Asleep in Armageddon

by Ray Bradbury

This book has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Audiobook, American, Literature

32 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of the pilot who crashlanded into an unknown planet. He requests help to get out of the planet. But unfortunately, they will reach the planet only after a few days. He noticed the peculiar nature of that place. As soon as he falls asleep, he feels possessed by some spirit. He decides to skip sleep for nearly a week to escape from this situation. Will he escape from the planet? Will he succumb to the hallucinations due to lack of sleep? Will he get possessed by the spirit? The author answers it in this book.

My favorite three lines from this book.

“He was their universe. The world of his thoughts, his brain, his skull, divided into camps, that of Iorr, that of Tylle. They were using him!"

"Occupation, cried the voices. 
Spaceman! he cried, alone in the night."

"Our minds, fool, our minds! What is a body without a mind?"

  What is a mind without a body, laughed Leonard Sale. I've got you there. Admit it, I've got you!"

This short, engaging book will be a good choice if you are a science fiction fan.


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[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always spoiler free. This is a 21 page sweet little scifi story with a touch of horror all served up Twilight Zone style. I found this to be unlike any other scifi I have ever read and really enjoyed the unique events and the unexpected ending. I recommend this quick read to all scifi fans.

[Shauny Free Palestine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space travel may have an adverse effect on mental health

[Sara]

Panic in pain
more noises natural song
death talk to sky mountin sea
coffey cant walk right to my brain
nasty night come
solatir fire radio cants tell tals walk death away
where Shahrazad to tell
icy death hand take me ove many dove
survive to come the help
but nasty laugher come
crash war hell
that my memory
face of saint cry river of emotion
face of sinner one cry win to death
its not sogar or flower trep
many dream come true
and how can i find chang of fate to me.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would make for an interesting Dr Who episode

[Kakha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing story in which the author put in an incredibly strong imagination. It’s a pity that this is a short story and not a big novel.

[Farhad Mammadov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Əsərin qorxulu olması bir yana, möhtəşəm audiokitab versiyasının rastıma çatmağı, mükəmməl səsləndirmə, üstəgəl gecə saatlarında dinləməyim, əsərə dəhşət dolu bir həyəcan qatdı. Çox bəyəndim!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early book with some unusual (weird) turns of phase like “he mouthed the coffee.” Ummm… what now?

Not a bad story, but certainly not his best work (might explain why the copyright wasn’t renewed).

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a place that seems peaceful and safe can actually hold terrors . The mind can become a battle ground with thoughts that live on forever . I read Fahrenheit 451 and wanted to read more of his works so I figured short stories was a good place to start .

[Zen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story about a man's survival, after his rocket crashes on a planetoid in The Astroid Belt. To survive, Sale is forced to endure the threat of two psychological horrors that, are not only invading his mind while he sleeps, but trying to take it over.

The two horror are psychological remnants of two tyrants that destroyed this world in a final, apocalyptic war. They now want to regain some form of life through the use of Sale's mind, and refight their battle to the bitter end.

Whether there is some sort of idea about PTSD going on here, or these two entities actually exist, one is never sure.

What did make me happy though was that, when the two psychological horror entities, Lorr and Tylle became present, I was in great fear that the rest of the story would be an endless diatribe of patented Ray Bradbury verbiage. Going on and on and on about their histories, culture, battles, love life's, anger, hate, this, that, on and on and on...........

But thankfully that didn't happen.

Instead we got a fairly straightforward human interest story about Sale doing what he can to survive six days on this planetoid without any sleep. Not a bad read.

Too bad about the ending though. Poor Sale. Unfortunately, bitter irony is a classic tool in a storyteller's tool case.

[James Garman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sales lands on a strange planet, turns out to a planetoid designated by a number. It seems very peaceful and they are telling from back home on Earth that it will only be six days before they can to him, but they are on the way. He doesn't think this is going to be any big deal. The planets seem fine, no animals or any threat.

However, when it gets dark and he starts going to sleep, he finds that he has some sort of companion. He can't see them, and only hear them when he is asleep. The sounds start with hisses and clicks and then gets more lke actual speech and more disturbing somehow at the same time. Finally, he realizes that the voices are the voices of two nation's leaders who were in a war against each other and are there, in spirit form, fighting over the planet. He is their vessal for continuing the fighting and the eviteabe end is likely to be his death.

The ship arrives to take home, and he is alive, but then the two resuers decide he needs sleep and give him some medicine to help him sleep and he fades away. They are left for a while and decide to rest before they leave.

