Showing results by narrator "Travis Baldree" in All Categories

All Auric Cain ever wanted was a chance. A chance to prove himself. A chance to take control of his life. A chance to be more than a lowly D-Tier, the lowest of the low, in a world broken by the arrival of an alien, enigmatic being known as The System.

Since being drafted into a position as the Pale Horseman, Lazarus Kerrigan has killed his fair share of gods and monsters. In New Orleans, a city steeped in voodoo and the supernatural, that's saying something. But when someone else starts killing gods in his city, he takes it personally. His search for the killer leads him to a deadly no-holds-barred tournament run by the gods themselves. The prize? The right to name the next Black Horseman, Famine.

The last thing necromancer Damian Vesik expects to face is a clan of panicky garden gnomes. But his sister, Sam, gave her word to protect them, and breaking her word to the Fae would be disastrous. With help from Calbach, the iron-touched Fae, they seek what is stalking the garden gnomes. Reality proves far worse than they imagined, landing Damian and his friends on the wrong side of the Iron Queen's most-feared assassin.

Ji Yu Raijin is happy to live out his life serving his school, cultivating his life force, and learning the Path of Darkening Skies, an ancient and noble warrior art—until the day comes when he has to choose: Remain true to the teachings of his path and allow his art to die out or commit an unforgivable sin and save the world.

Heaven Commands, the Middle Kingdom Concedes. Or so the story goes. As Wu Ying travels beyond the kingdom of Shen chasing enlightenment, he experiences the truth of that statement. Disparate forms of government, new cultures, and people abound with new ways of cultivating towards immortality.

Working as a quality-assurance grunt in the gaming industry sounds like fun, right? You get to play the coolest new games before anyone else. And all you have to do is to find, reproduce, and report bugs before the last pixel is locked in and the games are launched to an eager public. Sure, there’s the unpaid overtime, the office politics, and the ever-present threat of layoffs. But you get to game!

A ruthless wizard lord conquers a neighboring wizardom, increasing his magic far beyond mere mortals. The more power he gains, the more he craves. While wizardoms war against one another, the Dark Lord rises. An army of monsters invades, sending the world toward the brink of doom. A team of misfits find themselves the fulcrum point of destiny, their world teetering upon their actions, certain to crumble should they fail.

An end of the world. The start of a new one. A thousand places to be. Artorian has survived his encounter at the Ziggurat, but at a sharp cost. However, the powers in the world are moving and there is no time to rest. Even if Artorian doesn’t realize his part in it, the next stage of the great plan is set in motion. In a place of mountains and dales, the old scholar must seek new information in order to puzzle out the last pieces and gather victory with his own two hands.

Betrayed. Murdered. Reborn. One last chance, to make it right. Theo's adventure ended with his mentor's hands around his neck. The betrayal cost him his friends, allies, and everything he had built...but not his life. Though broken and powerless, Theo has one last chance to enter the Nine Worlds, wielding the knowledge and expertise of his first life. This time, he needs more than just power, he needs to unravel the deception that killed him once...and is coming for him again.

After vanquishing Tantalus and freeing the dragons, newly married Alex Rogers was looking forward to some time alone with Cassie, his wife. The two even talked of a little getaway for a honeymoon before he returned to his duties as Lord Protector of Windfall. Unfortunately, the forests and cities of his old home was not the destination he hoped for. Awakening in the same woods that had seen him transported to A'nland, he was in the company of his three companions, however none spoke a word he understood. In a land without magic, Alex must find a way to get his wife and friends home.

Secrets destroy relationships, and Loki and I have too many. They aren’t the only barrier between us. The Bride Trials has turned on me, and the blood contract demands I murder my fated mate. As I race to find the hellfire crown to prove I’m meant to be the queen of the underworld, the king turns to the dark side, at the risk of losing himself and his wolf to keep me alive. To win this treacherous game, we’ll have to throw all our cards on the table and bare our souls. And, even that might not be enough if we’re pawns, instead of becoming the masters of our own fates.

It's Ruwen’s Ascension Day, and he finally dies for the first time. His newly revived body can learn spells and abilities for the class given him by the Goddess Uru, and dying is no longer permanent. Ruwen’s high intelligence makes becoming a Mage inevitable. With his new powers, he will locate his parents and clear their family name. But nothing goes as Ruwen imagined, and when a rival God tries to kill Ruwen shortly after his disastrous Ascension, his focus turns from his future to just surviving.

Digby Graves is done running. He wants to make good on his declaration of war, which means he’s going to need allies and a land to call his own. That’s where Las Vegas comes in: what better kingdom could a necromancer ask for than the city of Sin itself? With an opportunist turned kingpin, an army of fanatics, and a hive full of monsters standing in his way, the stakes have never been higher. It will take every spell and underhanded tactic in his arsenal to carve out a victory.

A killer walks among the rich and powerful. Who can the Magebreakers trust? Someone is killing the non-magical members of Senate houses - those who might one day be named Protector of the Realm. And that same someone is leaving behind messages for the Magebreakers beside symbols of the shadowy organization known as the Knights of the Emperor. Under suspicion from the constabulary, Tane and Kadka are drawn into the investigation to prove their innocence. What they find is that Audish politics are as dangerous as any Porthaven back alley.

Rakefang finds Tupper Meadowsweet a young man by Flox reckoning, but he no longer fits in with his own people. Wild hair, stealthy grace, and foreign fashions make it obvious that he’s lived with Pred since boyhood. For three years, he’s been on the lookout for someone brave enough to follow him onto the legendary Moonlit Mountain. The last place he expected to find her was at Pennyflax & Quince. Meanwhile, Master Freydolf faces the challenge of shaping his masterpiece.

Artorian has finally come to an accord with Eternium in the name of destroying the demon infestation. By relying on his past successes in Eternia, successful alliances, races believing in their sun-deity with all their hearts, and exotic new artifacts, Artorian throws the first stone to accelerate the beginning of Eternium’s end.

The Beast Realms are under threat: The land, water, and air are poisoned. Its leaders are power-crazed and its people are divided. Worse still, strange and powerful Beasts have started dropping from the sky, causing carnage. With the Beast Realms in turmoil and a ragtag group of insanely strong assassins on Team Venom’s tail, their chances of survival are slim. Escaping through man-eating jungles, seeking allies in underwater and treetop cities, Art and his team need to forge alliances to grow stronger.

Running on the world's fastest quantum computer is a very special game: one where retirees leave their flesh-and-blood lives in search of endless adventure. Weapons, spells, gold, experience points.... These are the marks by which life is now measured. Ethan Crane wants none of it. In fact, he never wanted to retire at all, let alone play a game for all eternity. But now he's on a mission to find his wife - a wife he just discovered is still alive and inside the game. Nothing will stop him from reaching her. Not even himself.

A man who commands dragons rises. The people call him a prophet, a savior...the one who will free them from the tyranny of the wizard class. They do not comprehend the threat he presents. The dragon priest rages across the land. Cities and rulers are helpless against his might. A pair of heroes embark on a dangerous quest, seeking a lost object of power. Without it, the dragon priest and his army will destroy the world. An army of metal golems invades another wizardom. These magic-powered automatons are the weapon of the last wizard lord—a madman who desires to rule the world.

A magical collection of 17 original stories by an amazing list of contributors—including a Dune story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson!