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Greed
Captivating new worlds. Once there had been a single government of Earth controlled by the western races, but the long - oppressed people of Asia finally struck back with a ''cohesion projector.'' In an instant, the device established a solid, invisible wall of space - creating a dividing line between the superpowers, with the Asiatic Federation inside and the United Continents outside.Both powers are tenuously perched on the brink of war until George Marquis Lorrilard comes along. A sometime lieutenant of the pitiful handful of space guards known as the United Continents Space Navy, he's used the experience to become a space exploiter. Far less driven by altruism than by the ferocious thirst and hunger of greed, Lorrilard sets a course to change forever the fate of Earth and the stars. ALSO INCLUDES THE SCIENCE FICTION STORIES ''FINAL ENEMY'' AND ''THE AUTOMAGIC HORSE'' "''...enjoyable, entertaining, and lighthearted...''" - Booklist
156 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1950
5 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
L. Ron Hubbard
2,018 books668 followersL. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) was an American pulp fiction author who founded the Church of Scientology. After a career writing science fiction, he published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950, later developing its techniques into Scientology in 1952. His life, including his naval service, is marked by dramatic disparities between his self-narratives and official records.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 11, 2026
Each story was better than the previous! 🍿 Individual reviews below.
Greed: 4/5. It’s a decent space colonial story, but the anti-Asian sentiment is ramped up to the max. Even members of the Ku Klux Klan would blush if reading some parts of it! 😱🍅But war is often about nationalities, and race to some degree. 🤷
Final enemy: 4.5/5. Rinse and repeat, but with an ending that rivals Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles”. 👽
The Automatic Horse: 5/5. What an epic yarn! 🧶 Tons of quotable moments like this one:
“I don’t understand it,” he said. “Everyone can rob the studios but us.” 🎬
Very entertaining last story, as it should be given its length! 🍿
Review of Galaxy Audio’s audiobook: 🚀4.5/5. I love that R.F. Daley narrated, and that the stories weren’t abridged. My only gripe remains the face that Galaxy refuses to say the words “he said” or “said Bristol” for example. But it’s really only noticeable (and annoying) when many characters are talking at once and removing “said Bristol” makes it hard to tell who just spoke. Some of the male voice actors were hard to tell apart.
Hubbard’s quirks: it’s like he’s the only person I’ve ever heard say “bric-a-brac”, and he says it in almost every book! 😂 Also he calls 50 thousand dollars 50 G’s, 💵 which I thought was a very modern thing, but here he is using it! 😎
Greed: 4/5. It’s a decent space colonial story, but the anti-Asian sentiment is ramped up to the max. Even members of the Ku Klux Klan would blush if reading some parts of it! 😱🍅But war is often about nationalities, and race to some degree. 🤷
Final enemy: 4.5/5. Rinse and repeat, but with an ending that rivals Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles”. 👽
The Automatic Horse: 5/5. What an epic yarn! 🧶 Tons of quotable moments like this one:
“I don’t understand it,” he said. “Everyone can rob the studios but us.” 🎬
Very entertaining last story, as it should be given its length! 🍿
Review of Galaxy Audio’s audiobook: 🚀4.5/5. I love that R.F. Daley narrated, and that the stories weren’t abridged. My only gripe remains the face that Galaxy refuses to say the words “he said” or “said Bristol” for example. But it’s really only noticeable (and annoying) when many characters are talking at once and removing “said Bristol” makes it hard to tell who just spoke. Some of the male voice actors were hard to tell apart.
Hubbard’s quirks: it’s like he’s the only person I’ve ever heard say “bric-a-brac”, and he says it in almost every book! 😂 Also he calls 50 thousand dollars 50 G’s, 💵 which I thought was a very modern thing, but here he is using it! 😎
August 26, 2013
Greed
is the latest installment in the ambitious project by Galaxy Press to record more than 200 of L Ron Hubbard’s stories in an audio format. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, Hubbard wrote hundreds of science fiction, action, adventure, fantasy, mystery, and western stories which were published in various pulp fiction magazines of the day. These are the stories that entertained millions, and inspired an entire generation of writers. Now, those stories are coming to life in the form of multicast audio productions, enhanced with music and sound. Included in this 2-CD set are Hubbard’s stories
Greed, The Final Enemy,
and
The Automagic Horse
.
