Showing results by narrator "Steven Brand" in All Categories

Author's note: The following story takes place in the same world as my novel Blood Song, the first volume in the Raven's Shadow trilogy. I wrote it because I wanted to more fully explore characters who appear in Blood Song and the sequels Tower Lord and Queen of Fire. Readers familiar with my work are sure to recognize a certain pale-eyed, raspy-voiced Sword Master of the Sixth Order, and those curious as to the origins of the Tower Lord of the Southern Shore will find answers here.

Ben Stiger, legate of the lost Thirteenth Legion, a nobleman from an infamous family, and a born fighter, has defeated the enemy army before Lorium and raised the siege of the city. Having been named emperor, Stiger has traveled to Mal’Zeel and claimed his throne by force, spilling blood in the process and removing those who would steal his right to the Curule Chair. Stiger is now unquestionably the emperor, the last man standing. Or is he?

A quest for bloody vengeance forces Derla, a skilled veteran of the Varinshold underworld, into the service of arch schemer King Janus. Charged with protecting the renowned drunkard and cardsharp Sentes Mustor, Derla finds herself drawn into a high stakes game with the notorious criminal overlord known as One Eye.

The sorrow sea—the most feared region in all the five seas—plagued by storms, prowled by a murderous pirate king, and home to inhuman terrors. Continuing their quest for the Seven Swords, legendary warrior Guyime and his companions must brave these perilous tides to find the mythic Spectral Isle, where once a demon named Lakorath was captured by a sorcerer of great power. Here ancient plans will be unveiled and the secret purpose of the seven demon cursed blades may finally be revealed....

In Brothers of the Line, Karus faces his greatest challenge yet. Stranded on the war-ravaged world of Tannis, he must forge an uneasy alliance between humans, elves, and dwarves to stand against the relentless onslaught of the Horde. With tensions simmering and fragile alliances threatening to collapse, Karus's leadership is tested as never before.

Badly outnumbered, facing certain destruction, and cut off from supply, the Imperial Roman Ninth Legion Hispana is in a desperate position. Surrounded by the hostile Celtic army, Senior Centurion Lucious Grackus Lisidus Karus must lead his men to safety after unexpectedly finding himself thrust into command of the legion.

Arran went missing in Edinburgh twenty years ago. The last time his parents saw him he was withdrawn and on edge where he’d once been happy and carefree. Still searching for their son, they turn to their last hope, true crime podcaster Cal Lovett. Cal begins looking for answers but is distracted by his sister’s murder trial. He’s so close to getting the justice Margot deserves. Can he finally leave the past—and Margot—behind? As Cal unearths disturbing evidence about Arran’s fate, he suspects the young man’s close-knit group of university friends are keeping secrets to protect each other.

War grips two worlds as heroes rise to challenge the sinister Heralds of Ruin. In the realm of Andomhaim, Ridmark Arban leads the armies of the High King against the brutal legions of the Heptarchy. A daring ruse might defeat the might of Warlord Agravhask, or it will bring Andomhaim crashing down in ruin.

A nobleman from an infamous family, imperial legionary officer, and born fighter, Ben Stiger is trapped in the past and cut off from everything he has known. The World Gate is sealed behind him, and Delvaris, the man he traveled through time to save, is dead. With this great man’s death, the future has been altered by the evil god Castor. Stiger has lost his purpose. For the first time in a great long while, no one needs saving, and no one needs killing. Cast adrift in a time not his own, Stiger believes his time as a leader of men is at an end. But the gods are not done with him yet.

With Rivun and Jit’s help, Eli and Mae helped Karenna free her people from the cruel overlord Edgun. Unfortunately, Mik’Las, the criminal whom they were hunting, has managed to escape in the ensuing chaos. Worse, his trail has gone cold. Hoping to come across a clue that will put them on the right path, they continue the hunt. Then, unexpectedly, they are visited by a powerful and mysterious elven wizard, one with an unknown agenda.

Captain Ben Stiger never asked for this assignment—transport a chest of imperial gold and a letter from the emperor across the sea to a volatile foreign kingdom and secure a vital alliance, or at least buy their neutrality. But duty is rarely a matter of choice. With only the enigmatic elven ranger Eli at his side, Stiger sets sail for the Kingdom of Thresh.

The quest of the Seven Swords will unmask treachery. It threatens to summon the malevolent New God...but other dark powers might seize the New God's throne. Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight, questing to stop the rise of the evil New God and to rescue his friends from the cruel dvargir slavers of Najaris. The sorceress Cathala, imprisoned within magical stone, holds the lore of the creator of the Seven Swords. But dark powers are stirring in the Serpent Marshes, and Cathala has secrets of her own. Secrets that might kill Ridmark and his friends.

The quest of the Seven Swords has freed the shadows to prey upon mankind. Ridmark has learned that the sorceress Cathala holds the secret of the Seven Swords and quests to free her from the grasp of an imprisoning spell. But the Maledicti priests know of Ridmark's quest and plot to stop him with a deadly new weapon. Ridmark and his companions find themselves caught in the war between the final remnant of the dying gray elves and the brutal muridach horde. Unless Ridmark can save the gray elves, he and his friends will die, and the New God will rise in power to enslave the world.

Jimmy Porter barely ekes out a living running a candy stall by day and playing jazz trumpet by night. Although he usually takes his frustrations out on his emotionless wife, Jimmy's scathing tongue and self-loathing seem destined to destroy everything. Set in the UK at the dawn of the '60s social unrest, this savage morality tale spawned the phrase “angry young man".

To defeat the evil of the Seven Swords, Ridmark must learn the secrets of their making. But the creator of the Swords is imprisoned within the dungeons of Urd Maelwyn, once the stronghold of the dark elven tyrant called the Sovereign. And those who enter the dungeons of Urd Maelwyn never return. To find a way to destroy the Swords, Ridmark enters the Durance of Urd Maelwyn, a twisted dungeon built by a dark elven tyrant. There, he must find the mad smith who forged the Swords. But the ruler of the Durance does not let prisoners escape her iron grasp....

Contains books three and four of the Dragontiarna series: Gates, book three, and Wraiths, book four. The gates between worlds have been thrown open, and armies of invaders have come forth to threaten the realm of Andomhaim. Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight of Andomhaim, and he and all his allies stand in the invaders' path.

When elven rangers Eli'Far and Mae'Cara are dispatched to hunt down the dangerous criminal Mik'Las, the mission seems simple enough. Mik'Las has committed the unthinkable crimes of murder and kidnapping, and though he's a former elven ranger and skilled in the deadly arts, Eli is confident they will bring him to justice. But after Mik'Las flees into the human kingdom of the Castol, Eli and Mae find their mission suddenly wrought with complications.

Stiger has survived the brutal ordeal at Fort Covenant, which saw his company shattered and an enemy army destroyed. Stiger is slowly being accepted into the legion. There are still some who seek to make him feel like an outcast. Unexpectedly, he finds himself summoned to see the general. Stiger is dispatched on a critical mission for the empire. He must travel to the island kingdom of Thresh to deliver a message and a large quantity of gold. Despite the mission’s importance, it seems like an easy job: a march through friendly territory well away from the enemy....

In Terence Rattigan’s classic drama, an aging schoolmaster at an English secondary school faces the harsh judgments of his students, his fellow teachers, and his vicious and spiteful wife. But can a lone act of kindness from a sympathetic student change his heart? This recording also includes an interview with Michael Darlow, the author of Terence Rattigan: The Man and His Work.

Mungo Park’s Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa has long been regarded as a classic of African travel literature. In fulfilling his mission to find the Niger River and in documenting its potential as an inland waterway for trade, Park was significant in opening Africa to European economic interests. His modest, low-key heroism made it possible for the British public to imagine themselves as a welcomed force in Africa. As a tale of adventure and survival, it has inspired the imaginations of audiences since its first publication in 1799 and writers from Wordsworth and Melville to Conrad.