Clifford Simak has 15 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 14 narrators, with an average listener rating of 3.7★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is Time Is the Simplest Thing.
Project Pope
Summary
Robot believers at the far end of the galaxy endeavor to create a true religion, but their efforts could be shattered by a shocking revelation. Far in the future, on the remote planet End of Nothing, sentient robots are engaged in a remarkable enterprise. They call their project Vatican-17: an endeavor to create a truly universal religion presided over by a pope, whose extreme godliness and infallible artificial intelligence are fed by telepathic human Listeners who psychically delve into the mysteries of the universe. But the great and holy mission could be compromised by one shocking revelation that threatens to inspire serious crises of faith among the spiritual, truth-seeking robotic acolytes while tearing them into warring religious factions; for the Listener Mary is claiming that she has just discovered Heaven. There are those among the Clifford D. Simak faithful who consider Project Pope his masterpiece. But whether the crowning literary achievement of a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science-fiction Grand Master or merely another brilliant novel of speculative fiction to stand among his many, Simak's breathtaking search for God in the machine ingeniously blends science and spirituality in a truly miraculous way that few science fiction writers, if any, have been able to accomplish.
©1981 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
A Choice of Gods
Summary
A handful of humans and a multitude of robots create a new society on a mysteriously abandoned Earth in this breathtaking science fiction classic from one of the genre's acknowledged masters. What if you woke up one morning on Earth...and no one else was there? That is the reality that greeted a handful of humans, including Jason Whitney, his wife Martha, and the remnants of a tribe of Native Americans in the year 2135. Their inexplicable abandonment had unexpected benefits: the eventual development of mental telepathy and other extrasensory powers, inner peace, and, best of all, near immortality. Now, 5,000 years later, most of the remaining humans live a tranquil, pastoral life, leaving technological and religious exploration to the masses of robot servants who no longer have humans to serve. But the unexpected reappearance of Jason's brother, who had teleported to the stars many years before, threatens to change everything yet again - for John Whitney is the bearer of startling information about where Earth's population went and why. And the most disturbing news of all: They may finally be coming home again. Nominated for the Hugo Award when it first appeared in print more than 40 years ago, Clifford D. Simak's brilliant and thought-provoking A Choice of Gods has lost nothing of its power to astonish and intrigue. A masterwork of speculative fiction, intelligent and ingenious, it is classic Simak, standing tall among the very best science fiction that has ever been written.
©1972 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Special Deliverance
Summary
A motley collection of humans and one robot, all from alternate universes, must make their way through a strange alien puzzle-world of danger and mystery in this classic science fiction allegory by an award-winning maestro. Following a conversation with a talking slot machine, Professor Edward Lansing finds himself mysteriously transported to a tavern on a long and empty road. It is immediately obvious to the educator that he is no longer on campus - or even Earth - and that he is not alone. Lansing's new companions - a female engineer, a military officer, a humorless priest, a poetess, and a robot named Jurgens - all hail from separate alternate realities and share Lansing's confusion. What is clear, however, is that they must continue down the road together, encountering a series of bizarre sights, dangerous obstacles, and perplexing puzzles along the way: an abandoned, decaying city; a set of doorways; a large blue cube; a tower that sings. Soon it is apparent they are all being tested for some eerie, inexplicable reason, and the choices each must make will determine his or her future. For those who fail, the alien trail will never be seen again. A provocative science fiction allegory, Special Deliverance is Hugo and Nebula Award winner Clifford D. Simak's Pilgrim's Progress - a tale of great trials and hidden agendas that expose the foibles of humanity and a fantastic exploration of the human condition. A science fiction classic brimming with intelligence, invention, and wonder, it is yet another extraordinary creation from one of the genre's most revered grandmasters.
©1982 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Time Is the Simplest Thing
Summary
A telepath inadvertently acquires a powerful alien consciousness and must run for his life to escape corporate assassins and hate-filled mobs in this enthralling science fiction masterwork. Space travel has been abandoned in the 22nd century. It is deemed too dangerous, expensive, and inconvenient - and now the all-powerful Fishhook company holds the monopoly on interstellar exploration for commercial gain. Their secret is the use of "parries", human beings with the remarkable telepathic ability to expand their minds throughout the universe. On what should have been a routine assignment, however, loyal Fishhook employee Shepherd Blaine is inadvertently implanted with a copy of an alien consciousness, becoming something more than human. Now he's a company pariah, forced to flee the safe confines of the Fishhook complex. But the world he escapes into is not a safe sanctuary. Its people have been taught to hate and fear his parapsychological gift - and there is nowhere on Earth, or elsewhere, for Shepherd Blaine to hide. A Hugo Award nominee, Time Is the Simplest Thing showcases the enormous talents of one of the true greats of 20th-century science fiction. This richly imagined tale of prejudice, corporate greed, oppression, and, ultimately, transcendence stands tall among Simak's most enduring works.