This is a fun story for those who like science fiction with some horror thrown in.

[David Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

How long can you stay awake?

Lately I’ve been binge listening to Ray Bradbury stories, for some reason I seem to have skipped reading them in my childhood. I guess it’s better later than never. In the case of Asleep in Armageddon it's not my favorite, but it is entertaining. I didn’t read the description for the story, so I had no idea of what to expect. To be honest I’m glad I had no preset expectations of what I would be hearing. It made the impact of the story much more dramatic.

Still after three days since I listened to the story, I’m sad for Leonard Sale. Everything he did to stay awake to avoid the madness. I guess Mr. Bradbury did an excellent job of imprinting the character on my psyche. Scott Miller did an excellent job of narrating this haunting story. He was able to make Sale’s situation and condition believable and realistic.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depending on how you read Ray Bradbury's Asleep in Armageddon (Kindle Edition) it is a passable classic period Sci Fi short story. 30 odd pages. But if it is possible that he anticipated or had some notion of PTSD. This via his friends and neighbors who served in WWII - He was rejected for service then this is an entirely different story.

A lone space pilot, crash lands his ship on a remote small uninhabited planet. His communications gear lasts long enough for him to send a rescue message and receive confirmation that he will be rescued before his supplies run out.

Life is good. Nothing to do but catch up on reading and catch up on sleep. But
Who knows what dreams may come? He has landed on a planet whose population had destroyed itself in unrelenting war. All that remains is unquenchable fighting spirits.

[Haley Deppert · Rating 2 out of 5]

i decided to read this short story as my first book of the year. it was thought-provoking, i’ll give it that.

i kind of understood what the author was going for with this. still, i decided to read some discussions online after the end of the story in order to see what other people gleaned from it.

after all of this, i think the point of this story is to emphasize the endless cycle of human violence, division, and war. we may not “see” the horrors going on in the world we live in because it’s “sunny” where we are, but that does not mean the horrors do not exist. this story was very on theme for the sad direction politics has taken in the united states recently.

[sukriti · Rating 5 out of 5]

jesus this was the wrong audiobook to listen to when unable to sleep.

the most ruinous words exchanged in armaggedon:
"more sedative?"
"more sedative."

the writing? insanely beautiful. haunting, in a way that you cannot tear yourself away from. whispers of haunting that insist on staying with them, on willing yourself to be haunted.

"a lovely world, until you shut your eyes and relax your mind, and the night and the voices and the insanity and the death padded in on soft feet."

need to reread fahrenheit 451 asap actually.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avoid Planetoid 787... rockets and Space, another tale from the days of mystery. "Twitching fingers, a spasmed jaw, and jerking, He leaped up, raving. What was going on?" What will happen with our character, a man who loves to read? There are plenty of Eeeeeeeeeeeeees, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs, Mmmmmmmmmmmmms, and Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs to keep you on your literary toes in this work. How long will Leonard Sale manage to stay awake, or will he?

[Krishnan Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short story for the concept. I don't think I have ever read of a person's thoughts being invaded like this.

I must say that at the end, I felt that the two people who landed on the planetoid would have been fine since they only had to wake up once and had a way to get off the planetoid immediately.

Overall, this was a pretty good short read.

[Vaishnavi Rai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a Sci fi with a horror . And enjoyed reading it and at some point I felt weird . Just 21 pages super fast and quick .
I must read for Sci fi lovers and ending is thrilling

[Ahsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twilight zone tale told in efficient fashion.

[Prashant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting nugget by Bradbury.
Reminds me of King.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept with Bradbury's typical masterful presentation.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s why your brain doesn’t exist viz. isn’t normally observable or it’d get infested.

[John Harbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all been there

[morus alba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Я би пробачила авторові навіть дивний сюжет цього оповідання, але точно не факт зашкалювання кількости згадок про "вайну і мір", бальзака, дастаєвскаго тощо.
Тож, очевидне і неймовірне хву...

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you expect when you have crashed landed on an uninhabited plant and you hear voices in your sleep that threaten to kill you? Can you not sleep for six days until you are rescued? I love Bradbury's quirky tales.

[Victoria Bonacci · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting exploration into consciousness and being in your own mind

[Rebecca is book-hooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! I wish the ending was more definitive though.

[Nai Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super fun and fast read. Definitely reads like a great episode of Black Mirror but with all the authorial power of Bradbury behind it. The Kindle audio version was free and had great narration. If you like sci-fi at all I’d fully recommend.