Showing results by narrator "DW Draffin" in All Categories

Headhunters, sorcerers, pirates, and Indian princes thrive in this adventurous, poetic tale of a young outcast in Borneo. Born in 1609, son of a native woman and a Dutch sea captain he never knew, Jaki Gefjon grows up in the jungle as a sorcerer's apprentice. Later kidnapped by pirates, he befriends his captor, Trevor Pym, notorious for his dreaded man-of-war, Wyvern. The scientific marvels on the European privateer become the young soul-catcher's passion - until he falls for Lucinda.

Fifty thousand years ago, three young friends band together for a perilous journey to find a new home after plague devastates their coastal tribe. Accompanied by a blind horse and armed with meager weapons and their own elusive courage, Hamr, Timov, and Duru defy savage odds to survive in the strange and brutal realm of Ice Age Europe. This incredible quest takes them through primeval forests stalked by cave lions and across vast glacial moraines of thundering woolly rhinoceros - to the Thundertree clan. These forest people accept Duru, the girl, for her magical powers.

The sweeping chronicle of a great and tragic pharaoh who lost his throne for the love of a god. In the glory of ancient Egypt, an epic of a royal family divided, bloody power ploys, and religious wars that nearly tore apart one of the greatest empires in human history.

On the Wings of Eagles continues the saga of Wisconsin farm boy Otto Kerchner as he, his sister Mata, and the community of Pioneer Lake make their way in the brave new world of post-World War II America. This sequel to On Wings of the Morning (which details Otto's service as a B-17 pilot, a fiery crash landing, and his long recovery from physical and psychological wounds), recreates a simpler world in which family and community played a vital role.

Arrogant Guy Lanfranc assumes control of the family castle by sending his hated mother, the old baroness Ailena Valaise, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Wily Ailena vows revenge and finds the means in the person of Rachel Tibbon, a Jewish girl who survived the butchery of her family and other Jews after Crusader losses. Ailena's plot to regain the castle built by her father propels Rachel into a perilous adventure of vengeance, faith, and true love set against impossible odds.

Charlie Outis has no idea of what the world might be like in the far future after he decides to have his brain frozen with the slim hope of it being revived one day. But even 1,000 years from now, brains are a valuable commodity - even brains without heads. But who does the brain belong to? And who controls a mind without a body.

When Flynn’s life is saved with a whispered warning about a coming disaster, he decides he isn’t going crazy, after all. More directives come along with hope - if he succeeds at his tasks, he’ll earn eternal salvation and be forgiven for a dark deed he committed a while back.

Marta, a novice witch from 1870 Flint Hills, Kansas, knows better than to reveal her magical powers to the religious townspeople, but when a young boy is critically injured, she has no choice. Her reward - the local pastor convinces his flock to burn her at the stake, along with two other suspected witches. Defending themselves, the three witches curse the evildoers to hell. Somehow managing to fry the preacher with his own fire before they escape, they are horrified to find the walking, talking skeleton of the man at their front door.

After a brutal civil war, Almagest is finally at peace, but the larger battle isn’t over. Dr. Caeli Crys has been captured by the Drokarans, feared enemy of the Interplanetary Alliance, who plan to use her unique telepathic gifts for their own sinister purposes. Captain Derek Markham and his elite team of operatives race after Caeli, but soon find themselves trapped behind enemy lines on an occupied world. Despite the mounting danger, Derek will stop at nothing to save the woman he loves.

In the second installment of the award-winning Horizon series, Dr. Caeli Crys returns to her war-torn world to fight for those she left behind. Almagest, Caeli's home, stands on the brink of revolution. Long hidden from the rest of the galaxy, the once-peaceful planet suffers under a regime that grows more violent and oppressive by the day. A resistance has risen, but they are outmanned, outgunned, and in hiding. Caeli embarks on a dangerous mission to find the Resistance, rescue her captive people, and save her civilization from destruction.

What is this fine black powder that leaks from Hugo’s eyes? Does it have anything to do with his stolen night with Kelsey? Did he somehow give it to her? Is he responsible for this entire outbreak? He was the only one outside in the middle of the night when he first saw the darkness cover the sky like clouds. Now, it's hit the whole town like a plague.

Caeli Crys isn't living - she's surviving. On the run after the genocide of her empathic people, she witnesses a spaceship crash near her hidden camp. When she feels the injured pilot suffering from miles away, she can't help but risk discovery to save his life. Commander Derek Markham awakens stranded on an uncharted planet. His co-pilot is dead, his ship is in ruins, and he's only alive because a beautiful young woman is healing him with her mind. As Derek recovers, Caeli shares the horror of her past and her fear for the future.

Twenty-five years after the Luytens were driven away from Centaur, Alex and the rest of the colony are rebuilding and preparing for the eventual return of the aliens. It may not be today, but it is sure to happen.

The tell-all tale of Clark Schroeder: fraudster, hacker, and smuggler. Clark gets the idea for his own gun store during a pheasant hunt when a fellow hunter brags about his gun being a knockoff manufactured by his brother-in-law. Dollar signs float in Clark's head as he realizes that he can make the knockoffs look real by hacking the ATF gun registry and putting in a record for the fake serial numbers. Then Clark gets an amphibious plane to fly the guns out of Mexico and unload them at the lake near Manhattan, KS where he can easily set up shop.

The Twisting Door is a historical fantasy of an odd youth named Leven in medieval France who is tasked to remove outcasts from his walled city and leave them to die in the woods. But when he learns that not all of them die, and that a hidden village of elves and witches lives nearby raising them, his life turns upside down. Soon Leven sees the city, the outcasts, his family, and God and the Devil and magic and myth in a whole new light.

"Listen, Fatman," the Chief said. "We've received a wail from a whale." "What's that, Chief?" Fergus asked. "We may have a bad connection."

Thief of Babes is a classic fantasy of a farmwife sworn to rescue her husband from the elves under the hill. Clarisse was left by Yves on their farm in New York's Hudson Valley during the Indian Wars. When he finally returns, he is a broken man, easily captured by the trickster elves. His wife makes a bargain with their queen to steal a human infant and replace them with a changeling for a night with her husband.

Young Otto Kerchner dreams of escaping his father's Wisconsin dairy farm and becoming a flier like his hero Charles Lindbergh. When a small airport is built on an adjoining property, Otto trades odd jobs for flight lessons and becomes a pilot at 16. When World War II breaks out, he enlists in the Army Air Corps and finds himself a year later high over Germany at the controls of a B-17. Otto and his crew fly 23 missions untouched, but then his world shatters, and he must draw on reserves of faith and courage he never imagined.

Mythology has entranced generations. Heroes, gods, and fantastic creatures, woven together into vibrant tales, this is the stuff of magic that gives stories immortality. Myths have attracted experts from many fields, but this book offers an alternative view, employing the perspective of a folklorist. Presented for casual listeners and beginning students, it also presents insights for scholars from diverse fields.