In Greed , Earth is divided into two main political factions, precariously balanced on a knife-edge of war. Until one faction suddenly develops some break-through technology, that is. The cohesion projector, able to join the molecules of the air itself into a solid, impenetrable, yet invisible wall, could upset the fragile balance. Can a solitary space captain, whose primary motivation is a lust for profit, restore the balance and bring peace once again to the planet?
In The Final Enemy , Captain Bristol and his crew, on a routine planet-charting mission far, far from Earth, , find that they are not the first visitors to this region. The natives of this newly discovered planet tell stories of the first explorers, beings who wreaked havoc, killing millions. Perceiving a threat to human settlements, and maybe to the Earth itself, Captain Bristol sends the news back to the home world. As it turns out, other explorers have been sending in similar reports. Planet Earth goes into full-scale war mode, drafting soldiers, building warships, and developing new sciences and new technologies to combat this new enemy. When a universe-wide search finally returns some results, the Earth government is flabbergasted to learn who their new enemy is.
In The Automagic Horse , Gadget O’Dowd is the best special effects creator in Hollywood. His mechanical monsters and creatures are the stuff of legend. But Gadget has dreams of conquering much more than Hollywood; he wants to go to the moon. For years he and his crew have been building a rocket ship, charging off the parts for it to the various movie producers he has worked for. When a producer hires Gadget to create a life-like mechanical horse, he knows it will put him that much closer to fulfilling his dream, but things might not work out quite the way he planned.
This two-disk set from Galaxy Audio is a multicast audio production featuring cinema-quality music and sound, along with the voice talents of David Paladino, Bob Caso, R F Daley, James King, Jim Meskimen, Tamra Meskimen, Noelle North, Jeff Pomerantz, Phil Proctor, Enn Reitel, Josh R Thompson, and Michael Yurchak.
I have really been enjoying these golden age stories by L Ron Hubbard. So much of today’s fiction has become overly complicated, with deep, hidden meanings and symbols. I like to read those stories, but sometimes it’s nice to relax with something a little more light-hearted. These are simpler stories from a simpler time. I hope other audio publishers will follow Galaxy Press’ lead and resurrect more fiction from this era.
Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven
In Greed , Earth is divided into two main political factions, precariously balanced on a knife-edge of war. Until one faction suddenly develops some break-through technology, that is. The cohesion projector, able to join the molecules of the air itself into a solid, impenetrable, yet invisible wall, could upset the fragile balance. Can a solitary space captain, whose primary motivation is a lust for profit, restore the balance and bring peace once again to the planet?
In The Final Enemy , Captain Bristol and his crew, on a routine planet-charting mission far, far from Earth, , find that they are not the first visitors to this region. The natives of this newly discovered planet tell stories of the first explorers, beings who wreaked havoc, killing millions. Perceiving a threat to human settlements, and maybe to the Earth itself, Captain Bristol sends the news back to the home world. As it turns out, other explorers have been sending in similar reports. Planet Earth goes into full-scale war mode, drafting soldiers, building warships, and developing new sciences and new technologies to combat this new enemy. When a universe-wide search finally returns some results, the Earth government is flabbergasted to learn who their new enemy is.
In The Automagic Horse , Gadget O’Dowd is the best special effects creator in Hollywood. His mechanical monsters and creatures are the stuff of legend. But Gadget has dreams of conquering much more than Hollywood; he wants to go to the moon. For years he and his crew have been building a rocket ship, charging off the parts for it to the various movie producers he has worked for. When a producer hires Gadget to create a life-like mechanical horse, he knows it will put him that much closer to fulfilling his dream, but things might not work out quite the way he planned.
This two-disk set from Galaxy Audio is a multicast audio production featuring cinema-quality music and sound, along with the voice talents of David Paladino, Bob Caso, R F Daley, James King, Jim Meskimen, Tamra Meskimen, Noelle North, Jeff Pomerantz, Phil Proctor, Enn Reitel, Josh R Thompson, and Michael Yurchak.
I have really been enjoying these golden age stories by L Ron Hubbard. So much of today’s fiction has become overly complicated, with deep, hidden meanings and symbols. I like to read those stories, but sometimes it’s nice to relax with something a little more light-hearted. These are simpler stories from a simpler time. I hope other audio publishers will follow Galaxy Press’ lead and resurrect more fiction from this era.
Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven
October 30, 2023
“Greed” immediately shows how some fiction from the Golden Age has tarnished over time, aging so poorly it almost loses all value. The story read like a quasi-historical biography of a man who can be described as little else than a white supremacist with visions of claiming space for white people, at the expense of intense negative characterization of Asians and the subjugation of alien races on other planets. It’s hard to say anything positive about the story, and while some may say it’s a product of its time, I’d argue some products simply don’t age well and would be better left in the past.
The second story, “Final Enemy,” is by far less offensive though not without its own cringe-worthy moments. The story is fast-paced and engaging, with more hopeful elements than the first. I won’t say much because to do so would spoil it, and this is one story best read without spoilers.
“The Automagic Horse,” on the other hand, is a great story—I truly savored every word. Comedic with a nicely rounded cast of characters, it’s by far the best story of the three, following a group of wannabe space pilots whose day job is Hollywood special effects as they battle against deadlines and an overbearing though delightful accountant. While I can’t give more than two stars for the first story and three for the second, this one alone is worth all five stars. Highly recommended.
The second story, “Final Enemy,” is by far less offensive though not without its own cringe-worthy moments. The story is fast-paced and engaging, with more hopeful elements than the first. I won’t say much because to do so would spoil it, and this is one story best read without spoilers.
“The Automagic Horse,” on the other hand, is a great story—I truly savored every word. Comedic with a nicely rounded cast of characters, it’s by far the best story of the three, following a group of wannabe space pilots whose day job is Hollywood special effects as they battle against deadlines and an overbearing though delightful accountant. While I can’t give more than two stars for the first story and three for the second, this one alone is worth all five stars. Highly recommended.
July 1, 2018
Overall 3.5 Stars
Greed - 3 Stars
The Final Enemy - 3 Stars
The Automagic Horse - 4 Stars
Greed - 3 Stars
The Final Enemy - 3 Stars
The Automagic Horse - 4 Stars
September 25, 2023
4/10 Jesus Christ what a snore fest. I think about 4 words in total interested me.
June 22, 2011
Greed, published by Galaxy Press, is part of their "Stories from the Golden Age" series, which republishes all of L. Ron Hubbard's old pulp magazine stories in book form. This volume contains three science-fiction stories: the titular "Greed", as well as "Final Enemy" and "The Automagic Horse". I'm always open to trying new authors, but I wasn't about to dive into Hubbard's massive Battlefield: Earth or his Mission Earth dekalogy; Greed gave me a nice entry point. The stories in this volume, however, were fairly lacking.
The title story, "Greed", is the most boring of the bunch, and for all of its length there's very little plot. Instead, the story reads much like a historical textbook entry regarding the main character. And where I'm able to (generally) look past the racism inherent in the old pulp stories of H. P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard, Hubbard's use of "Asians" as the go-to bad guys really put me off for some reason.
"Final Enemy" is mildly more successful, owing somewhat to its short length. There's a nice twist at the end, and the Asians are presented in a better light here. It's nice enough, I guess, but not enough on which to recommend the entire book.
The longest story by far—running as long as the other two combined—is "The Automagic Horse", and is a vastly different animal. Where the first two are outer-space stories, this one features a group of Hollywood effects people whose special effects studio is a front for building a rocket ship. But the plot revolves around the construction and fate of a mechanical horse. I liked this one for the most part, too, though it turned fairly predictable halfway through. There was one rather sexist line that didn't bug me as much as it probably should :) though it did stick out.
