Showing results by narrator "Matt Hicks" in All Categories

Verdan Blacke is an Imperial Wizard, a researcher by preference but soldier by necessity. Surviving an intense battle, Verdan is cursed by a hex witch in her final moments. Without any good options, Verdan escapes the ever-increasing pain the curse inflicts by performing a self-made stasis ritual.

The Secret Science of Games is an accessible and entertaining guide to the hidden role of science in making games more fun. User experience (UX) research is a vital part of the story of how video games have become a cultural juggernaut, but game developers generally don’t speak publicly about how data shapes game design and game development.

What if you died, only to wake up in a new body, in a world where magic is real and battles are fought like in a video game? That's what happens to James Thompson, who finds himself reincarnated as Talon Nightstrider, a young man with a destiny to become a powerful member of the Blackfang Guild. But Talon is not just any member; he is connected to the System, an advanced interface that displays his stats and powers, and allows him to level up like in an RPG.

Will stands on an asteroid that has now begun falling towards Earth, bearing a piece of a reality-tearing demon in the place of an eye. Down on the surface, otherworlders run amok, causing widespread damage across the globe. And to top it all off, even if the agitated demon has agreed to back off, its raw power was enough to drag a third planet into range of Earth. Will has two years to deal with the fires on his planet before another one hits it. It’s time the wider world realized who he is.

Darius has enjoyed a nice break from an action packed integration into the GGA. With Earth in limbo, and a lost colony likely in need of help, he knows his vacation is on borrowed time. He owes the Merchant Marines, Pavia, and humanity itself to do more, to be more. So when life is turned upside down again, he ventures back into the stars, helping those he can, when he can. The adventure is intense, his family bonds are tight, and the dangers ever-present.

My proper Southern belle mama might disagree, but I say I was born to be a rebel. From the second I got my hands on a pair of drumsticks, my future was sealed. I never fit in anyway, not with my rocker soul and curves that never take a day off. But what’s a drummer without a band? Oh, that’s right. A cocktail waitress. That is, until the chance of a lifetime falls into my lap - Unrequited needs a drummer, and I happen to have an "in" with the band.

When Leo assists Natalie on a job, they find themselves in a race for their lives. They also find that sometimes the greatest romances start with friendship.

Four hundred years ago, in the time before the Godfall, the demon hordes were unleashed upon the world of Elaria. Now, the world has shrunk to one small valley, the Valley of Auld, humanity’s last bastion. All those within its walls are protected. Elian is markless—someone who cannot activate skills—and he is one of the poorest markless there is. A miner, forced to leave the city and toil in the nearby salt mines. On their way to and from the mines, the miners are kept secure in a locked wagon. The wagon is not locked to keep them from escaping. It’s locked to keep the demons from getting in.

With the birth of my two baby boys, it’s clear the curse that destroyed the male population has faded away. But the witch Brunhilda threatens to unleash a new curse, even deadlier than the last. However, an uprising of radical witches threatens Brunhilda’s rule. Their cunning leader, Fang, has summoned dark powers that will kill Brunhilda—releasing her curse when she dies—and ignite an apocalyptic “Final Revolution”.

For Landon Sommers, the assignment seemed too simple. He just needed to hop on a private jet, fly to the Caribbean, and escort two children back to Montana. For Noel Lennox, a dedicated CPS social worker, this case was not typical but seemed easy. After all, there was no threat to the children she was tasked to monitor as they returned to Montana. When their straightforward mission takes a dangerous and unexpected turn, easy and boring are tossed out the window.

After some rough tours during the Drone Wars, Reggie finds himself visiting a best friend's mausoleum. As he's paying his respects, a visitor from a land of myth and magic offers him a chance to bring Gary back—but there's a catch. He'll become a named character who's capable of magic, destined to lead a small army, and tasked with the unimaginable feat of winning a losing war one fight at a time. The battles will be just as savage as the realm is, but if he commands his troops as a cunning and capable general, he'll unlock the unimaginable.

When Darius’ newly founded colony on Umbria Prime is attacked, he fights off the raiders and finds clues that humanity’s old foes–the Iglax–are to blame. Once again, he’s got to return to the galaxy at large to upgrade his ships, advance his skills, and spread humanity further among the stars.

Can’t something interesting happen? Sara, an American interpreter was bored out of her mind working at an economic conference in French Guiana. Then she spied him. Blake...former Delta and adventure lover was stuck in a mind-numbing bodyguard mission for an academic at a conference. The only thing holding his attention was the beautiful interpreter he noticed in the balcony and at the hotel. They shared a night of passion and were prepared to say goodbye...until Blake watched her kidnapped from a shop the next morning.

Two weeks ago, I was writing press releases in a cubicle. Now I’m hunting giant crustaceans to feed a tribe of beautiful women. I awoke on a strange shore, far from Earth, with a new power raging in my muscles. In this primitive world, helpless women look to me for protection against goblin slavers and wild beasts.

Carson Dyer spent years creating his business, partnering with a former special forces leader who owns the original LSI. Determined to make it as successful as possible, he gives 100 percent to the effort. No distractions. No way. Not him. Until her. Jeannie Carnes. Former military nurse. Burnt-out ER nurse. Volunteer Red Cross nurse. And she lands in the middle of an LSI-WC investigation of a cartel drug lord. She wants answers. He wants her safe. Will either of them get what they want? Only if they give in to what they need…each other.

A modern ice age has all but stamped out human civilization and left the Earth nearly uninhabitable. For Ira Hartman and the dysfunctional band of survivors that surround her, all that’s left of the old world are ghosts trapped beneath the still forming ice sheets. Living in retrofitted tunnels beneath Riverside, California, scrounging for food, supplies, and desperately trying not to kill each other, things could be worse; but when an accident causes the generators powering their shelter’s heating system to be destroyed, hope seems to have run out.

Dolby had earned his down time, eager for the solitude. Then he met her. One innocent night with a beautiful woman as they sheltered from the storm, Dolby wanted a chance to know her more. But with the morning light, she was gone.

You probably already had some incredible dreams when nothing seemed to be restraining you anymore. You woke up amazed, excited, with new insights about your life. What if you could harness this power? Dive at will into your wildest fantasies every time you close your eyes. Wake up feeling refreshed, positive and inspired. Ready to take on any challenges that come your way? This is what lucid dreaming is all about. This book will give you the “techniques” and best practices for lucid dreaming so that you can practice as efficiently as possible and put every chance on your side.

Aros trained his whole life to become a leader of Sparta, destined to lead the finest. During a brief peace with Athens, the two sides engage in a joint training at sea. Aros finds himself thrust into command when his superior leaves to avoid a coming storm. Except the brewing squall is supernatural, brought on the by the Gods. Poseidon tests the warriors’ mettle, and after a fierce battle, broaches an offer: be forgotten to history, or travel to Drakor where only one species out of ten practices Hellenism—humans.

Confronted with uncertainty in the aftermath of war, a legendary master restarts a whole new system. General Glenaron gave up everything to stop the Beetle Queen’s invasion. He lost his wife, his youth, and his attachment to this world in a constant war that suddenly ends. His next cause is clear: Venture to the Cursed Valley and retire as a Warden Mage. Unfortunately, the Cursed Valley is actually cursed, he has no gold, and politics plague him.