Video Games Literature

There's something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she's the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around?

Jessica loves the Fin & Claw restaurant, owned by young couple Brad and Marcie. And the restaurant is the couple's dream come true. But when famed chef Gerard Leboeuf decides to open an eatery right next to theirs, tensions rise fast and hot - and lead to a nasty confrontation between Leboeuf and Brad. So when Leboeuf is found dead with a knife planted in his chest, Brad becomes suspect number one.

Mars, 2316. The recently created Terraforming Committee arbitrates the dramatic development of Mars by powerful rival corporations. When a rogue asteroid crashes into a research center and kills its lone technician, the fragile balance between corporations is shattered. The World Government's investigation into the accident reveals a multitude of motives, while a corporation insider stumbles on a dark conspiracy.

A deserted R&D facility tempts the hungry new Guild, Leviathan, into sending a team to plunder its valuable research. The base was abandoned after a neighboring planet was devastated by an outbreak of Xenos-alien zombies—but that was a whole planet away. When the Guild ship is attacked by a quarantine patrol, both ships crash onto the deserted world. Only it isn't as deserted as they hope: a murderous new Xeno threat awakens, desperate to escape the planet. Can the crews cooperate to destroy this new foe? Will they be forced to sacrifice their ships and lives to protect the galaxy?

Tied into the record-breaking Xbox Game Studios video game Gears 5, Gears of War: Bloodlines reveals a mission that takes place within the events of the game. Stinging from a defeat by the Swarm and the grievous injury of her best friend, JD Fenix, Kait Diaz finds herself forced to choose between following her mother’s Outsider ways, or her duty as a Coalition of Ordered Governments soldier like her father, Gabe Diaz: hero of the upcoming Xbox Game Studios video game Gears Tactics.

Set amid the riot, intrigue, and pageantry of medieval Paris, Victor Hugo's masterful tale of heroism and adventure has been a perennial favorite since its first publication in 1831. It is the story of Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of the Notre Dame Cathedral, who falls in love with the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. When Esmeralda is condemned as a witch by Claude Frollo, the tormented archdeacon who lusts after her, Quasimodo attempts to save her; but his intentions are misunderstood.

A broke gamer. A deadly online world. Can Dhalia level up fast enough to keep the debt collectors at bay? Dhalia has to pay off her dead father’s bills or risk her life in the lithium mines. Which...no thank you. Besides, the world is run by tech, and this gamer girl is determined to explore the virtual world her father was so obsessed with and get rich while she’s at it. So, she sells everything and rents a premium VR pod to play Eternal Online. Enter the toughest realm available? Check. Discover the fastest way to loot without dying...in progress.

His life hanging by a thread, will Charles manage to once again dodge the bullet? And if he does pull off a miracle, how will he go about stopping the Storm of Souls which is rumored to spell the end for all? The story of Charles Morris and the Empire of Tine is about to come to an end, one way or another. The question is: will it be in joy and victory, with Charles and his allies on top, or will it be in tears and defeat, with Logan claiming yet another round?

Jessica Fletcher knows better than anyone that creativity is meant to be nurtured. So when a young lady from Cabot Cove shows promise as a country-and-western singer and songwriter, Jessica and a local citizens’ committee send the talented teen on a scholarship trip to Nashville, Tennessee, where she can benefit from professional instruction.

Altai managed to survive in Limbo and get a coveted pass to the Green Zone, but this is only the beginning of his journey. Thanks to the "Hand of Justice" achievement, the former planetary assault trooper saw a faint glimmer of hope that one day he'll escape Rhapsody. One day, maybe, if he's lucky.... Now is not the time, though. After all, a visit to Elysium is just a short respite before a new race with death begins.

J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the Daily Bugle, has denounced Spider-Man from the beginning, convincing New Yorkers to see him as a criminal and a menace. But when a robot attack on Manhattan injures Peter Parker's students and Jameson blames Spider-Man, their feud takes on a personal dimension.

Lily, Simon, and Michael are still trapped in their Minecraft game, but with new friends and a better understanding of their arch enemy, Mr. Anarchy, they're getting closer to finding a way home. But before they can fight the evil griefer and escape the game, the friends need to replenish their resources - and that means trekking deeper into the Overworld. When their mining party is attacked and hostile mobs reveal surprising new powers, it looks like the end for the trio - and for all their friends in town.

It is the spookiest time of year! Peppa and her family play outside in the leaves, carve pumpkins, and dress up in costumes for a Halloween party with all of their friends!

Captain Felix Duval and the crew of the Temerarious quietly patrol a remote Mentak Coalition colony system where nothing ever happens. But when they answer a distress call from a moon under attack, that peaceful existence is torn apart. They rescue a scientist, Thales, who's developing revolutionary technology to create new wormholes. He just needs a few things to make it fully operational...and now, ordered to aid the scientist, the Temerarious is targeted by two rival black-ops teams intent on reacquiring Thales.

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created with Alien: Covenant, a new chapter in his groundbreaking Alien adventure. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise. But it is actually a dark, dangerous world.

Ten excited guests arrive at the Westlake Estate, expecting a lavish retreat. They are the winners of a sweepstakes to "Live Like a Billionaire for a Week." But what was supposed to be a promising escape soon turns into a horrific nightmare. Within hours of arrival, the guests sit down for an extravagant dinner. When they pull their party poppers as instructed, a loud chorus of bangs resounds, followed by earsplitting screams as the guest seated at the head of the table bursts into flames and slumps to the floor.

Lieutenant Cora Harper joined the Systems Alliance to develop and enhance her powerful biotic talents. She was assigned to the asari commando unit Talein's Daughters, where she honed her abilities to become a skilled and deadly huntress. Returning to Earth, Cora finds herself a stranger among other humans, and joins the Andromeda Initiative as Alec Ryder's second-in-command. The mission will send 100,000 colonists on a one-way, 600-year-long journey into the unknown.

Nobody cheats death. A warrior haunted by his past, Salim Ghadafar serves as a problem-solver for a church he hates, bound by the goddess of death to hunt down those who would rob her of her due. Such is the case in the desert nation of Thuvia, where a powerful merchant on the verge of achieving eternal youth via a magical elixir is mysteriously murdered, his soul kidnapped somewhere along its path to the afterlife.

Warring samurai clans fight with swords and magic for the Emperor's favor with these collected Legend of the Five Rings novellas, including a brand-new novella of the Crane Clan.

Hellboy comes to a crossroads in Enigma, Georgia, a small town beset by strange occurrences. Sent to keep an eye on Sarah Nail, a young girl hiding from the curse of her family, he becomes entangled in the blood debt of evil mystical preacher Brother Jester. Stuck between human malice and the mysteries of the occult, Hellboy comes up against an intrigue of ghosts, demon trees, talking bullfrogs, and a race of lost mutant children.