There is one aspect about this book that bugged the heck out of me, though I've tried not to let it influence my review, as it has nothing to do with the stories themselves. Rather, it has do with Galaxy Press's presentation of the stories. The book itself is roughly 150 pages long; 100 of that is comprised of the three stories. The rest is basically devoted to praising L. Ron Hubbard and/or pimping the rest of the "Golden Age" series. There's an introduction by Kevin J. Anderson, an absurdly-brief preview of another volume in the series, and a lengthy biography on L. Ron Hubbard. Oh, and did I mention that Galaxy Press is run by the Church of Scientology? According to Wikipedia, many of the "facts" put forth by the Church of Scientology regarding Hubbard's life are either unconfirmed or just plain false, and the biography in this book is ridiculously hyperbolic. In short, the whole endeavor feels like a money-grab, right down to the "subscribe now!" postcard bound into the middle of the book. Preserving Hubbard's old pulp stories in book format is a worthy enterprise, and it's a good-looking little book, but $10 for 100 pages of mediocre story is milking it. (And there are 80 volumes!) Consolidating everything into, say, a dozen $30 hardcovers would seem like a much more honest approach.
Overall though, it's just not a strong batch of stories. Certainly not worth the $10 cover price, but this and other volumes might be worth picking up used for a couple bucks if you're interested in pulp-era stories. [2 out of 5 stars]
The title story, "Greed", is the most boring of the bunch, and for all of its length there's very little plot. Instead, the story reads much like a historical textbook entry regarding the main character. And where I'm able to (generally) look past the racism inherent in the old pulp stories of H. P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard, Hubbard's use of "Asians" as the go-to bad guys really put me off for some reason.
"Final Enemy" is mildly more successful, owing somewhat to its short length. There's a nice twist at the end, and the Asians are presented in a better light here. It's nice enough, I guess, but not enough on which to recommend the entire book.
The longest story by far—running as long as the other two combined—is "The Automagic Horse", and is a vastly different animal. Where the first two are outer-space stories, this one features a group of Hollywood effects people whose special effects studio is a front for building a rocket ship. But the plot revolves around the construction and fate of a mechanical horse. I liked this one for the most part, too, though it turned fairly predictable halfway through. There was one rather sexist line that didn't bug me as much as it probably should :) though it did stick out.
There is one aspect about this book that bugged the heck out of me, though I've tried not to let it influence my review, as it has nothing to do with the stories themselves. Rather, it has do with Galaxy Press's presentation of the stories. The book itself is roughly 150 pages long; 100 of that is comprised of the three stories. The rest is basically devoted to praising L. Ron Hubbard and/or pimping the rest of the "Golden Age" series. There's an introduction by Kevin J. Anderson, an absurdly-brief preview of another volume in the series, and a lengthy biography on L. Ron Hubbard. Oh, and did I mention that Galaxy Press is run by the Church of Scientology? According to Wikipedia, many of the "facts" put forth by the Church of Scientology regarding Hubbard's life are either unconfirmed or just plain false, and the biography in this book is ridiculously hyperbolic. In short, the whole endeavor feels like a money-grab, right down to the "subscribe now!" postcard bound into the middle of the book. Preserving Hubbard's old pulp stories in book format is a worthy enterprise, and it's a good-looking little book, but $10 for 100 pages of mediocre story is milking it. (And there are 80 volumes!) Consolidating everything into, say, a dozen $30 hardcovers would seem like a much more honest approach.
Overall though, it's just not a strong batch of stories. Certainly not worth the $10 cover price, but this and other volumes might be worth picking up used for a couple bucks if you're interested in pulp-era stories. [2 out of 5 stars]
January 12, 2015
Greed
Continues the anthology of short stories by Hubbard.
“Greed” is the title and when I started reading it I didn’t know what to expect. An interesting premise that a society needs greed as an incentive to move forward. But the theory holds up: explorers and conmen both want some degree of recognition, some for power, others money and fame.
The Asians are taking over the galaxy, taking advantage of the West’s reducing their war machines to nil and forgetting war. One Captain Lorrilard find a key to the Asian’s defense screens, a weakness he exploits, and with this superior “tech”, brings the Asian enemy to its knees and the negotiating table.
At the time of writing, much was going on with the wars in Europe and Japan, so this was a tale speaking to the reality of the readers of the time. Fast-paced, on par with E.E. Doc Smith’s Skylark of Space series.
