Showing results by narrator "Gerard Tim Reynolds" in All Categories

Life can kick us when we are down. In Shawn Speakman's case, he is fighting back. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011, Speakman beat the disease as well as the massive medical debt he amassed from its treatment. He did this by publishing Unfettered, an anthology featuring short stories donated by some of the best science fiction and fantasy writers working today. Speakman has again collaborated with celebrated genre authors to publish Unfettered II.

It’s been more than 10 years since Kelley Armstrong began the Otherworld series and drew legions of fans to a realm roamed by witches, werewolves, necromancers, vampires, and half-demons. Many of the novels have become best-selling favorites, but not all of the Otherworld adventures have been easy to find. At last, Otherworld Nights shares short stories that have previously been available only online or in obscure collections.

At least one of them, and he's gone and burned down the great City of Gnome. Chase and her merry band of miscreants must search the rubble for their friend Thomasi, before the mysterious Inquisition can put an end to him. The only problem is that the dragon is still around. Worse yet, some old familiar faces are back, and Chase must contend with the powerful and amoral players once more.

Are you a god in dire need of followers, of some more faithful to bolster your ranks? Then I’m the one you’re looking for: a Demon Lord in all its glory! You may hire my services for a small fee, that is a small portion of your divinity. I will send my minions to terrorize the populace and give people a reason to pray to you. I will spawn horrors to drum up support or even trigger a holy crusade. Just sign the contract and I’ll take care of everything.

"The Golden Brat", Reinhard von Lohengramm, a military prodigy and admiral of the Galactic Empire, has ambitions beyond protecting the borders or even defeating the empire's enemies. He seeks to overthrow the old order and become a truly absolute - yet benevolent - dictator. His rival, the humble Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, wishes to preserve democracy even if he must sacrifice his political ideals to defeat the empire.

Sviska is a man of the shadows, an assassin without any one place to call his own. But in the Far North, he discovers a secret. Magic, long thought lost to the world, is alive. The genocide to destroy every elf, wizard, and sacred being of old is not yet complete. Sviska's masters work the strings of the world and he has been sent for a task he does not even fully understand yet. When at last he feels he has what he has always wanted, darkness falls upon the world.

During his twilight years, the French author Jules Verne (1828-1905) wrote two original sequels to books that had fired his own youthful imagination but which he felt to be incomplete: Johann Wyss's Swiss Family Robinson and Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Arthur Gordon Pym (1845) was only one of many Poe stories which Verne admired; no other single author had more impact on his writing.

All the horrors of Hell stand between Snorri Ver Snagason and the rescue of his family, if indeed the dead can be rescued. For Jalan Kendeth, getting back out alive and with Loki's key is all that matters. Loki's creation can open any lock, any door, and it may also be the key to Jalan's fortune back in the living world. Jalan plans to return to the three w's that have been the core of his idle and debauched life: wine, women, and wagering. Fate, however, has other plans - larger plans.

Artemio Volpe has been crowned king of Espher, restoring his ancient line to power—and inheriting the worst crisis the kingdom has ever faced. The Arazi Dragon Lords descend from the north. With flame and blade, they will purge all in their path to see the shadebound witch Orsina destroyed and their prophecies fulfilled. From the south march all the armies of the God-Emperor of Agrant, legions of soldiers backed by the unfathomable power of the living god himself.

Best-selling author Dorothy Koomson's novels have been translated into 28 languages. In The Ice Cream Girls, 18-year-old Serena Gorringe and 16-year-old Poppy Carlisle were tried for the murder of their teacher - but only Poppy was convicted of the crime. Twenty years later, Poppy is released from prison - and she's determined to force Serena to admit her part in the killing.

The long struggle is over at last. The demon dactyl is no more, its dark sorceries shattered by the gemstone magic wielded by the woman known as Pony. But victory did not come easily. Many lives were lost, including Pony's lover, the elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden. Despite the dactyl's demise, the kingdom still seethes in the same cauldron of plots and machinations. But when a deadly sickness suddenly appears among the people of Corona, Pony must undertake a pilgrimage that will test her powers.

A thousand years ago, the Navigator crossed the great deep in ships lit with 16 stones touched by Oum'ilah, the God of Gods. Over time the stones were scattered, and a prophecy arose declaring that a "child of no man" would gather them again, obtain immortality, and reign forever as god and king of Candelarr. Two religious groups have sprung up around the prophecy, each with its own champion.

It is said that Lord Dunsany wrote his stories with a handmade quill in a single draft, and The King of Elfland’s Daughter is widely regarded as one of his greatest works. A fantasy classic which has influenced some of the most popular fantasy writers of all time, including J. R. R. Tolkien and Neil Gaiman, and one of the landmark pre-Tolkien fantasy stories written. It is noteworthy not only for its poetic literature and picturesque imagery, but also its exploration of Elfland, a land of fancy, immortality, and forbidden love.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A thief, a candlemaker, an ex-mercenary, and a pig farmer walk into a trap…and what happens to them is no joke. When Riyria is hired to retrieve a jester’s treasure, Royce and Hadrian must match wits with a dwarf who proves to be anything but a fool. Difficult choices will need to be made, and in the end those who laugh last do so because they are the only ones to survive.

It is All Souls Day, and the spirit of Marcus Conway sits at his kitchen table and remembers. In flowing, relentless prose, Conway recalls his life in rural Ireland: as a boy and man, father, husband, citizen. His ruminations move from childhood memories of his father's deftness with machines to his own work as a civil engineer, from transformations in the local economy to the tidal wave of global financial collapse. Conway's thoughts go still further, outward to the vast systems of time and history that hold us all.

When legends come to life, the world trembles from a single name. Ronin. Once-heroes from a different age, they wield elemental powers: wind, water, fire, stone, forest, sun, moon, flesh, and metal. At the same time, a young man discovers his best friend with a sword in her stomach and dark wings sprouting from her back. Guards rush to the scene and accuse him of the act, and he is forced to flee.

Three men search for some version of home; their lives move inexorably toward a reckoning that will draw them all together. For Farouk, family is all. He has protected his wife and daughter as best he can from the war and hatred that has torn Syria apart. If they stay, they will lose their freedom. Lampy is distracted; he has too much going on in his small town life in Ireland. He has the city girl for a bit of fun, but she's not Chloe. The game was always the lifeblood coursing through John's veins: manipulating people for his enjoyment. But it was never enough.

Young Cally is an apprentice within the most unusual order of sorcerers in the known world: the only one that forbids its members from using their powers to kill. Despite his lowly status, Cally's chosen by the Master of the Order to join a delegation to see their allies the Lannovians. The meeting will be historic: 60 years ago, the Order's enemies attacked them with a host of demons, forcing the Order to trap the monsters inside their own citadel and seal it shut with impenetrable wards. The trick worked so well the Order hasn't been able to get it back open since.

Gaston has had his fill of war and the Latin Kingdoms when he learns that he has inherited his father's estate in France. He accepts one last quest for the Templars, the order he has served for 15 years, and agrees to deliver a package to Paris on his way home. A practical man, Gaston knows he now has need of a wife and an heir, so when a lovely widowed noblewoman on pilgrimage catches his eye, he believes he can see matters solved to their mutual convenience.

Though I'm part of the most powerful family in Elantio, I failed to produce mana on my Manifestation day. Thus, I was relegated to the most shameful place for someone of my status: the Archives. What may have seemed like a sentence truly was a blessing in disguise. I may be a mule—one with the blood of a sorcerer yet unable to channel any magic—but what I lack in raw power I make up for with my tenacity. It's in those Archives that I searched and searched for a way to bypass my curse. Now, after years of study and browsing through hundreds of books, I may have found a solution.