Showing results by narrator "Nick Podehl" in All Categories

Jeff the Game Master returns in Manipulating Magic, a unique spin on the LitRPG genre, not just providing the perspective of the players, but also of one of those mystical, magical, all-powerful GMs we all dream of being.

Logout button disabled, Jeff and crew find themselves stuck until they can defeat King Tom and the rogue patcher. The mystery still looms: who is behind Infinite Worlds’ attack? Dan Shaklee, CEO of Hard Rock Data, makes discoveries with implications beyond anything he could’ve ever imagined. King Tom, having assimilated nearly all of IW’s Principalities, has continued his onslaught. This time, creating an army of adorable but vicious Vorpal Rabbits, he has issued a command to the Dragon’s Banes: find and destroy all before they end the world.

Dakkon’s in trouble. Things have gone horribly wrong. But so long as there’s still a glimmer of hope, it’s not too late, is it? With such high stakes, failure isn’t an option. He’s got to stay crisp. Frosty. Focused. Dakkon needs luck, skill, and a meteoric rise in power, however success won’t come so easily. Nature is cruel. Predators come in all shapes and sizes, especially when the land is warped by magic.

William and Serena struggle to recover from the devastation wrought upon their home by the forces of Sinskrill. They want nothing more than peace, but they have to fight on. They know that the war between the two islands, one spanning millennia, is reaching its denouement. Both Arylyn and Sinskrill - magi and mahavans - prepare for the final conflict. Warriors are trained, readied for the battle neither side truly wants. Indeed, peace might even be a possibility if not for the Servitor, Serena’s father.

Sterling has his hands full balancing the attentions of an ancient Norse deity, a knife-wielding Knight of the Flowers, and a sleazy vampire sycophant. And those are just his buddies.

The world stands on the edge as the Ancient Gods advance on the Great Forest. An enemy from a past life aims to transform into a Beast and destroy Providence itself.... To stop him, all must stake their life on the Scales of Fate. All must make a choice, THE choice. Death in battle or life in slavery. A beautiful demoness' smile or the eternal, infinite Void.

In the tightly knit world of Boston medicine, the Randall family reigns supreme. When heart surgeon J. D. Randall’s teenage daughter dies during a botched abortion, the medical community threatens to explode. Was it malpractice? A violation of the Hippocratic Oath? Or was Karen Randall murdered in cold blood? The natural suspect is Arthur Lee, a brilliant surgeon and known abortionist, who has been carrying out the illegal procedure with the help of pathologist John Berry.

Jack Rybicki is a high school senior who loves his girl, likes to party, and doesn't have much of a plan for his life. Then fate plucks him from obscurity and Jack, now renamed Jack Noble by his management team, becomes one of the most famous people on the planet. A teenager who likes to indulge himself with limitless resources is not the best recipe for a successful life. But, it's never too late in Middle Falls.

Cast out from Atopia, Robert undertakes a globe-trotting quest to find his friend Willy’s lost body, which just may hold the key to understanding the dangers facing his home…and Jimmy's role in the disasters that are spreading across the world. As Robert pieces together the puzzle, he realizes that mankind’s ravenous consumption of natural resources is no longer the most immediate threat to this world. As full-scale global war erupts and an ancient apocalyptic threat resurfaces, Robert must risk losing the ones he loves to save the planet from destruction.

They are just children when they first meet: Charlotte, daughter of the French ambassador, and Hiroshi, a laundress’s son. One day in the playground, Hiroshi declares that he has an idea that will change the world. An idea that will sweep away all differences between rich and poor. When Hiroshi runs into Charlotte several years later, he is trying to build a brighter future through robotics.

Bladerunner and a grievously wounded Charlotte Omandi have escaped from Drac’ath, while also having assured Earth’s survival, by gaining its admission into the Galactic Confederation. Omandi and her crew regroup with their Phadex allies on the hidden refuge planet, Rulia. While there, a long awaited message is unlocked and delivered by Rulia’s lost founder, Talus. It sets off a string of unlikely events that brings Charlotte into a shadowy world of assassins. Meanwhile, Linnea Sorenson travels to the legendary planet Aluria, where strange magics are rumored to exist.

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.

Roman was never supposed to escape the locked plane that was his prison. And yet, somehow the impossible task became possible with the help of new friends, and despite the tricks of old enemies. Too intrepid was the demon driven by the fury of battle, the sorrow of defeat, the bonds of unbreakable friendship, and the longing for his beloved. But when gods themselves join the fray, the chances of victory fall from slim to none.

The Spectral City of Cathella is shrouded in strange magic of a powerful artifact. Krian must face the Great Dragons of Pangea, an impossible quest on the Ancient Paths, transformed by the Twice Cursed God, a journey through an endless graveyard, the smile of the Goddess of Stealth.... And rage. Infinite rage. The path to the higher plane never seems to end, too much for any man to overcome.

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....

Virginia finally had the chance to explore a relationship with Aaron when he asked her on a date. She had been waiting, hoping that the widower and his young son, Buddy, would welcome her into their lives. But a terrible tragedy strikes on the night of their first kiss, crushing their hopes for a future together.

Ruth and her little brother, Aubrey, are just teenagers when their older brother ships off to Iraq. When Joseph returns, uninjured, only three and a half months later, Ruth is happy he is safe but also deeply worried. How can it be that her courageous big brother has been dishonorably discharged for refusing to go out on duty? Aubrey can't believe that his hero doesn't have very good reasons.

So here’s the plan: Kill the demon, steal the treasure, and retire to a life of luxury! It sounds easy when put like that. However, most unfortunately for warrior-priest Egil and sneak thief Nix, when the demon they kill turns out to have worshippers in high places, retirement is not an option. A wonderfully fast-paced fantasy adventure redolent of the classic tales of swords and sorcery, from New York Times best-selling author Paul S. Kemp.

Paige Langford has it all: wealth, beauty, and ambition. Yet when her boyfriend’s betrayal costs her both her dream job and her reputation, she retreats to her brother’s rural home in Indiana to heal and figure out the rest of her life. There she meets Ryan Malloy, a gruff, hard-drinking cowboy whose surly temper can’t hide the pain in his eyes.

The issues that ultimately wreck marriages - money and monogamy, career and kids - are hard to gauge until you're actually hitched. So after a few years of dating, Jill Andres and Brook Silva-Braga mapped out 40 revealing challenges simulating the issues that could tank or strengthen their union. For a month they swap credit cards; for a weekend they borrow a baby. An embarrassing lunch with their exes tests their trust issues. Sexual gymnastics are required to recreate TV love scenes.