Showing results by narrator "Travis Baldree" in All Categories

The Junzi - also known as the Four Gentlemen - are a set of ancient weapons fashioned from remnants. Dragons refer to them as the Four Storms, and Hisoka Twineshaft believes they will make a difference in the hunt for the rogue. But someone else is interested in gathering up these crystal masterpieces. The so-called Gentleman Bandit is responsible for two thefts already, and Hisoka is concerned for the Bamboo Stave. So he deploys an elite taskforce to guard the treasure. And to catch a thief.

Alistern “Stern” Masterson never expected to have the sort of life he found himself living. He was an irregular - a person who looked like the undead and had unusual perks - and his life hadn’t been very pleasant, so he’d written off the idea of ever finding anyone who understood him. Then, an old lady had asked for help, and he’d given it....

Jerrell Landish is a thief, clever, creative, and conniving to the extreme. His legendary exploits force him to use the name Jace just to remain inconspicuous. When he accepts a contract to acquire a secret, enchanted amulet, he discovers the item has already been stolen. To satisfy the leader of the Thieves' Guild, he must track down the amulet and complete the ultimate objective: Assassinate Wizard Lord Taladain, a man with the power of a god.

Shrubley, the Hero Adventurer, has vanquished the serpentii threat. Everything he ever wanted is within his twiggy grasp: fame, fortune, adoration, and the love of the people who had once shunned him for being a monster. But Shrubley is an adventurer at heart. Along with his monstrous friends, Cal, Slyrox, and Smudge, Shrubley embarks on a long journey to the fabled monster city of Pandaemonium. Guided by Countess Haalften, Shrubley seeks to master his Sage Knight essence healing powers even as vampyrs, monsters, and bandits ambush the party along the way.

Like all Purebred with their menial jobs, Ken ekes out a living sweeping the floors of Kyoto Peacekeeping Central. His kind serves as a benchmark for XHumans to measure how far they've progressed and a reminder of what Homo sapiens once was. His life changes when 800-year-old Ryu crosses over from the World of Rivers and Lakes, looking for a lost temple; and Aya, a beautiful hacker whose Sensory Interface perceives the EtherCloud as Feudal Japan, learns that XHumans aren't as perfect as they thought.

Headmaster. Exile. Gladiator. Backed into a corner, Artorian must play fast and loose with the laws of the land. To gather what he needs to progress, he will need to sacrifice what he’s gained in order to get this far. With his new school and friends facing their most deadly challenges yet, Artorian finds an opportunity to keep them safe. The cost of it may be access to the new home he’s built, but that was never intended to be for him.

Kimiko enrolls at the In-between's prestigious new high school, which is designed to promote the integration of the human and inhuman races. As a reaver, she's supposed to act as peacemaker, bridging a formidable cultural gap, but the other two members of her triad don't need any help in that department. Akira and Suuzu have been friends since middle school. Instead, the boys must rally behind Kimiko when she inadvertently initiates a courtship with Eloquence Starmark.

Even with the Whispering Sword and the Mask of the Fallen, Arik still isn't strong enough to take on the southern warlord threatening the entire continent. To reach his goal, Arik will need to master the art of using two weapons. But progression is never easy, especially with newfound enemies and the erratic behavior of his illusionist companion. Heading west, Arik hopes to reconvene with a former teacher through spiritual means. If it's possible, he will have a fighting chance. If not, Arik will need to find another way to grow his skill.

Digby Graves has returned to Las Vegas with a taste for revenge. After giving up his soul in exchange for the power to build an army, he and his crew of misfits begin to realize that he might have made a mistake. Who would have thought having a soul would be important, right? With a looming war on the horizon, there's no time for Digby to dwell on what he’s lost. The Autem Empire has been preparing its conquest for decades and is already close to seizing control.

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.

Calder has been declared Imperial Steward, the official successor to the Emperor. He leads the Empire from the throne, just as he has always wanted. In their tombs, the Great Elders stir. The crack in the sky becomes more alarming by the day, so Calder and his loyal Imperialist Guilds seek a truce with their Independent opponents. Both sides know the Elders are the true enemy, but that does not make peace easy. Blood has been spilled already, trust is hard to come by, and the Guild Heads under Calder see him as little more than a figurehead.

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

Two queens. One rules by fear, her citizens laboring to fund the lavish lifestyle of the wizard class. The other believes in justice and compassion, earning her the love of her subjects...and the enmity of her wizard peers. Both will die.

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.

Heather’s life is not entirely normal. She dresses as a holiday elf for one job and a medieval peasant for the other. She has an Italian Greyhound that fits in her purse. But now there’s a beautiful, buck-naked man standing in her apartment explaining that he’s a unicorn who was trapped in a glass Christmas ornament. And things are just about to get a whole lot weirder.

With Cyb3Ru5 defeated, James is ready to get back to some good old-fashioned dungeon shenanigans. The experience left him shaken–but luckily, he now has friends to lean on.

Born an Imperial Prince, Qu Yuan always knew his options were to strive for the throne or escape. When he’s forced to put his escape plan into action too early, he’s forced out of the imperial palace into the countryside where the war for the throne rages. Walking blood-soaked fields and burnt out villages, Qu Yuan will be forced to ask a simple question.

Brilliant engineer Marcus Flynn has been sentenced to 11-H37 - a hard labor prison planet better known as the Razor, where life expectancy is short and all roads are dead ends - alongside the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. At least until the Lost Prophet goes active. In a few hours, prison guards and staff are evacuated, the prisoners are left to die, and dark mysteries begin to surface. Only Flynn has the skills and knowledge to unravel them, but he will have to rely on the most unlikely of allies.

In a world of elves and dwarves and sprites and mages, Tane Carver is a human with no gift but his wits. Which, to be fair, did get him into the world's most prestigious university of magical technology. For a while. Until his lack of magic was discovered. And then it all came crashing down. But when a student is murdered on campus behind unbreakable wards, Tane gets a second chance. Solving an impossible crime should be easy for the man who fooled the university's best mages for years. Except he's not counting on the head constable being an old flame who isn't so fond of him anymore.

Roark von Graf has been fighting for one thing since the night his family was slaughtered: to kill the Tyrant King. Even when he was transported to a strange new world called a VRMMORPG, Roark recruited an army of Trolls, built a nation of high-level Dungeons, and crushed his opposition through trickery, seedy alliances, and sheer overwhelming force, all in service of revenge.