"The sharpest pen of the French Enlightenment, the author of Candide (1759)... and also a sci-fi writer two hundred years before the term existed. This volume brings together two forgotten gems from the 1750s, when Voltaire was at the height of his powers.
Micromegas (1752): A 39‑kilometer‑tall giant from Sirius and his smaller (but still enormous) companion from Saturn travel to Earth, where humans are nearly invisible specks. Their philosophical dialogues mock the arrogance of earthly knowledge, directly satirizing Leibniz and Alexander Pope’s claim that “whatever is, is right.” This first‑contact tale—complete with interplanetary travel and alien perspectives—prefigures Stanisław Lem’s Solaris (1961) and Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979).
Plato’s Dream (1756): Presented as a dream of the Greek philosopher, the story shows the god Demiurgos assigning lesser superbeings to create their own worlds. The result is a riot of flawed, competing designs—a direct critique of religious doctrines that claim perfect cosmic harmony. Here you’ll find the ancestor of “simulated universe” and “creator‑as‑experimenter” tropes, later seen in Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker (1937) and Iain M. Banks’s Excession (1996).
Rediscover the Enlightenment’s fiercest mind as an uncanny prophet of science fiction."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
This powerful work was read by Voltaire to Frederick of Prussia in 1740, to the king's great delight. The play was withdrawn after the fourth representation, under pressure of Church authorities who professed to see in it a bloody satire against the Christian religion. Almost three hundred years later critics are still unclear if this play is a rebuke of Islam or of Christianity or, perhaps, both. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
This comedy is partly imitated from an English piece, called the Plain Dealer. It does not suit very well for the French stage; the manners are too rough and bold, though much less so than in the original. The English seem to take too much liberty, and the French too little. -Voltaire Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Semiramis is a five-act tragedy by Voltaire, first performed in 1748 and published in 1749, based on the legend of the powerful Assyrian queen. The play explores themes of power, crime, and divine justice, with a focus on the queen's secret crimes and the punishments she faces. It is a significant work in French literature, available in modern reprints and translations. "
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
A collection containing Candide and the plays Alzire, Amelia, Brutus, Caliline, Mahomet, Mariamne, Merope, Nanine, Oedipus, Olympia, Orestes, Pandora, Semiramis, Socrates, The Orphan of China, The Prude, The Scotch Woman, and Zadig."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
The Chinese tragedy, which they call 'The Orphan,' was taken out of an immense collection of the theatrical performances of that nation, which has cultivated this art for about three thousand years before it was invented by the Greeks, the art of making living portraits of the actions of men, establishing schools of morality, and teaching virtue in dialogue and representation. For a long time dramatic poetry was held in esteem only in that vast country of China, separated from and unknown to the rest of the world, and in the city of Athens. Rome was unacquainted with it till above four hundred years afterwards. If you look for it among the Persians, or Indians, who pass for an inventive people, you will not find it there; it has never yet reached them. Asia was contented with the fables of Palpay and Lokman, which contain all their morality, and have instructed by their allegories every age and nation.-Voltaire Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
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'This Comedy is called in the French Nanine, ou le Préjugé Vaincu (Nanine, or Prejudice Overcome). It is written, as we are told in the title-page, in verses of ten syllables. The absurdity of comedies in rhyme I have already remarked. The original begins thus: Il faut parler, il faut, Monsieur le Comte, Vous expliquer nettement sur mon Compte. The reader cannot but observe, what villainous rhymes Comte and Compte are, and perhaps will more readily forgive my reducing this comedy into plain prose. It was produced in 1749.'-Voltaire Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
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This tragedy is founded on historical truth. A duke of Brittany, in the year 1387, commanded the lord of Bavalan to assassinate the constable of Clisson: Bavalan, the day after, told the duke it was done: the duke becoming sensible of the horror of his crime, and apprehensive of the fatal consequences of it, abandoned himself to the most violent despair: Bavalan, after giving him time to repent, at length told him that he had loved him well enough to disobey his orders."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Socrates is a play in three acts about Socrates and the events of his trial and eventual death. Satirical in nature it takes aim at government authority and organized religion. Voltaire's contempt for government and religion come through clearly in this play. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Œdipus was written when Voltaire was but nineteen years of age. It was played for the first time in 1718, and ran for forty-five nights. Du Frêsne, a celebrated actor, and of the same age as the author, played the part of Œdipus; and Madame Desmarêts, a famous actress, did Jocaste, and soon after quitted the stage. In this edition, the part of Philoctetes is restored, and stands exactly as it was in the first representation. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
This tragedy was produced in 1730. It marks Voltaire's spirit of daring in treating a subject from which Shakespeare shrank as, perhaps, too painful for representation. When revived during the Revolution it was enthusiastically applauded. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde's wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library."
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