Online Fiction

Founding a headquarters is a good start, but the Black Hats aren’t the only empire builders in the land. As crusaders mobilize an army, assassins struggle for independence, and dissidents make waves in Stronghold, Haven’s tentative peace is threatened. The gears of war are churning, and Talon refuses to be crushed in the teeth. Enlisting the help of an old friend, Talon hatches an ingenious scheme to wrangle the embattled citizens of Haven to his cause. Except there’s another plot shaping the virtual world, one meticulously devised by a ghost in the machine.

As Murmur reels in the wake of the secret her friends tried to keep, her grip on what is real and what is virtual begins to slip. What's more, she's no longer sure whom she can trust. Stalked across the continent by a rogue with a vendetta, Murmur is forced to dig deep and develop her abilities before she finds a knife in her back. Suspicion surrounds the AIs as well. Their behaviors are too human, their reports too perfect. Shayla and Laria must uncover the truth before the system raises concerns and Murmur is lost forever.

I'm entering the endgame. Even as I gain new allies, new gear, and greater understanding of Albertus' true plans, the odds are growing more extreme. Who can I trust? What is the AI Albertus Magnus trying to accomplish? What happened to archmagus Jeramy, and why is Guthorios massing an undead army so vast that it stretches from horizon to horizon? Any sane player would quit. Any reasonable person would admit defeat. But I've got no choice. I'm going to see this battle through to its bitter end. I'm going to unearth the secrets behind Euphoria Online - or die trying.

Taking the day off work to surprise Andy with a ticket to the hottest fantasy VRMMORPG, Emma returns home to find his cheating ass in bed with her sister. Throwing them both out, Emma sits slugging back the wine they’d just shared. Drunk and devastated she almost blows his gift, but watching the adverts for the amazing fantasy world depicting monster’s mayhem and adventure, Emma keys in her name and details - Akillia-F-22 - and decides to take on Puatera Online.

For Riley and his friends, Sigil Online has never been more real. With the latest expansion, pain has been enabled and will now affect all players in-game. Aptly named "Hellions", the expansion introduces monsters, but not the kind that paragons have been fighting for the past several years. This time, players can be the monsters they once sought to destroy. But in a game where playing means having the money to survive in the real world, what will Riley do when death in the game doesn't just mean an end to his character, but an end to his life?

Living in a virtual game world sounds like the ultimate dream. Plenty of action, intrigue, and guess who gets to be the big hero? But what happens when that digital reality gets flipped on its head? Bad guys are after your sweet loot, your fancy title is loaded with unrealistic expectations, and achieving such a high level comes with a big fat target on your back. Something has to give, so when a new crusader faction rolls into town, Talon senses an opportunity.

Kevin was a young man enjoying his college life when a car jumped the curb and crippled his body. Unable to support himself and dependent on others to meet his needs, Kevin was slipping into depression when his best friend convinced him to play a new game called Genesis Online. The concept was simple: a revolutionary artificial intelligence controlled the game world and adapted it to the actions of the players. Even the developers didn't know what course the game could take as it evolved.

Jack was enjoying life as a broke snowboarding instructor in Lake Tahoe until an accident happened. Due to a hospital mix up, his life takes a novel turn, and he ends up inside New Lands Online...as its first ever digital human. He never signed up to be the main character in an ultra-realistic virtual-reality game where bodily functions are as real as can be and he has to learn new skills to survive.

Jack defeated the hideous monster in the Three Rivers and then left for Carthun, a new land where he might be able to meet characters...like himself. In the small village, everyone he’d met was an NPC. Despite that, he'd made friends and learned a great deal. Arriving in Carthun, Jack quickly makes friends with a few characters, and together they form a party. In the game world, Jack knows knowledge is power, and the more he learns, the better equipped he’ll be the next time somebody comes after him.

Tad Lonnerman is having a crappy day stuck in crappy traffic late to a crappy meeting. On the bright side, his game development career is the only non-crappy thing he has going for him, so life isn't all bad. At least until he dies. Now Tad finds himself uploaded to a beta test of Haven, an unannounced hyper-immersive MMO where the dead have a second chance at life. It's not virtual reality, it's digital reality. A true afterlife online. Except Haven isn't exactly blissful paradise.

Freddie O'Neal is hired by Joan Halliday to investigate the drug-dealing caretakers of Joan's elderly father. However, when Joan's sister is killed in a hit-and-run and Joan is named the prime suspect, Freddie must figure out if the crime was committed by the caretakers, by Joan, or by Joan's father, who appears to be involved in a shady real-estate firm.

Despite her name, Lucky Pierce has always felt a little cursed. Refusing to settle for less or settle down, she changes jobs as often as she changes boyfriends. When her celebrity chef mother challenges her to finish something, Lucky agrees to help her launch Boston's next hot restaurant, The Star. Even if it means working with the infuriating, egotistical, and undeniably sexy head chef.

Amber Lee is fascinated by spanking. The mere mention of spanking sends her deep into arousal and causes uncharacteristic behavior. As a young professional woman in Texas, she feels alone in this proclivity until she discovers like-minded souls online. Two thousand miles away in Calgary, Alberta, Jake Upton struggles to create his own version of the spanking lifestyle, but miscommunication and fear send him down so many dead-ended detours that he wonders if he’s destined to live life alone and lonely. When the two finally meet, it seems like they’re a perfect match.

After being falsely accused of murdering his ex-wife, Trace O’Reilly is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Five years later, moments before he is to receive the final dose of drugs which will end his life, he receives a pardon. Given a new lease on life, Trace sets out to find the real murder. In the process, however, he not only is reacquainted with his daughter but must save her from the one person who knows the truth.

The High Priestess swoops overhead, wreaking havoc on the elven forest below. A battalion of enemy forces stand ready to engage Gemini Fowler and the elves. The truce between the gods has been broken, and retribution must be visited on the offenders. The stakes have been raised, but Gemini has a plan.

Set against the backdrop of three major American Civil War battles at Antietam, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, the same five narrators return to tell the stories of what happened in their communities of conscience. Members of Mennonite, Amish, and German Baptist churches choose their loyalties when their traditional belief of not participating in warfare collides with the demands of Union and Confederate forces.

In this series finale of historical fiction from 1864 and 1865, the spotlight shines brightest on Esther and David in the ravaged Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, while all five narrators show versions of courage, adaptation, and survival. During these closing years of the American Civil War, no human experience can be ordinary: not marriage, not enterprising work, not youthful growth.

Things in the Vale of Dreams are...complicated. Anpu has tasked our intrepid heroes with recovering the next piece of the Devourer from the depths of the Forbidden Barrows, but entry to the dungeon is heavily regulated.

Arriving in a tide of blood and horror, a forgotten cult from the depths of the ocean has laid waste to the once glorious city of Sehkem and scattered its people throughout the empire.

Eric McCaffrey has come face-to-face with the developers of Battlegrounds Online. They have shown up at his doorstep. He's used to seeing those faces in the game, not inside his apartment. He knew the game had been physically affecting him. Turns out he was right, and Hastech wants to run some tests. Battlegrounds Online was designed as a training simulator for the military. They want to know why Eric is being affected.