Showing results by narrator "Steven Brand" in All Categories

Like a dark tide, the Horde is slowly conquering one nation after another, and a great migration of peoples has begun fleeing westward before the enemy's advancing armies. No one has been able to stand against the might of the Horde. But the Horde has never faced the power of a Roman legion. Cast adrift in this strange, fantastical world, so unlike the one he knew, Karus has been given a number of tasks by his god Jupiter, known in this world as the High Father. Karus's holy mission and mandate: retrieve a dread artifact and form an alliance with the peoples of this world.

Ambition and jealousy - all set to music. Devout court composer Antonio Salieri plots against his rival, the dissolute but supremely talented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How far will Salieri go to achieve the fame that Mozart disregards?

Months have passed since Tyrus ended a decade of war between Turine and Genesha by destroying the Geneshan's sorcerous artifact. He had hoped that taking his family south would grant him the peace he desired, but even in the Southern Kingdoms, war welcomes him instead. Ava strikes a deal with the Southern Kingdom leaders to protect her brother, taking his place in their fight to protect their lands from invading forces. Having spent her adult life entrenched in battle, Ava doesn't hold any illusions as to what awaits her.

The best-selling, award-winning author of Stiger's Tigers delivers the action-packed next installment in the Tales of the Seventh series. In this military fantasy, Ben Stiger is given a simple mission: march his understrength company to the Cora’Tol garrison far to the southeast. Once there, he is to take a fellow officer into custody and promptly return. But when Stiger arrives, he finds the Rivan have destroyed the garrison and slaughtered the inhabitants of the valley. Suddenly, what was supposed to be a quick and easy task turns into something far more dangerous.

Author's note: The following story takes place in the same world as my novel Blood Song, the first volume in the Raven's Shadow trilogy. I wrote it because I wanted to more fully explore characters who appear in Blood Song and the sequels Tower Lord and Queen of Fire. Readers familiar with my work are sure to recognize a certain pale-eyed, raspy-voiced Sword Master of the Sixth Order, and those curious as to the origins of the Tower Lord of the Southern Shore will find answers here.

Alex McLeod paid dearly during the war for independence from Earth. It left the detective disfigured, jaded and alone. In the aftermath of victory, Alex seethes as criminal factions and cold-blooded killers clash over control of the newly-liberated confederation. In his crusade for justice in the free states, he's willing to break more than a few rules along the way...

The only home Alex knows is the slums of Slab, an orbiting city teeming with lowlifes, back-stabbers and gene-spliced monstrosities. From the grimy streets of his city to the lawless Asteroid Belt, Alex goes toe-to-toe with a sharp-clawed vigilante, a mythical serial killer, and a gorgeous vampire with an ominous message. His quest won't end until his homeland earns the freedom it was promised…

But even Alex may not be able to stop the impending Reckoning and a voyage to the one place he swore he'd never return: Earth...

Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight, the defender of the realm of Andomhaim from dark magic. But when dark magic stirs in the mountains of Taliand, the power of the Shield Knight might not even be enough to save Andomhaim....

If life has taught the jaded sellsword Aaron Envelar anything, it’s that hope is for fools and causes are a sure remedy for breathing. But when his latest job leads him to the corpse of a prince and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the entire realm, Aaron is forced to choose sides in a war he doesn’t want, between forces he doesn’t understand. Thrust into a world of mythical assassins, a madman with superhuman strength, and a nagging ball of light with a superiority complex who claims to be the embodiment of compassion, Aaron takes on his hardest job yet - staying alive.

The Alkomian Empire lies in ruin. An army of traitors marches on the capital, forcing the emperor from his throne. In his absence, chaos reigns. Villages burn as the blood of innocents runs in the streets. Entire provinces are reduced to rubble, demolished by terrible rune-power. Darkness and despair covers the land as hope for deliverance is consumed in the flames of destruction. On the border of the empire, two young heroes stand bloodied but unbroken.

