the excavation site. What horrors await him?
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thewelltoldtale Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps s...
Last week, we learned more about our protagonist, Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, as he worked through what happened to him between 1908 and 1913. Piecing it all together from his dreams and accounts of others who seem to have gone through the same thing, it seems too incredible to be true - could some...thing really have taken over his body during that time?
You can support the channel via our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewelltol...
Last week, we were introduced to our protagonist, Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, who cannot remember what happened to him between 1908 and 1913. During that time, it appears he was overtaken by another personality. He has dreams of being a prisoner in an alien land. Nathaniel also discovered that he is not the only person who has experienced these feelings and dreams. What could it all mean?
You can support the channel via our Patreon: ...
We revisit one of our favorite authors, H.P. Lovecraft. In this story, Lovecraft delves into themes of psychological horror and the fragility of sanity. Influenced by the film Berkeley Square, Lovecraft believed that writing this novella helped him solve the conceptual problems of time travel portrayed in Berkeley Square.
You can support the channel via our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewelltoldtale
Books - (buying books from...
This week we have an original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Duckling. Was it inspired by the bullying Hans Christian Andersen faced as a child, or by his discovery that he was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederick? Whatever the inspiration, it's a tale that still resonates today.
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Mr Cavor's messages from the Moon continue. In his latest communication, he has revealed that he is set to meet the leader of the Selenites: the Grand Lunar. Will this be the last time we hear from him?
You can support the channel via our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewelltoldtale
Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you)...
A Dutch Scientist has contacted Mr Bedford: Mr Julius Wendigee, who claims he has received messages from Mr Cavor on the Moon. Mr Bedford is eager to find out what happened to Cavor...
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Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you):
After finding the Sphere, Mr Bedford was unable to find Mr Cavour. Without knowing Mr Cavour's fate, Mr Bedford has left the moon. Now, all he needs to do is figure out how to land the Sphere on Earth...
You can support the channel via our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewelltoldtale
Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to yo...
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