Showing results by narrator "Ryan Burke" in All Categories

Efrem "Coleslaw" White is a video game tester and college student. He was on a tropical vacation with a diverse group of strangers, classmates, and friends when disaster struck. The next thing he knew, he was standing before a huge, floating man introducing himself as the god Dolos, and being given a second chance at life. There was a catch, though. There is always a catch.

It's the Hollywood of the future, where moviemaking's been computerized and live-action films are a thing of the past. It's a Hollywood where Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe are starring together in A Star Is Born, and if you don't like the ending, you can change it with the stroke of a key. A Hollywood of warm bodies and sim-sex, of drugs and special effects, where anything is possible. Except for what one starry-eyed young woman wants to do: dance in the movies.

An Ordinary Youth is a novel drawn directly from the author's boyhood in Nazi Germany. Nine-year-old Walter's family is moving house when the novel opens, but Walter's main concerns are his tin soldiers and his older brother's jazz records, his father's fluctuating moods, and his mother's ministrations and anxieties. While Walter is absorbed by his private life, the extraordinary accumulation of contemporary idioms that accompany his point of view—dialogue, song, literary quotations, commercials, and political slogans—tell a different story.

The Stars Are Ours: Dard Nordis is a hunted man. His brother was murdered for covert activities as a scientist in a world in which scientists and engineers are blamed for the global war that smashed civilization. Star Born: Centuries after the desperate flight from Earth, Pax has been overthrown and humanity again reaches for the stars. Rof Kurbi's spaceship reaches the planet Astra, but he and the crew do not know that the planet already has a colony established centuries ago.

Necrotis has raised an armada to make our sector tremble. Hundreds of warships have begun to overwhelm the Confederacy, and we don't have nearly enough magic or ships to defend every world. Our only real hope is resurrecting the Vagrant Fleet. We have the Spellship, and our demon allies control the Earthmother's Bulwark. I'm the captain of the Word of Xal, our most powerful offensive ship in the fleet. We're strong, but Necrotis is stronger, and the gap is growing.

Danger stalks the Republic once again. Raiders hijack their starships, biological weapons slaughter their colonists, and terrorists kill thousands of innocents in their mega-cities...and as the head of Fleet Intelligence, it’s Jason McKay’s job to track down the enemy, whether they’re on a world at the edge of known space or in the midst of a corrupt government. McKay and his lethal second-in-command, Shannon Stark, are on a hunt for the truth, but that pursuit will end up with traitors in high places hunting them.

Cameron Thorne and his fiancee Amanda Spencer don't for a second believe the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a cave in the Arizona desert. But when a militant survivalist leads them to a radioactive replica of the Ark, filled with a mysterious white powder, they begin to wonder if legends of Templar Knights visiting the American Southwest on a secret mission might be true. What is this strange white powder? And is it the key to understanding the true power of both Moses and the sacred Ark of the Covenant?

Dragons with assault cannons? How is that fair? I saved Highspire and the academy from the dissolution of our world. Seventeen-thousand students survived, and I want to keep it that way. The ship is breaking down. Life support needs repairs, and we have almost no food. We need money badly. That means scavenging tech that we can sell to the same people who blew up our planet. Fortunately I'm the best Relic Hunter in the business...though to be fair all the rest died when my world tumbled into the sun. There are six other Great Ships out there, and who knows what we'll find inside?

An alien pyramid has appeared on Earth, squatting in the middle of Chicago. It is growing, destroying the city as it does, and nothing seems able to stop it, not even the might of the US military. Somehow, the alien device is snatching people and for unknown reasons transporting them into worlds of mythology. Dr. Lukacs is one of the victims. Granted, he's an expert on mythology. But myths are not something he'd thought to encounter personally. Or wanted to!

Before he became an archmage to topple an empire, before he met the legendary Eradicator Xal, Saghir was born a free ratkin, living on the streets of Gateway, a perilous desert city at the edge of the Blasted Lands. Each month, the free laborers must pay their tithe in coin, or blood. Every ratkin in Saghir's tribe searches for something of value, lest their whole people be enslaved. Ruthless Corax, carnivorous scarabs, and worse infest the city. There are countless ways for a rat to die, and all it takes is one mistake. There are no second chances.

