Chapter 3 of The Man Who Staked the Stars is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Man Who Staked the Stars is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated. "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial. It's a good night to experiment." The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill. With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
Chapter 3 of The Man Who Staked the Stars is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis
From this reading “"We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.”
plural of “hypnotic” — a drug that induces sleep
From this reading “With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.”
unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct
From this reading “With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.”
covering with a design in which one element covers a part of another (as with tiles or shingles)
From this reading “The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.”
cut or make a way through
From this reading “"We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.”
past form of “recede” — pull back or move away or backward
From this reading “The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.”
On the present night.
From this reading “"We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.”
the trait of being cautious and watchful
From this reading “With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “"We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.”
a conventional expression of farewell
In this reading “It's a good night to experiment."”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading It's a good night to experiment."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
coldness due to a cold environment
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation
From this reading It's a good night to experiment."
start firing a weapon
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
activities that are enjoyable or amusing
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading It's a good night to experiment."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
plural of “hypnotic” — a drug that induces sleep
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's a good night to experiment."
covering with a design in which one element covers a part of another (as with tiles or shingles)
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading It's a good night to experiment."
not one thing; not anything
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
cut or make a way through
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
past form of “recede” — pull back or move away or backward
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
recurring again and again
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
On the present night.
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
the trait of being cautious and watchful
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
plural of “wave” — one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading The warm voice waves lapping at Bryce's mind suddenly receded and left a chill.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We owe ourselves some fun," Pierce repeated.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We've nothing on the fire tonight, nothing to do that's crucial.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With instinctive wariness he thought of hypnotics and single-shot addictors.
Chapter 3 of The Man Who Staked the Stars by Katherine MacLean holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 3 holds 413 sentences of The Man Who Staked the Stars, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Man Who Staked the Stars by Katherine MacLean exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 3 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Man Who Staked the Stars by Katherine MacLean on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1235 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31356 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31356, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 102 minutes of reading across 247 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Man Who Staked the Stars section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Man Who Staked the Stars to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Man Who Staked the Stars, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
