Audiobooks narrated by Rick Kisner

An ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter that is traditionally attributed to Homer, The Iliad is usually dated to the 8th century BC and is considered to be among the oldest extant works of Western literature. Set during the Trojan War -- the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states -- The Iliad tells of the battles and events that occur during a few weeks near the war's end, when a a quarrel between the leader of the Greeks, King Agamemnon, and the Greek's greatest warrior, Achilles, reaches a climax.

Homer (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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The Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves German professor Otto Lidenbrock who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans descend into the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy, at the Stromboli volcano. From a scientific point of view, this story has not aged quite as well as other Verne stories, since most of his ideas about what the interior of the Earth contains have since been disproved, but it still manages to captivate audiences when regarded as a classic fantasy novel.

Jules Verne (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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The Iliad

Homer (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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Great Expectations

Great Expectations is Charles Dickens's thirteenth novel. It is his second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. Great Expectations is a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age novel, and it is a classic work of Victorian literature. It depicts the growth and personal development of an orphan named Pip. The novel was first published in serial form in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman and Hall published the novel in three volumes. Dickens originally intended Great Expectations to be twice as long, but constraints imposed by the management of All the Year Round limited the novel's length. The novel is collected and dense, with a conciseness unusual for Dickens. According to G. K. Chesterton, Dickens penned Great Expectations in 'the afternoon of [his] life and fame.' It was the penultimate novel Dickens completed, preceding Our Mutual Friend. It is set among the marshes of Kent and in London in the early to mid-1800s. The novel contains some of Dickens most memorable scenes, including its opening, in a graveyard, when the young orphan Pip is accosted by the escaped convict, Abel Magwitch. Great Expectations is a graphic book, full of extreme imagery, poverty, prison ships ('the hulks'), barriers and chains, and fights to the death. Upon its release, Thomas Carlyle spoke of 'All that Pip's nonsense.' Later, George Bernard Shaw praised the novel as 'All of one piece and consistently truthful.' Dickens felt Great Expectations was his best work, calling it 'a very fine idea,' and was very sensitive to compliments from his friends: 'Bulwer, who has been, as I think you know, extraordinarily taken by the book.

Charles Dickens (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is a short novel by Polish novelist Joseph Conrad, written as a frame narrative, about Charles Marlow's experience as an ivory transporter down the Congo River in Central Africa. The river is 'a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land'. In the course of his travel in central Africa, Marlow becomes obsessed with Mr. Kurtz. The story is a complex exploration of the attitudes people hold on what constitutes a barbarian versus a civilized society and the attitudes on colonialism and racism that were part and parcel of European imperialism.

Joseph Conrad (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel, and invasion literature. The novel touches on themes such as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual conventions, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film, and television interpretations.

Bram Stoker (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Fantasy lovers of all ages will rejoice at this chance to travel once again to the marvelous land of Oz! A California earthquake sends Dorothy Gale and her new friends--Zeb the farm boy, Jim the cab-horse, and Eureka the mischievous kitten--tumbling through a crack in the ground. Deep beneath the earth, Dorothy is reunited with her old friend the Wizard of Oz, and his troupe of nine tiny piglets. Together, Dorothy, the Wizard, and their friends travel through many fantastic lands, where they encounter the Mangaboos, people growing like vegetables in the ground; cross the Valley of Voe, where dama-fruit has turned everyone invisible; and are captured by mysterious flying Gargoyles. At last, the intrepid travelers reach Oz, where they have many unforgettable encounters with such favorites as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, Princess Ozma, and the wooden Sawhorse.

L. Frank Baum (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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Crime and Punishment

One of the supreme masterpieces of world literature, Crime and Punishment catapulted Dostoyevsky to the forefront of Russian writers and into the ranks of the world's greatest novelists. Drawing upon experiences from his own prison days, the author recounts in feverish, compelling tones the story of Raskolnikov, an impoverished student tormented by his own nihilism, and the struggle between good and evil. Believing that he is above the law, and convinced that humanitarian ends justify vile means, he brutally murders an old woman — a pawnbroker whom he regards as 'stupid, ailing, greedy…good for nothing.' Overwhelmed afterward by feelings of guilt and terror, Raskolnikov confesses to the crime and goes to prison. There he realizes that happiness and redemption can only be achieved through suffering. Infused with forceful religious, social, and philosophical elements, the novel was an immediate success. This extraordinary, unforgettable work is reprinted here in the authoritative Constance Garnett translation.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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The Emerald City of Oz

Join Dorothy and the Wonderful Wizard as they take Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a fabulous tour of Oz. During their journey, they encounter such amazing and amusing people as King Kleaver with his Spoon Brigade and Miss Cuttenclip of the land of paper dolls. But while Dorothy and her friends play, the wicked Nome King has joined forces with the terrible Whimsies, the fearsome Growleywogs, and the evil Phanfasms in a plot to capture the Emerald City. Will Dorothy's friends discover the danger before it's too late?

L. Frank Baum (Author), Rick Kisner (Narrator)

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