An NPC's Path: The Dead Rogue

An NPC's Path: The Dead Rogue
by Pavel Kornev

Release - May 30, 2018

Pre-order now - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B4Y1WJ9

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Chapter I (1 - 2)

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            Virtual worlds are places of boundless freedom. Anyone can become an elven mage or an invisible rogue, join a clan and go on raids, fight, develop their characters and most importantly, escape from the daily grind.

            However, a game is only a game if you can quit. This is something I learned the hard way. I just wanted to let off some steam in virtual reality and ended up getting murdered and imprisoned in the body of one of the undead—slow, clumsy and cursed to die at the hand of other players over and over again.

            The only way out of this awful predicament was to find the legendary Scroll of Rebirth, but the helpless plague-ridden corpse would need to be turned into a real killing machine. If   only people knew what it was like to level up a dead rogue...

Chapter 1

A PLAGUE-RIDDEN CORPSE

1

The bracelet was covered with hypoallergenic plastic but the skin underneath still itched like hell. I pulled the tracking device away from my ankle as far as it would go so I could scratch it. The bracelet vibrated and buzzed in reply.

“Relax, Comrade Major,” I quickly said. “All quiet on the western front!”

The tracking device that traced offenders under house arrest was full of various electronic modules such as GPS, GLONASS, Wi-Fi, GSM and even an altimeter, so I was in no doubt that they would have added a simple microphone to it. It did not matter what the actual rank of the controller assigned to me was—a little sympathy goes a long way. At least it was someone to talk to...

It was already my second month of being under house arrest and I already managed to really start missing normal human contact. I wasn't even a hardened criminal or a sociopath—I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I got a job at the wrong place, to be more exact.

It had all started so well! My salary wasn't bad, there was a great package of perks and excellent career prospects, but it all went down the drain when the bank's senior management ended up behind bars accused of money laundering! I was never made part of the illegal scheme, but most of the payments had gone through my department, so the most that my defense attorney could do for me was a concession to get me placed under house arrest. At least it was better than jail.

Ah, here comes my attorney...

Way of the Shaman, Book VII: Clans War

The Way of the Shaman
Book 7: Clans War
by Vasily Mahanenko

Release - February 12, 2018

preorder now - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079N9DBB9 

Didn't read the series? Start with book 1: Survival Quest

Browse all our books in the library

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Chapter 1: Return to Barliona

Chapter 2: Unforseen Difficulties

Chapter 3: Erebus
Chapter 4: The Harbinger

Chapter One. Return to Barliona

“Welcome to Barliona. While the capsule configuration is in progress, please review the latest update notes…”

A soothing female voice began to list off the updated game mechanics and their particularities; however, I’d already examined these back in reality. Stacey had summarized the major changes to me: The level of the Emperor NPCs had been raised from 500 to 1000, which meant that even a dozen scrolls of Armageddon wouldn’t pose any danger to these characters. The levels of Advisers and Heralds had also been raised to 900 and 800 respectively. Meanwhile, the developers had played a mean trick on the players and removed the max stat cap entirely. Now, the most stubborn among us could increase their stats infinitely. At the same time, the stat points gained from every new level had been decreased. The gaming forums immediately burst into flames with the outrage of high-level players who had long ago reached their maximum stat points and therefore lost the bonuses from all the levels they had gained since. Still, the Corporation stayed firm and no one would be receiving any extra bonuses. The greatest concession here was that players were still permitted to allocate the unused stat points they had saved up, and at least now everyone knew what the deal was. We’d have to be happy with that at least.

Dark Paladin, Book 3: Restart

Dark Paladin:
Restart
by Vasily Mahanenko

Release - March 6, 2018

Preorder here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0791J9CHW

Chapter 1. The Day Before

“Paladin Yaropolk!” the herald announced, and the wide double doors opened before me. Containing my worry, I stepped into the hall for official ceremonies of the Residence of the Sector 446 Coordinator, nobleman by birth, Count Bernard Kalran. My suzerain graciously put his “humble” abode at Madonna’s disposal, and representatives of all the game worlds hurried to pay their respects to the Great One. No matter how great the hall was, it was unlikely that all the creatures gathered here felt comfortable  ̶  they were devoid of any personal space. In other words, the hall was full to bursting: everyone was in a great hurry to look at the reincarnated Madonna. But anyway, whom was I trying to deceive? Who would want to simply take a look at the Great one? They were all attracted by the hype that inevitably accompanied those kinds of events. Where else would one see the grand scale characteristic of the Creators, as they reward the undeserving and punish the innocent?

The Shadow of Earth (History of the Galaxy, book 2)

The History of the Galaxy, Book II

The Shadow of Earth

by Andrei Livadny

Release - March 22, 2018

Pre-order here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078KJFG25

Prologue.

Earth. Year 2606.

The short man stood in front of a panoramic window, listening to the report as he looked at the skyscrapers forming the famous Square of Five Corners, which was unfailingly repeated on the many levels of the urbanized anthill.