Landless one-time king Guyime, once called Pilgrim but known to history as the Ravager, has survived the fall of the Execration - an event that set him on a path to find the legendary Seven Swords. Guided by sorcery, Guyime journeys to Carthula in the centre of the First Sea to claim the mythical blade known as the Kraken’s Tooth. Aided by three companions - the beast charmer Seeker, a powerful sorceress, and a scholarly slave - Guyime ventures into Carthula’s perilous underbelly to secure a prize guarded by ancient magics, cursed spirits, and lethal traps.

Mungo Park’s Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa has long been regarded as a classic of African travel literature. In fulfilling his mission to find the Niger River and in documenting its potential as an inland waterway for trade, Park was significant in opening Africa to European economic interests. His modest, low-key heroism made it possible for the British public to imagine themselves as a welcomed force in Africa. As a tale of adventure and survival, it has inspired the imaginations of audiences since its first publication in 1799 and writers from Wordsworth and Melville to Conrad.

Grinner and his conspiracy to overthrow Perennia have been defeated, but victory came at a high cost. The alliance suffered losses it could ill afford, for the true enemy still lies in Baresh, growing stronger with each day that passes. Leading the combined armies of three kingdoms, Aaron and his companions march to the city, but even with such a force, even with the power of the Virtues, victory is anything but assured. For when blades are drawn, when battle begins, the only certainty is blood.

The quest of the Seven Swords has freed the shadows to prey upon mankind. Ridmark has learned that the sorceress Cathala holds the secret of the Seven Swords and quests to free her from the grasp of an imprisoning spell. But the Maledicti priests know of Ridmark's quest and plot to stop him with a deadly new weapon. Ridmark and his companions find themselves caught in the war between the final remnant of the dying gray elves and the brutal muridach horde. Unless Ridmark can save the gray elves, he and his friends will die, and the New God will rise in power to enslave the world.

With Rivun and Jit’s help, Eli and Mae helped Karenna free her people from the cruel overlord Edgun. Unfortunately, Mik’Las, the criminal whom they were hunting, has managed to escape in the ensuing chaos. Worse, his trail has gone cold. Hoping to come across a clue that will put them on the right path, they continue the hunt. Then, unexpectedly, they are visited by a powerful and mysterious elven wizard, one with an unknown agenda.

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.

The Downs, the poor district of the city of Avarest, is home to cutthroats and thieves, pickpockets and prostitutes, all of whom pay tribute to one of two powerful crime bosses. It is also home to Aaron Envelar, a disillusioned sellsword known as the Silent Blade, who cares nothing for the criminal overlords or their schemes, who only wants to survive and make a little coin. But when a group of thugs steal his mother’s necklace, the only link he has to his murdered parents, Aaron decides that sometimes gold isn’t enough - sometimes, blood is the only payment worth taking.

In Responsibility Rebellion, author Kain Ramsay discusses why we often rely on easy steps and magical formulas to find fulfillment, only to come up short. He’ll equip you with a structured roadmap for personal growth and progress - one that shows you how to be better, rather than feel better.

For decades, the brothers of the Sixth Order have fought a savage war against the Lonak clans amid the frozen peaks of their dominion. When word reaches the North of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the Order, leads a small band to a long-abandoned castle in search of a potential cure but discovers a far greater threat lurking in the mountains. Enemies become allies as Sollis leads an increasingly desperate fight against an inhuman enemy steeped in the power of the Dark.

Badly outnumbered, facing certain destruction, and cut off from supply, the Imperial Roman Ninth Legion Hispana is in a desperate position. Surrounded by the hostile Celtic army, Senior Centurion Lucious Grackus Lisidus Karus must lead his men to safety after unexpectedly finding himself thrust into command of the legion.

Crowns: The boldness of the Shield Knight has won a respite for the realm of Andomhaim, but the Heralds of Ruin still threaten to unleash catastrophe. Ridmark Arban must prepare to face the Heptarchy and its legions of fanatic orcs. Visionary: The legions of the Heptarchy have invaded Andomhaim, and Ridmark Arban stands in their way. But without aid, Andomhaim cannot defeat the Heralds of Ruin. To seek out the weaknesses of his foes, Ridmark must travel into the depths of the Heptarchy to seek out the mysterious wizard called the Master of Keys.