Showing results by narrator "Derek Shoales" in All Categories

Two years after the end of the Psi War, Caleb Mitchell is Emperor in all but name, leading his armies on a crusade to cleanse the colony worlds and Earth itself of the last of the psionic madmen known as the Changed. But the citizens of the Commonwealth weren't the only ones devastated by the war; the criminal cartels in the Pirate Worlds are in chaos, their trade cut off, their resources running out. A young warlord named Amos Dobrev rises up to unite the cartels into a union they call the Syndicate.

Johnson provides an eminently practical framework for understanding how a business model actually works. Identifying its four fundamental building blocks, he lays out a structured and repeatable process for reinventing an existing business model or creating a new one and then incubating and scaling it into a profitable and thriving enterprise. In a new chapter on digital transformation, he shows how serial transformers like Amazon leverage business model innovation so successfully.

After a long and perilous journey to the Earth Navel, Belgrieve finally succeeds in locating the second of his missing comrades. The dangers of the road are a fresh reminder of Belgrieve's limitations, and he begins to doubt his ability to continue his quest. But with the support of his daughter and friends, he finally manages to reconcile with his old party member Percival. Resolved to see things through to the end, they continue their journey to find the elf Satie, the last member of Belgrieve's old party.

The greatest heroes of the Commonwealth are gathered in the breach for one last fight. The Transformation Virus rages through human space like a wildfire, changing ordinary men and women into psionic demi-gods, bent on destruction and conquest. The government has fallen, the military is helpless, and the fate of humanity rests in the hands of a collection of unlikely saviors.

When Peter finds himself on a strange planet, drafted into a war by alien abductors, his only goal is to be one of the few to survive the war and return home to Earth. Peter is one of thousands who get abducted every year, as payment to the aliens. The aliens have given humans portal travel, healing serums, and other advanced alien technology. The quality of life has improved, but everything has a price.

When the baroness of Forthyn's daughter disappears, she calls on the legendary orc hero Durik to find her. Durik enlists his old questing partners - the dwarf alchemist Ulma Grimstone and roguish Logan Lashley - in the hopes of reliving their glory days. Together they journey to fear-struck Fallowhearth. There, instead of clues, they uncover necromancy: graveyards emptied of corpses, with trails of footprints leading into sinister Blind Muir Forest.... But the forest holds more than just the walking dead.

After rescuing Mit from the malice of the ancient woods, Belgrieve and Angeline set off on their first proper adventure together. Their goal: the long-awaited reunion of Belgrieve and an old comrade. Along the way, they happen to cross paths with an old acquaintance of Kasim's, a guild master. But as fate would have it, a disagreement leads Belgrieve to lock blades with her. Eventually, after so many long years, Belgrieve finally manages to find his former party member Percival. Their reunion, however, isn't entirely a happy one.

Thanks to a strange turn of fate, Angeline was able to reunite her father with one of his former adventurer comrades, the archmage Kasim. Now with spring approaching, Belgrieve intends to bring everyone back to Turnera with him, but the unbreakable bond between father and daughter has left the two so concerned for one another that they ironically can't seem to find common ground. Meanwhile, Charlotte and Byaku begin training in magic, only to encounter a certain problem. Where is this ever-growing little family headed, and what will become of the young magicians-in-training?

In a future where humanity has scattered itself across the stars and Earth itself is now a dimly remembered place of legend, two worlds of near-supernatural strangeness challenge two naive but courageous heroes.

Taylor McFadden is willing to go against any monster thrown at him. But something Niki threw at him has got him off his game. Niki must build a consultant team to figure out if she has a problem with another company. But will Dr. Salinger Jacobs of Heavy Metal take her call? Does she have the clout to get him to believe her if he picks up the phone?

Next Level Sales Coaching offers insights to sales executives, customer-service managers, business owners, and other professional managers on strategies to overcome common challenges in building a "best in class" sales team. Sales performance can impact a company's revenue, profits, market share, and employee retention. The question is, how do you positively impact those goals? The answer is simple: Sales improve when your team is better trained, coached, and supported.

While intensely attentive to its own tradition, Japanese literature has also embraced the outside world, particularly the influence of China. Beyond this, Japan boasts a powerful literary culture, made up of cultivated reading publics, both aristocratic and bourgeois, literary salons, specialized presses, authoritative judges of talent who cultivated and celebrated particular writers and styles, and a canon consisting of classics. This Very Short Introduction traces the rich history of Japanese literature from its beginnings over a millennium ago to the present day.

Indrajit Twang is the 427th epic poet of his people, the only person alive to carry their entire epic history and mythology in his head. His people are dwindling in number, and if he can't find a successor in the great city of Kish, their story will disappear with them. Fix grew up a foundling on the ancient streets of Kish and is making his living as a mercenary. The woman he loves married someone else, and Fix has turned to buying and selling risk on the black market - but is he trying to impress her, or prove something to himself?

Profiteers are preying on displaced souls who seek freedom, sacrificing everything. Wanting to give their children hope and a future, but they wrongly trust on a roll of loaded dice. Teens are picked off and sold into slavery. Cartels offer the choice to strong, young men to move illegal drugs over the border or die. The R-Group and CATS team leaders want to end Mateo's inhuman business model. The heroes must derail the human exploitation and opioid epidemic, killing people in increasingly dramatic numbers. If they can save even a few from the jaws of death, they win.

After a long and arduous journey spanning the breadth of the empire, Belgrieve has finally laid his regrets to rest and can begin thinking about what the future holds for his steadily growing circle of family and friends. With the defeat of the imposter Benjamin and the restoration of the true prince to his rightful rule, Belgrieve returns home with Satie as his bride and quickly settles back into the rhythm of country living-too quickly, if Kasim, Percival, and Angeline have anything to say about it.

After reuniting with his old friend Kasim and solving Charlotte's problem, Belgrieve and company return to Turnera. Angeline immediately warms up to her new little brother Mit, and the growing family spends their days in peace. Their happy time together, however, is cut short when the forest near the village suddenly gains sentience and begins to attack people-worse yet, it seems to be after Mit and his demonic powers! As the situation grows dire, the Paladin Graham makes a stand! How will the father and daughter duo overcome the crisis threatening their home?

You've heard of Pangea, the single landmass that broke apart some 175 million years ago to give us our current continents, but what about its predecessors, Rodinia or Columbia? These "supercontinents" from Earth's past provide evidence that land repeatedly joins and separates. While scientists debate what that next supercontinent will look like—and what to name it—they all agree: one is coming.

The once-glorious Barony of Kell is a ruin of its former self, assailed by banditry and famine; its noble Baron Frederic is caught between saving his people and defending his borders. Yet worse is to come...for a new Darkness is rising. Sadistic warrior-priestess Ne'Krul, spying an opportunity to wreak bloody vengeance on behalf of her demonic masters, leads her Uthuk warband into a brutal invasion.

For nearly one thousand years, the Core Empire has held together thousands of star systems and billions of citizens. But a coup attempt has broken the empire into pieces. Some planets and systems have survived and still have law and order. Others have fallen to barbarism and piracy. For young Hugh Cascade, this is but a history lesson, even if the nightmares of kinetic weapons exploding have followed him through most of his childhood. Ten years later, the war finds Hugh, now a military cadet.

American-born Frederick Smith has left everything he’s ever known to return to his German homeland. While he tries to remain uninvolved in the terror that surrounds him, his thirst for adventure and camaraderie draw him into the army of the Third Reich. Spurred by the friendship of the Battalion Chaplain and a newfound faith, Freddie begins to find a new meaning in the words Gott Mit Uns. But as tide of the war turns, his closest comrades begin to fall. Will he live to serve Germany?