Showing results by publisher "Audible Studios" in Dark Fantasy

Leah Frothen has returned home to rebuild the life she's avoided for years. But she can scarcely catch her breath before she is summoned to meet with the regent, Darien Serlast, the man who made her a spy. Leah is reluctant to take on a new assignment, but Darien has dangled the perfect lure to draw her in. Leah finds she enjoys the challenges of opening a shop catering to foreign visitors, especially since it affords her the opportunity to get to know Mally, the child she abandoned five years ago.

This title is the final in a series of recovers of the popular Avatar series. At the time of its original release, this series presented key events that impacted the entire Forgotten Realms world, and the effects of those events are still felt in current novels. This re-released series features a cohesive cover design and all-new art and was written by New York Times best-selling author Troy Denning.

Revisiting classic adventures has been extremely successful. "Queen of the Demonweb Pits" was one of the most popular adventures ever created for the Dungeons & Dragons game. This novelization appeals to those who have played through the adventure, as well as to those who have an interest in drow elves - one of the most popular races in the game.

Camille Ellis has gone rogue agent, and there's no turning back now. The conclave might have put the Charybdis case to bed, but Cam isn't willing to let it lie. No badge doesn't mean no backup these days. As mate to an alpha warg, she has access to new and lethal resources. A whole pack full of them. And they all want justice for the sins committed against them. But the stakes are higher than she knows, the secrets exposed darker than she feared, and the cost of winning higher than she ever imagined.

A new update arrives to the ultra-popular online game, Realm of Arkon. With Patch 17, the level of immersion experienced by players in their gaming capsules has made virtual reality indistinguishable from the real world. But every gamer's dream becomes a nightmare for Roman Kozhevnikov after he gets confined to Arkon against his will. And not just to Arkon, but to its deadliest zone - Demon Grounds. Playing - or rather living - as his character Krian, it's not just about survival for Roman.

The fabric of reality is bursting at the seams. The gnolls' negotiators are knocking at the gates of the Kremlin. Ancient half-forgotten gods take on a new lease on life as AlterWorld's avatars. A spark of the Creator's almighty will is still alive in the hearts of millions of players, obeying the impulses of their faith and knowledge while reshaping the Universe to suit their unspoken needs. Initially AlterWorld came complete with infernal planes. So how about confronting a few demons?

In the year since her life was torn apart, Kit Colbana has slowly rebuilt herself. There's a promise of hope in the relationship with the alpha of the local shapeshifters and she no longer comes screaming into wakefulness. Life's not perfect but then again, when was it ever? When her best friend Justin comes to her for help, there's little question as to what her answer will be. Witches are disappearing and Justin won't rest until he has answers.

Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family's ignoble secret history for his classic story "The Fall of the House of Usher", living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher. Years ago he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father's impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch - and face his worst fears.

Guyime—demon-cursed wielder of the nameless blade—follows the trail of the fabled Seven Swords into the troubled Northlands, a realm where he was once called king...and Ravager. Magically guided to enlist in the retinue of a lovesick knight, Guyime and his companions journey to the haunted ruin of Blackfyre Keep, a castle legend tells cannot be held. But a far deadlier threat than mere ghosts awaits. An ancient evil has been conjured, and to defeat it, Guyime may be forced to become the monster he used to be—the Ravager reborn.

In the wake of the rebel Niyandrians' abduction attempt, Anskar DeVantte, now a knight-inferior of the Order of Eternal Vigilance, has set sail with the Grand Master, bound for the mother house in Sansor. Anskar has already begun to suspect that the Order's holy convictions aren't as pure as they appear, and his doubts are confirmed when the ship detours to the slave markets of Atya. As the Grand Master gathers an expedition to retrieve an ancient artifact from an unearthed ruin, Anskar finds himself torn.

Jeremy Bremen has a secret. All his life he's been cursed with the ability to read minds. He knows the secret thoughts, fears, and desires of others as if they were his own. For years, his wife, Gail, has served as a shield between Jeremy and the burden of this terrible knowledge. But Gail is dying, her mind ebbing slowly away, leaving him vulnerable to the chaotic flood of thought that threatens to sweep away his sanity. Now Jeremy is on the run - from his mind, from his past, from himself - hoping to find peace in isolation.

With 50,000 freed slaves at their back, Raz i'Syul Arro and Syrah Brahnt leave the savannahs of Perce behind. Karesh Syl is no more. Karesh Nan burns in their wake. Beyond the border before them the South looms, ready and waiting, and together Raz and Syrah pray they are prepared for the great offense they must now undertake against the fringe cities.

Lolth has come out of hibernation with a plan that may seem too ambitious even for her, and to pull it off she'll need the help of a drow who's betrayed her at least once already--a drow she's transformed into the demonic Lady Penitent. The shocking conclusion to a trilogy that will change the Forgotten Realms world forever.

Half devil and miles from anything resembling heroic, perpetual underdog Frank "Triggaltheron" Trigg is the last man standing against Armageddon. As the favorite nephew of the devil, Frank has led a troubled life, but he'd always had his uncle's influence to fall back on. Now, with God and Lucifer coming to terms and leaving existence to fend for itself, his once exalted status of Antichrist-to-be does little to endear him to the hordes of angels and demons running amok in the godless world.

Harrison is the Monster Detective, a storybook hero. Now he’s in his mid-30s and spends most of his time not sleeping. Stan became a minor celebrity after being partially eaten by cannibals. Barbara is haunted by the messages carved upon her bones. Greta may or may not be a mass-murdering arsonist. And for some reason, Martin never takes off his sunglasses.

The perma players' new reality gains depth and color. The virtual world has seen its first birth - and its first death. The invisible umbilical cord connecting AlterWorld to Earth grows thinner, and even the Fallen One cannot prevent the looming catastrophe. Could Max have ignored the Russian girl who'd just escaped slavery in a virtual China? Could he have turned a deaf ear to her pleas as the desperate fugitive clutched at straws on hearing her native tongue?

The final battle looms. On one front, the god of hatred, Vill, leads a horde of undead threatening to overrun the orcish steppe. On another, the dark god Rakot aims to break out of Limbh. But even those threats pale before the one coming from the East: three ancient beasts set on wiping out all living beings. The AI systems are in death throes as the Realm of Arkon seems less and less like a game. The standard behavioral algorithms of mobs and NPCs are long in the past. Krian must fight for his freedom, for his friends, and for the future of the world he now calls home.

A great war encroaches following the turbulent events of patch 17, casting a menacing shadow over both Demon Grounds and lands of the light races. Roused from a millennia-old slumber, dark gods seek to exact vengeance for their past defeat. Max finds himself at the epicenter of it all - with the lives of his woman, his friends, and all his people in the Wild Wood dependent on him. Two unlikely heroes must stand - and endure - against all odds: one a Black Demon from an ancient prophecy, the other a fabled Gray Lion....

The magic flames are raging. Blades are melting. Souls are reduced to ashes in the fury of battle. The grand finale of the war for the First Temple is upon us. The last trump cards have been played, the reserves are all exhausted, and even the gods have engaged in the plebeian fight. The universe is on the point of collapse. Broken are the chains that hold the worlds together. The icy waters of the Baltic cool the scorching sands of the Frontier.

Darkness, both literal and psychological, holds its own unique fascination. Despite our fears, or perhaps because of them, listeners have always been drawn to tales of death, terror, madness, and the supernatural, and no more so than today when a wildly imaginative new generation of dark dreamers is carrying on in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft and King, crafting exquisitely disturbing literary nightmares that gaze without flinching into the abyss - and linger in the mind long after.