Showing results by narrator "Armen Taylor" in All Categories

Somewhere in the toxic Bone Pits, where mechanical nightmares roam, an emaciated and wounded young wolf clings to life. Wracked with pain, driven by instinct, it crawls across the subterranean landscape, avoiding the unnatural horrors that dwell there and seeking sustenance while fending off rats, insects, and other vermin stalking it as prey.

December, 2042: The Imperial Legion marches, and war looms on the horizon. Jack Mitchel and his misfit crew of rebels never wanted a fight with the Empire, but the time for diplomacy has passed. Ruthless tech genius Robert Osmark is coming, and trailing behind him is a vast army determined to wipe the Crimson Alliance from the face of Eldgard. Impossibly, Jack has united the warring Murk Elf clans under his banner, but even with their aid, the Alliance is still badly outnumbered, and Osmark has some nasty tricks up his sleeves.

Betrayed by those closest to him, Finn Caldwell thought he’d escaped his life of violence and deception. But when a frantic message from his estranged sister draws him into the Realms, the world’s most advanced holographic reality game, Finn is forced to embrace his deadly skills once more. Armed with a mysterious artifact known as a Godhead, Finn becomes the warrior-mage Gryph. Yet, things are not as they seem and to save his sister, he must escape a sentient dungeon by defeating its master the Barrow King.

It’s been a busy month for 32-year-old Jack Mitchel: Three weeks ago, he died. Two weeks ago, he founded the first Faction in the ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. A week and a half ago the world ended, destroyed by a cataclysmic asteroid. Seven days ago, he conquered the Imperial city of Rowanheath, bringing all of Eldgard to the brink of war.

An EMT in 2042 San Diego, Jack knows he won't survive the impact of the massive asteroid hurtling towards Earth. After all, he's not one of the handful of lucky lottery winners scheduled for rescue. But he did luck into a NexGenVR capsule, which means Jack can risk a one-way trip to the virtual reality world of Viridan Gate Online, a completely immersive online multiplayer fantasy role-playing game, or RPG.

After he died, conman Jake thought he made a good deal with the System. Turns out, the System swindled him. He woke up in an upside-down world with four furry legs and the powers of a mind-warping necromancer at his hoof tips. Humans are the servants, farm animals are the demon masters, and amid the mayhem, Jake finds meaning in his new life. Building out a barnyard kingdom and ritualizing the remains of his foes makes for some pretty sweet fire-breathing abilities.

The Nameless Dark debuts a major new voice in contemporary weird fiction. Within these minutes, you'll find whispers of the familiar ghosts of the classic pulps - Lovecraft, Bradbury, Smith - blended with Grau's uniquely macabre, witty storytelling, securing his place at the table amid this current Renaissance of literary horror.

Jack expected to live out his new fantasy life in peace, but now he and his misfit crew of rebels are the only ones preventing a tyrant emperor and his regime from taking power. Thankfully, everything isn't quite as hopeless as it seems - Jack has a plan. Sort of. With only a handful of supporters, he's going to get the jump on the bloodthirsty empire, by snatching one of their key cities right from underneath their noses. In order to pull off the impossible, however, Jack's going to have to develop his formidable Shadowmancer powers.

January 2043. The Vogthar Horde has come, and they bring real death with them. Not even players are safe from the power of Malware Blades. Worse, the Realm of Order, dominion of the Overmind Sophia, is in danger - slowly being corrupted by an ancient evil, the Lich Priest. And if he is successful, it could mean the end of Sophia and the downfall of the Crimson Alliance. Grim Jack never thought he’d find himself siding with the Empire, but now that this terrible new threat has arrived, making friends of old enemies may be the only way to survive.

Gryph entered the Realms with one mission, to save his sister Brynn. He didn’t want friends. He didn’t want responsibilities. He didn’t want to care. But even the best-laid plans go awry, and after escaping a sentient dungeon and defeating a would-be world conqueror, Gryph is no closer to finding Brynn. Then, while mourning the tragic death of a friend and grappling with the burdens of leadership, an ally, thought long dead, returns offering the slimmest of hopes.

The realms face annihilation, and their greatest defender has gone missing. When Gryph is torn from the Realms by the Light, an ancient secret society sworn to end the threat of the High God Aluran, he has one mission. Get back to the Realms, at any cost. The Light offer Gryph a quest. “Help us resurrect the Source and together we can free all the peoples of the Realms.”

The only thing Gryph wanted when he entered the Realms was to find his missing sister. Then he pissed off a power-hungry god, got stuck in the undead hell dungeon known as the Barrow and nearly had his soul consumed. Then things trended upwards, and with the help of a ragtag group of companions, Gryph escaped to a verdant paradise of magic and wonder. But when his exposed secrets lead to betrayal and murder, Gryph is forced to accept an insane quest or his new friends will face the headsman's axe.

Jack and the crew of the Crimson Alliance have finally made it back from the Realm of Order, but the threat to Eldgard is deadlier than ever. Vogthar incursions are increasing, dungeons falling in droves, towns and cities ravaged by Darklings - Players and NPCs who have willingly sided with the Dark Overmind Thanatos. But thanks to a priceless artifact Jack found after defeating the Lich Priest, there might be a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Jack and company have unearthed a Doom-Forged relic, one part of an ancient weapon capable of killing even a god.

Gryph thought freeing his sister Brynn from the shackles of the High God would be the end of his mission. Only to learn it was just the beginning. Tasked with building an army for the Resistance, Gryph quickly realizes it will never be enough to curb the High God’s despotic quest to control the Realms. Victory seems hopeless. But then a long-buried secret resurfaces, and a desperate plan is hatched. The survival of the Realms is in Gryph’s hands. If he fails, billions of souls will suffer a fate worse than death.

When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over. After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil - and he is now its newest recruit. The island once belonged to the Amazons, but Jacob’s arrival has awakened the old gods and disturbed the seal holding the ravaging darkness at bay.

The Darkling City has fallen, but its final Stronghold remains. With the Reality Editor in hand, Jack thought the assault on Skalahólt would be a short, victorious war. But his army has been stopped cold - and worse, someone close to him has been taken by the Overmind of Death. Every second counts if Jack wants her back alive, but to even have a chance, he’ll have to leave his troops behind, and dive into Thanatos’s twisted game-within-a-game. But as the puzzles take a turn, and the other Overminds reveal their hands, it becomes clear that more than just this battle is at stake.

When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over. After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil—and he is now its newest recruit.

War is coming to the realms, and only Gryph and the power of his Godhead can prevent the apocalypse. With his loyal NPC Lex at his side, Gryph races to rescue a spy with information critical to the survival of his people. A spy who happens to be Gryph’s younger sister. But when an unknown foe rips Gryph from the Realms, Lex must lead a rag-tag bunch of companions to find the one man who can get Gryph back. Their quest has barely begun when Lex discovers that the Princes of Chaos have turned their eyes on the Mortal Realms. And where their gaze falls, destruction follows.

There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive. He was considered one of New York's most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement - you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of 21, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings.

It’s been three weeks since Jacob Merely crash-landed on the mythical island of Lycastia, and the newly minted War God finally has things under control. He’s grown into his power, built his city, and earned the respect of his gorgeous, hard-charging amazons. He’s not in the clear yet, though. Hades still lives, and the mystical sigil holding him at bay is rapidly failing. Worse, a horde of new enemies is battering Lycastia’s gates daily, slowly grinding down Jacob’s forces. But Jacob has a plan to get the upper hand.