©1961 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
A Heritage of Stars
Summary
More than a thousand years have passed since humankind intentionally destroyed its treacherous technology, choosing to revert back to a primitive tribal state. In this society the rusting brain cases of long-inert robots are considered trophies, and the scant knowledge that has survived is doled out to an inquisitive few in monasterylike "universities". It is at one such center of learning that young Tom Cushing first reads of the legendary "Place of Going to the Stars", rumored to exist on a high butte somewhere in the western part of the land. Driven by enthusiasm and an insatiable need to track the myth to its source, Tom sets out on an amazing trek across what was once called America, teaming up with a witch, the world's last remaining robot, and other odd companions. But all the astonishing discoveries and dangers they encounter along the way will pale before the revelations that await them at journey's end. Clifford D. Simak, award-winning science fiction grandmaster, offers a breathtaking vision of the future that is both dystopian and hopeful in equal measure. In A Heritage of Stars, he boldly displays the heart, intelligence, and awesome imaginative powers that have established him as one of the all-time greatest authors of speculative fiction.
©1977 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Shakespeare's Planet
Summary
A human space traveler trapped on a remote planet must somehow unravel a confounding alien technology - or else surrender himself to a host of incomprehensible horrors. For thousands of years, Carter Horton has been traveling across the galaxy toward a distant world capable of supporting human life. At journey's end, awakened from his millennia-long sleep by a curiously adaptive android, he is informed that his crewmates have all perished due to a system malfunction. But worse is yet to come: Horton's sentient ship is refusing to return him to Earth, and a strangely cordial predator is waiting for him on the planet's surface. The repulsive creature, Carnivore, arrived here via a tunnel across the universe, as did his late companion - a human dubbing himself William Shakespeare - whom Carnivore just recently devoured. But the tunnel moves in only one direction, and if Carter is unable to reverse it, he will find himself marooned forever in this incomprehensible world, at the mercy of monsters and a terrifying, mind-freezing alien anomaly that occurs every evening in the "God-hour". With unparalleled verve, award-winning science fiction grand master Clifford D. Simak performs a truly astonishing feat of world creation in Shakespeare's Planet. Bursting with intelligence, imagination, and breathtaking invention, this is a gem of speculative fiction from one of the genre's most revered and innovative artists.
©1976 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Enchanted Pilgrimage
Summary
A scholar, a goblin, and a gnome, among others, pursue the secrets of a vanished ancient race through a wasteland of dark magic in this enthralling fantasy quest adventure. On an Earth that is different from ours, the young scholar Mark Cornwall becomes a target of the Inquisition and, specifically, its most evil and obsessed agent, Beckett. Damned for asking questions, Mark is forced to escape over the border into the Wastelands, a magical realm that is home to all manner of flesh-devouring monsters. Luckily he will not have to make his journey alone. He is accompanied by a cadre of stalwart companions, including the rafter goblin, Oliver; Snively the gnome; and secretive Mary from one of three parallel planes. Somewhere beyond the vengeful, blood-hungry Hellhounds, somewhere past the horrific legacy of the now-destroyed Chaos Beast, the mysteries of the Old Ones are waiting to be revealed - and only those with the courage to seek them will be able to alter the destiny of their worlds. In Enchanted Pilgrimage, Clifford D. Simak ingeniously blends elements of science fiction into a savory fantasy stew. The award-winning grandmaster of science fiction spreads his wings and takes glorious flight into a bold new realm of magic and adventure, demonstrating why he remains one of the most acclaimed storytellers in the literature of the remarkable.
©1975 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
All Flesh Is Grass
Summary
Tensions rise, and terror runs rampant when the residents of a small town are trapped within the confines of their village by an invasive force from an alternate dimension. Nothing much ever happens in Millville, a small, secluded middle-American community - until the day Brad Carter discovers he is unable to leave. It's not just the nearly bankrupt real estate agent who's being held prisoner; every other resident is also being confined within the town's boundaries by an invisible force field that cannot be breached. As local tensions rapidly reach a breaking point, a set of bizarre circumstances leads Brad to the source of their captivity, making him humanity's reluctant ambassador to an alien race of sentient flora and privy to these jailers' ultimate intentions. But some of Millville's most powerful citizens don't take kindly to Carter's "collaboration with the enemy", even under the sudden threat of global apocalypse.
©1965 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Highway of Eternity
Summary
Two present-day investigators race across time to escape malevolent aliens from the future and their terrible "gift" of immortality in this science fiction classic. What is the price of eternal life? Secret agent Jay Corcoran is about to learn the answer when his investigation into an inexplicable disappearance carries him and journalist friend Tom Boone hundreds of years into the past. Corcoran and Boone's powerful extrasensory abilities lead them to an advanced transportation system through time and back to the bucolic 18th-century English countryside. There, they discover a family from the distant future that is hiding from the Immortals - an alien race that, many centuries on, is seducing human subjects with the promise of immortality. But the cost of life eternal is the corporeal self, and there is no place in the aliens' future for anyone unwilling to exist as mind alone. Now that the Evans family's sanctuary has been breached, escape is the only answer - for Tom Boone and Jay Corcoran as well - and the only way out is forward...far forward. But racing through space and time can be a hazardous occupation, especially with monstrous beasts, killer robots, and Immortal body destroyers waiting at every juncture.
©1986 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Out of Their Minds
Summary
A writer finds himself trapped in an isolated village where anything imagined becomes reality in this wildly inventive contemporary fantasy. Hoping to write his book in quiet and seclusion, Horton Smith has returned home to Pilot Knob. Here, in the tiny village where he passed so many carefree childhood years, he is untroubled by the pressures of the big city and can freely answer the call of his muse. Of course, back in the city Horton didn't have to run from dinosaurs. There were no cartoon hillbillies offering him moonshine, Don Quixote was content to confine himself to the pages of a book, and the devil himself was not on Horton's tail. Something very, very unusual is going on in Pilot Knob, and Horton Smith is determined to get to the bottom of it - if his own imagination doesn't kill him first! In Out of Their Minds, science fiction grand master Clifford D. Simak changes gears, treating his listeners to a delightfully satiric flight of fancy and fantasy. An award-winning author renowned for his remarkable visions of the future, Simak brings creatures and characters from humankind's collective imagination to breathtaking life in this fast-moving and unforgettable tale.
©1970 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
The Goblin Reservation
Summary
The hunt for his killer leads a dead professor of supernatural phenomena into the perilous intrigues of aliens, fairy folk, and time travelers in this classic of science fiction. Until the day he was murdered, Professor Peter Maxwell was a respected faculty member of the College of Supernatural Phenomena. Imagine his chagrin when he turns up at a Wisconsin matter transmission station several weeks later and discovers he's not only dead but unemployed. During an interstellar mission to investigate rumors of dragon activity, this alternate Maxwell is intercepted by a strange alien race that wants him to carry knowledge of a remarkable technology back to Earth, and it seems someone does not want the information shared. Suddenly, it's essential for Maxwell to find his own killer. He enlists the aid of Carol Hampton of the Time College, along with her pet saber-toothed tiger, a ghost with memory issues, and the intelligent Neanderthal man recently rescued from a prehistoric cooking pot. But the search is pointing them toward the goblins, fairies, and assorted Little Folk living in reservations on campus and into the dangerous heart of an interspecies blood feud that has been raging for millions of years. An enthrallingly brilliant amalgam of science fiction, adventure, fairy tale fantasy, and murder mystery, The Goblin Reservation has long been a favorite of Clifford D. Simak fans and serious science fiction aficionados in general. Ingeniously inventive and unabashedly tongue-in-cheek - combining teleportation, time travel, and alien contact with dinosaurs, trolls, and William Shakespeare - this magnificent literary mélange is a bravura demonstration of a multiaward-winning fantasy and science fiction master operating at the imaginative peak of his considerable powers.