Earth was an eternal city. This was the name of a planet where the shell of the technosphere had completely enclosed it, uniting all the continents.

Ever since the problem of the industrial fog had been overcome using absorbents, transparent walls had again come into fashion. The megasuburbs soaring into the clouds looked like enormous terrariums, where millions of people hurried about their day.   

Looking at them, John Winston Hammer experienced intense and contradictory emotions.

"Everything could have turned out differently," he couldn't help thinking in moments like these.

Three hundred and fifty years ago, when the Great Exodus ended, humanity's fate seemed sealed. Thousands of colonial transports had vanished into the unknown. Hyperspace swallowed them up without a trace, and the rush to expand fizzled out, with even the most ardent optimists turning into sceptics, and the theory of the hypersphere thrown into doubt. Dozens of unfinished starships were left standing on the Moon's shipyards.

The Sublime Electricity - 4: The Dormant

The Sublime Electricity
book IV
The Dormant

by Pavel Kornev

release - February 19, 2018

preorder now - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0789HHCB5

New Babylon is the capital of the mighty Second Empire. Dirigibles drift over the city, steam trains race down its tracks, and the factory chimneys never stop billowing smoke, even for a moment. The hegemony of science is unquestioned, and yet magic hasn't disappeared from the world. It remains dissolved in the blood of those who are called illustrious. Hardline reductionists find that hard to accept, but it is not in their power to change the longstanding status quo.

Everything threatens to change with the death of the widowed Empress, and Leopold Orso, an illustrious gentleman, can sense the looming changes clearer than most.

He feels the draw of far-away lands, but a gloomy past holds him in place like a deadly snare. Will the whirlpool of coming events will pull our troubled illustrious hero to the very bottom or throw him up to unimaginable heights? And will anything remain to throw him up to? It's impossible to say. After all, there are highly placed conspirators willing to do whatever it takes just to get what's theirs.

Bullets from hired killers, anarchists' bombs, blood magic of Aztec priests and electroshock therapy in a psychiatric clinic. Leopold will have a difficult time overcoming everything fate has in store for him and remaining himself through it all.

  

A heart preserved in a tin can,

Begins to beat again.

Steamphonia (Russian Steampunk Band), Heart

Part One
Target. Silver Bullets and a Smokescreen

1

Any razor, in its essence, is akin to the ritual sickle of the Celtic druids on the holy day of the renewal of nature. A pull of the hand and the skin becomes clean, while the face grows younger as if, together with the stubble, the weight of many days is hewn away.

I appraised my reflection in the mirror and nodded, agreeing with my own judgements. After that, I shook the foam from the razor into the basin of warm water, led the blade along my soaped-up cheek, and again - a strip of clean.

For the last week, I hadn't bothered with shaving, so it was as if the sharpened metal was carrying away time itself. I was growing younger right before my very eyes.

By the way, there’s a good reason people say razors are dangerous: if you get distracted, you’re sure to cut yourself.

I didn't get distracted. Someone distracted me.

The Secret of Atlantis

Citadel World, book 2

The Secret of Atlantis

by Kir Lukovkin

Release - February 26, 2018

Pre-order here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077TTSMQM

A

The cold wind blew swathes of snow into Paul’s face.

He closed his eyes and nearly fell to the ground from the blow he received.

“Where are you going!” someone growled in front of him.

Paul pulled on the reins of his bay horse. The other riders behind him followed suit. They shouted at each other, conveying the command to halt along the chain of riders. Paul rose in his saddle, trying to make out what was going on at the head of the column. Excited voices could be heard, sounding like they were in arguing fiercely. Lanky Pete rode up on his old nag and asked him about what was going on ahead.

“I don’t know,” Paul muttered. “We wait.”

Lanky Pete grimaced unhappily and rode on. Paul stared at his retreating back, dumbly. It was cold and all he wanted to do was to return to their Retreat, stretch his legs in front of the big fireplace and drink some hot ale. The horses snorted, flicking their ears and nervously looking around. Paul turned to see what his bay horse Duchess was looking at and examined the edge of the Canal—a long depression that ran almost as far as the horizon. Nothing, just a gray line that grew misshapen as it stretched out in the haze.  Duchess was clearly getting nervous.

The Dark Herbalist, book 3: A Trap for the Potentate

A Trap for the Potentate

by Michael Atamanov

Release - January 17, 2018

Pre-order now - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07763PQWN

New Director

"Did you call?" I asked, knocking politely and walking through the wide-open doors of my new boss's office. Before entering, I pumped the breaks for a second, reading a copper plaque that a workman was screwing into the door:

Max Tohner

Director of Special Projects

He was the fourth person to occupy this office in a month. Truly, it was a cursed position. The new head of the special projects division didn't look all that glum about it though, reflecting confidence, gravitas and power with his whole appearance. When I entered, he gave a scant nod and pointed to the guest chair.