Religious fanatics inform historian Cameron Thorne that a medieval stone tower in Newport, Rhode Island is a secret portal—built by the Knights Templar—through which the Antichrist will appear. A group of Native Americans share this belief, claiming that the shape of Turtle Island, their name for North America, was revealed to them by ancient aliens passing through this same portal centuries ago. It all seems utterly ridiculous, until Cam's teenage daughter Astarte is kidnapped and dragged into an occult ritual designed to bring about the Apocalypse.

A portal back to Earth. Disappearing AI. The final battle has begun. After living inside a video game for months, Clay now has the rare chance to log out. The only problem is: the game's AI guardians have run off to Earth themselves. The fate of all reality now hangs in the balance. With new powers and a new mission, Clay and his pals have three days to trek across post-apocalyptic Earth and recapture the runaway AI guardians. If they fail, both worlds online and off will cease to exist.

Surrounded by enemies and suffering from heavy casualties, Clay and his motley crew are in their toughest spot yet. Making things worse, their greatest enemy is about to be crowned emperor of Arethkar, granting him unbridled power and abilities. With a new quest and class unlocked, Clay and his pals have 10 days to sneak into the foreign capital, establish disguises, and assassinate the emperor-to-be. Sounds easy, except for the extra tight security, corrupt nobles, and monsters roaming the sewers beneath.

When the Solus Hegemony’s profit margins are threatened, expendable soldiers are called in to foot the bill—one bloody conquest at a time. Noah Rivers is one such soldier. Raised from birth with a single objective—obtain eternal glory through death in service to the galaxy’s most notorious corporate empire.

Sell books the smart way. Five years ago releasing a book as an indie author meant uploading it, then begging everyone you knew to buy it. That method simply doesn't work anymore. Fortunately, there's a better way. Amazon has spent billions of dollars over the last decade building the world's best sales engine. They use machine learning to sell massive piles of books, and that engine is just waiting for you to tap into it. This is the book that will teach you how.

Who is The Horoscope Writer? It’s not Bobby Frindley. He’s an ex-Olympic athlete who has fast-talked his way into an entry-level position at a dying newspaper. He’s supposed to be writing horoscopes, but someone has been doing his job for him . . . On his first night on the job, Bobby receives an email with twelve gruesome, highly-detailed horoscopes, along with a chilling ultimatum: print them and one will come true, or ignore them and all of them will.

The Borwyn remain undeterred as they gather hardware and rally their allies. It’s best not to fight from within a vacuum, unless that vacuum is space, and the fight is between starships. The crew of Chrysalis are challenged afresh when their goal is changed in light of new revelations. Jaq, Crip, Max, and the rest continue their fight against the Malibor in this fast-paced continuation of the Starship series.

Clay has arrived on the evil continent of Arethkar with one simple goal: to free the brutally enslaved players. With the help of a long-lost acquaintance, Clay sets his eyes on conquering the powerful fortress of Iron Citadel. He has seven days to complete the task. If he succeeds, he will bring a new era of peace and prosperity to Arcane Kingdom Online. If he fails, the world will plunge into greater darkness.

I write software at a San Francisco startup. I have my dream job, but I also have a secret. We are not alone. The last time I was taken I was 14. Three weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday, and I know that the grey men will soon come again. I devoted my life to technology so I'd be ready when they returned. Others have prepared too, and I will find them. Together we will harness the abilities they have given us. We are Project Solaris. It's time to fight back.

A dying millionaire hires historian Cameron Thorne to help raise what he claims is a Roman-era ship wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts' Plum Island. Roman coins and artifacts scattered around New England and the Ohio River Valley appear to confirm legends of early Romans crossing the Atlantic. It seems like a harmless assignment until a sultry Mossad agent threatens Cam's life. Why would the Mossad care about ancient Roman artifacts? The answer, it turns out, could destabilize the Middle East for generations to come.