©1968 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Our Children's Children
Summary
Fleeing a carnivorous race of alien monsters, the entire surviving human population from 500 years in the future escapes into the present in this thrilling science fiction adventure from one of the golden age greats. Our human descendants from five centuries in the future are coming to visit - all one billion of them - arriving via tunnels through time. Even though the present is merely a stopover and their ultimate destination is the age of the dinosaurs, their arrival has caused a worldwide uproar. Some folks want them gone, and some want to go with them as governments and powerful corporations alike scheme to get their hands on remarkable, potentially profitable time-travel technology. There is a dark and terrifying reason, however, for the visitors' abrupt arrival. Our frightened descendants are seeking sanctuary from carnivorous aliens who have descended upon the future Earth, a threat that could mean the rapid destruction of the entire human race. And the end could come sooner than anyone imagined, for some of the intelligent, rapidly breeding extraterrestrial monsters who have been devouring our children's children may well have followed their prey back to the now. A speculative fiction master who stands alongside Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein in the pantheon of golden age science fiction gods, multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Clifford D. Simak delivers an alien invasion tale that is at once wildly imaginative, seriously thought provoking, and just plain fun.
©1974 UPD; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
The Fellowship of the Talisman
Summary
A strange assortment of humans and otherworldly beings joins a young soldier of God on his perilous quest through an alternate, technology-free reality ruled by an all-powerful Evil. In an alternate world where the Dark Ages never ended, "the Evil" that arises every 500 years has prevented all manner of technological advancement, even well into the 20th century. The son of a powerful English noble, young Duncan Standish has always longed to be a soldier of the Lord, and now he's been offered a rare opportunity to fulfill his dream. Entrusted with the delivery of an ancient manuscript - purported to be irrefutable evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ - to a noted Oxenford scholar, Duncan must journey many perilous miles in the company of a motley group of fellow travelers, including a goblin, a ghost, and other magical and nonmagical companions. But the road they traverse together is fraught with terrible trials that would test even the most devout, for the Evil is strong in this place of dark wonders. Multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award winner and SFWA Grand Master Clifford D. Simak moves easily from science fiction to quest fantasy in this enthralling tale of magic, peril, and discovery on an Earth that never was. Rich in color, thrills, and wild invention, and populated by a highly original and unforgettable cast of characters, Fellowship of the Talisman showcases the author's peerless storytelling skills, demonstrating once again that the great Simak had few equals in the realm of 20th-century speculative fiction.
©1978 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Time and Again
Summary
After 20 years, a vanished space voyager returns to Earth bearing a dangerous truth that will alter the universe in this powerful, thought-provoking science fiction classic from one of the golden age greats.
Twenty years ago, Asher Sutton vanished somewhere in the star system 61 Cygni, an inaccessible corner of the universe that humankind has thus far been unable to explore. Now Asher has returned to Earth, having impossibly survived catastrophic damage to his spacecraft. But the star traveler is not the same man he was when he began his journey two decades earlier. He is, in fact, no longer completely human. And he isn't alone. But he has a message to convey that could have reality-altering consequences for the human galaxy conquerors who consider themselves almost gods and for the nearly human androids they create, enslave, and oppress.
It is Asher's destiny to change everything. His mission has made him a hero to some, a pariah to others - and a target for determined time-traveling assassins from the future whose mission it is to silence him at all costs before everything they cherish is obliterated.
A true science fiction visionary, SFWA Grand Master Clifford D. Simak infused thrilling stories of time travel, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and alien contact with powerful, thought-provoking ideas. An enthralling masterwork of speculative fiction that astonishes while exploring humanity in all its disparate aspects, Time and Again can be counted among the prolific, multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author's most brilliantly imagined and successfully realized creations.
©1951 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Mastodonia
Summary
In rural Wisconsin, wonder clashes dangerously with corporate greed when an alien visitor opens up a gateway through time into a breathtaking prehistoric lost world. On sabbatical from teaching at a small university, paleontologist Asa Steele is content to relax amid the pastoral splendor of his Wisconsin farm. That is until his dog starts bringing home unrecognizable artifacts and, strangest of all, fresh dinosaur bones. Since boyhood, Asa has heard the rumors of a UFO crash site nearby, and his encounter with a cat-faced alien life form proves the old story to be shockingly true. A gregarious immortal stranded on Earth for 50,000 years, Catface has the power to create portals in time, and now he has opened a gateway into a prehistoric world of wonder and beauty, a place Asa calls "Mastodonia". But keeping this idyllic realm a secret from a prying government and the greedy corporate entities it serves could prove impossible - and perilous - when there are resources to drain, land to despoil, and gargantuan vanished beasts from a distant age to hunt down and destroy in the name of profit.
©1978 Clifford D. Simak; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.