The second story, “Final Enemy”, is about the superiority of Man as he conquers the sub races on other planets. These planets come up with a legend that there was once a superior race that seemed more powerful than Man was. This was unthinkable! Earth then comes together for a common purpose to conquer this “enemy.” Interesting twist at the end with a lesson in discovering a basic purpose within everyone would result in peace, despite greed being a motive.
The last was a surprise: I would have thought “The Automagic Horse” would have deserved its own booklet. It is published elsewhere as a kid’s book, but I think adults would enjoy it as well. Sarcastic criticism of the Hollywood system of checks & balances, and one Gadget O’Dowd, a special effects man who is pilfering Hollywood cash for his secret rocket to the Moon! But when a woman accountant comes to the lot and inquires about his expenses, she’s liable to find out about it – and about the expense of an automagic horse, Stardust. Fast-paced, imaginative and kinda silly.
Overall, a quick read, a fun look at pulp fiction.
Continues the anthology of short stories by Hubbard.
“Greed” is the title and when I started reading it I didn’t know what to expect. An interesting premise that a society needs greed as an incentive to move forward. But the theory holds up: explorers and conmen both want some degree of recognition, some for power, others money and fame.
The Asians are taking over the galaxy, taking advantage of the West’s reducing their war machines to nil and forgetting war. One Captain Lorrilard find a key to the Asian’s defense screens, a weakness he exploits, and with this superior “tech”, brings the Asian enemy to its knees and the negotiating table.
At the time of writing, much was going on with the wars in Europe and Japan, so this was a tale speaking to the reality of the readers of the time. Fast-paced, on par with E.E. Doc Smith’s Skylark of Space series.
The second story, “Final Enemy”, is about the superiority of Man as he conquers the sub races on other planets. These planets come up with a legend that there was once a superior race that seemed more powerful than Man was. This was unthinkable! Earth then comes together for a common purpose to conquer this “enemy.” Interesting twist at the end with a lesson in discovering a basic purpose within everyone would result in peace, despite greed being a motive.
The last was a surprise: I would have thought “The Automagic Horse” would have deserved its own booklet. It is published elsewhere as a kid’s book, but I think adults would enjoy it as well. Sarcastic criticism of the Hollywood system of checks & balances, and one Gadget O’Dowd, a special effects man who is pilfering Hollywood cash for his secret rocket to the Moon! But when a woman accountant comes to the lot and inquires about his expenses, she’s liable to find out about it – and about the expense of an automagic horse, Stardust. Fast-paced, imaginative and kinda silly.
Overall, a quick read, a fun look at pulp fiction.
January 26, 2016
This volume collects three of Hubbard's science fiction stories from late in his pulp career. Actually, I would quibble that two of the stories are not pulp at all since they were published in Astounding Science Fiction after that magazine switched from pulp to digest-sized publication. The first story is the title story and appeared in ASF's April 1950 issue; it's the last story that Hubbard wrote for John Campbell's Astounding. It hasn't aged as well as most of his other work and I found the casual racist attitudes a little jarring; it was typical of the era, but Hubbard usually wasn't so blatant. The second story, Final Enemy from Super-Science Stories' September 1950 issue, also suffers from a similar attitude. I suspect it was also written with ASF in mind and think it may have appeared in this secondary market after being turned down by Campbell. It's a so-so story with a surprise ending that wasn't much of a surprise; not bad, but not really worth resurrecting except for historical context. The final story, though, makes the book worthwhile all on its own: The Automagic Horse from the October, 1949, issue of Astounding. It's an amusing romp and good-spirited tale set in the hey-day of Hollywood. It reminded me of Scalzi's Agent to the Stars in many ways. It's sets up a delightful cast of characters and situations that I wish Hubbard would have explored further and expanded their world to novel length. It combines the best of Hubbard's humor and passion for science fiction.
April 22, 2024
Love the golden ave of pulp fiction! Contrary to many opinions I think he wrote great science fiction! Yeah he became a cult leader and became a fraud with his Dyane tics …but overall a great book. The last story indeed was best and the book was a quick read!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews