Showing results by narrator "Travis" in All Categories

In None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary, Travis Alabanza considers seven phrases people have directed at them throughout their life. These phrases—some deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or violent, some celebratory—have fundamentally shaped Alabanza, both for better and for worse.

Felix Cross is no stranger to demons. He's traveled the globe, studying under the world's most foremost demonologists and exorcists with one goal: Open a door to Hell to retrieve the soul of an innocent man. After he's hired to perform an exorcism on Raina Hemlock, a Kentucky senator's daughter, Felix may have found what he needs. The possessed girl claims to have been to Hell and back...literally. Now all he has to do is interrogate the demon before it destroys the girl he was hired to save.

For years, single father Toby Tucker has done his best to keep his sensitive young son, Luca, safe from the bigotry of the world. But when Toby marries Alyssa Wright—the granddaughter of a famed televangelist known for his grandiose, Old Testament preaching—he can’t imagine the world of religion, wealth, and hate that he and Luca are about to enter. A trip to the Wright family’s compound in sun-scorched Texas soon turns hellish when Toby realizes that Alyssa and the rest of her brood might have some very strange plans for Toby and his son.

For two years, Tupper Meadowsweet has kept his promise to be brave and do his best. But during the spring when he turns 13, Aurelius Harrow returns to the Statuary with something other than blocks of magical stone and gossipy tidbits. Master Freydolf will rely on Tupper more than ever as they spend a season dealing with runaways, star-crossed lovers, skittish villagers, and rumors of a 13th magical mountain. But the greatest mystery of all may be Tupper himself, for the boy’s affinity for stone defies explanation.

For 600 years, the kingdom of Wahrheit was ruled by an unbroken line. It rose on a wave of technology and magic and stood alone—a bastion of stability built on pillars of economic and military might. The nation and her people thrived due to the strength of soldiers and the protection of dragons. But the line has ended—the king is dead. Noble houses vie to carve out their own domains. Foreign armies march across Wahrheit’s soil for the first time in memory. Without leadership, the king’s army watches helplessly.

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.

In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she manages to get pregnant. Back home, in New England, Little Ray becomes a ski instructor. Her son, Adam, grows up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past. Years later, looking for answers, he will go to Aspen. In the Hotel Jerome, where he was conceived, Adam will meet some ghosts; in The Last Chairlift, they aren’t the first or last ghosts he sees.

Wu Ying's idle winter, one filled with training and recovery, is thrown awry when his Master and Elder Yang return, injured. The Three Seasons poison fills Master Cheng's veins, slowly killing the powerful Elder. His only hope - a rare antidote. But the ingredients for such an antidote are scarce and located in the deepest wilds.

Without so much as a warning, humanity in its entirety was suddenly moved to another dimension. Every person, without exception. But this new world, with all its opportunities and gifts of wondrous abilities, was a stadium. A deadly arena of an unimaginable scale. And humanity was to be its latest gladiators. Every man, woman, and child was given a weapon and ordered to fight. Stuck in this dimension without a way out, only two options existed for the would-be hunters: Fight with monsters to complete the many trials ahead, or perish.

Gus is a Henchman separated from his friends at his new job, a henchman on an orbiting space base. He's happy with the gig, and has no real delusions of grandeur. Well...small delusions, but he’s seen all too often what happens to minions who get too uppity around their supervillain bosses.

After the EMP brought America to its knees, Jack Miller and his family barely escaped Baltimore with their lives. Wyatt and the Millers made the trip to his West Virginia homestead, but without supplies, they are unprepared to face the difficult winter. Jack is forced to go far from his home in search of food. He stumbles on a cache of food large enough to feed his family for months but encounters another group who claims the resource for their own, setting in motion a conflict that will spiral of control.

For the first time New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice writes as C. Travis Rice. Under his pen name, Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The first novel, SAPPHIRE SUNSET, transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their heart's desires.

Grant Leap is an orphaned, mortal farmhand in a world where cultivation methods and Weapons of Power are jealously guarded and only passed down among family. He’s not content with his lot; as a Januarian, someone living in District January, he should be living the good life just like everyone else. Food, parties, food, entertainment, and food are the minimum requirement. As an orphan, specifically a reviled Leap, there’s not even a chance of being treated as a human.

Artorian wakes on a brand-new planet, refreshed and ready to make some mischief now that he’s back in Cal’s soul space! Eternium is old news; in fact, now that Barry is completely forked, the curtains on Eternia’s Alpha have closed. Being awake has its upsides, but there are a few...concerns. Cal, even unconscious, is pushing the boundaries of the double-S ranks. With oaths and promises in peril, should he breach that rank before letting people live their lives, Artorian will hustle and bustle to lay the groundwork for mass-decanting. Surely nothing will go wrong.

Torga’s been keeping a secret from his wife. While Reina, an accomplished monster hunter, was overjoyed to be reunited with the man she loves, what would happen if she found out that he was actually one of the largest monsters in history? Torga’s plans to reveal himself are interrupted when a conspiracy of other gods sends him and his wife to Helheim, a frozen waste where their skills and magic are stripped away. He’ll have to recover his powers, and possibly make a deal with some of Helheim’s less savory residents to escape.

Damian Vesik is back.. but his time in the Abyss changed him. As he grapples to understand his oddly fluctuating powers, a call from his trusted mechanic, Samir, is the last thing he needs. But the strange occurrences at the autobody shop can’t be ignored. Calling on Nixie - and a rather odd gift from a water witch clan - Damian uncovers a dreadful creature haunting Samir’s shop. Knowing he can’t face a basilisk in his current state, his only option is to seek out Gaia in his quest for answers.

Alex can’t wait to dive into the latest cutting-edge VRMMORPG: Dungeon Core Online. It boasts an ever-changing, ever-growing dungeon with an AI so advanced, it feels practically human. Funny huh? Forming a two-man dungeon party with his best friend, Fel, Alex is keen to sample everything DCO has to offer. From delicious fried Dicken to a fiery whiskey brewed from demonic corn, the friends eat and drink their way through the chaos that is DCO. Gaming is supposed to be fun after all, and leveling is always a little better when you’re tipsy right?

Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the 90s, adored by fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in life. There was trauma from an early age, years of drug abuse, and a chronic sense of disconnection that sometimes seemed self-engineered. Smith died violently in LA in 2003, under what some believe to be questionable circumstances, of stab wounds to the chest. By this time fame had found him, and record-buyers who shared the listening experience felt he spoke directly to them from beyond: astute, damaged, lovelorn, fighting, until he could fight no more.

Off the coast of Oregon, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean and forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadly that it’s nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. Two thousand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dared to try to cross it. Since then, the commercial importance of the Columbia River has only grown, but despite the construction of jetties on either side, the bar remains treacherous.

Cursed from birth. Forced into slavery. It's time to fight back. The blood of the Ancients is the most coveted ingredient in all of Damaris. The fabled elixir made from it grants those who drink it life that extends far beyond natural means. There is no higher honor in the kingdom then being granted the privilege of bidding for it. And the people found with the cursed blood? By law, they are the rightful property of the kingdom. They are tributes.