Dramatized Fantasy

"Work Sets You Free" by David Barnett is an original short story featuring the protagonist of the forthcoming novel Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl. Gideon is a young fisherman in Yorkshire, England, in an alternate 1890, who embarks on a journey to find Captain Lucian Trigger, the famed Hero of the Empire, to deal with a mystery plaguing his home village.

Emerging from a gateway in the Midwest, Ryan senses trouble within the well-fortified ville of a local baron, whose understanding of pre-Dark medicine may be their one chance to save a wounded Jak. But while his white coats can make the drugs that heal, the baron knows the real power and money is in the hardcore Deathlands jolt. And where drugs and riches go, death shadows every step, no matter which side of a firefight you stand on....

The nuclear storm that swept the globe has left behind the Deathlands, a legacy of hate and violence. Pockets of survivors live off the ravaged land or on stockpiles found in redoubts. But from out of the ashes, a fearless man spearheads the drive to pierce the heart of darkness.... The gateways are secret installations from pre-dark days used by Ryan Cawdor and his group as escape routes. Once again, the warrior survivalists emerge from a jump and into a world — and empire fallen — ruled by the samurai code. And here Ryan has to face a new threat.

Their latest assignment takes the Ghost Finders of the Carnaki Institute to a small country village, site of a famously haunted inn. At first, JC thinks that the spirits in the King’s Arm Inn are more the stuff of folk tales and legend than anything that needs the Ghost Finder’s expertise. Then they are shown to their rooms and the inn shows its true face to JC, Melody, and Happy, and it isn’t pretty.

Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer - a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away.

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. But Prisms never last and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals. But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

In the harsh territory near what used to be the Western badlands, Ryan Cawdor and his crew join the search for the wreck of a crashed space station. But in the ruins of Las Vegas, he falls prey to a maelstrom of violence. Hostage in a bitter war between regional barons, Ryan finds that even his best effort is an odds-even gamble and that his son's life may depend on the whims of destiny.

After risking her life to uncover a Chinese imperial seal, only to have it stolen by a tomb robber, archaeologist Annja Creed feels she has endured one treasure-hunting fiasco too many. But when a mysterious collector offers a reward for a priceless golden elephant, Annja gives in. After all, there are bills to be paid, adventures to be had. The artifact is said to be hidden in an ancient temple in the jungles of Southeast Asia, and Annja must meet with various scholars in order to pinpoint the artifact's location.

After narrowly escaping the devolved prison community of Ispville, the companions make their way on foot for the arduous 200-mile trek to the ruins of Chicago and the redoubt that holds the nearest known gateway, as winter sets in. This is only the first stage in their journey to the intended refuge of Ryan’s home ville of Front Royal, and hopefully a safe haven for the birth of Krysty’s child. To make matters worse, they’re the reluctant guardians of fellow former prisoners, a mother and three young daughters, none of whom possess the companions’ survival skills.

Two centuries after Skydark, Earth remains chained to a sinister destiny spawned by hybrids and human traitors manipulating humankind from deep inside the chaos of forgotten worlds. Once a stone-cold protector of the ruling order, Kane and his compatriots strike back against the tide of extinction threatening to engulf the human race in a conflict with no boundaries in time, space or reality....

A century after the nuclear conflagration almost destroyed the world, humanity endures in a lawless land. Those who inhabit Deathlands are either killers or those who would be killed. But an elite few defy the laws of this new natural selection — playing both sides of the eternal game of life and death. Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior survivalists never leave a friend behind...or a cold heart alive.

Annja Creed jumps at the chance to join a fellow archaeologist on a quest to find a relic. But she's not so thrilled about northern Siberia, where they are hoping to discover something buried in the long-undisturbed soil of Russia's frozen terrain. When they reach the town of Jakutsk, Annja is put off by its gray landscape and highly superstitious inhabitants. They claim they are being hunted. Then one of the Villagers goes missing.

Devastation from the nukewar shattered civilization and left a planet both primitive and ripe for rebirth - or retaking. While the balance of power has fallen to avaricious, amoral barons, a handful of humanity still holds hope of a future worth fighting for or dying to defend. If a better life inside the hellground exists, Ryan Cawdor and his friends will find it.

While working on a dig in the California wilderness, archaeologist-adventurer Annja Creed uncovers evidence of a tragedy that's linked to Chinese miners during the days of the Gold Rush. A sudden attack on the site by shadow figures drives Annja to find the connection to a mysterious buried city in China. Lured by legends of gold, betrayal, and the vengeance of a Han Dynasty overlord, Annja travels on the Orient Express, battling avaricious treasure hunters and a modern-day descendant of an ancient league of assassins.

Ancient papyrus scrolls recovered among the charred ruins of the Library of Alexandria reveal astonishing texts that detail the wonders of Atlantis — knowledge that could shatter the blueprint of world energy. Archaeologist Annja Creed confronts shadow figures determined to preserve empires built on power, greed, and global manipulation, finding unlikely allies in a mysterious American with connections in high places, and a young linguistics prodigy with attitude.

Mick Oberon may look like just another 1930s private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he's got pointy ears and he's packing a wand. A series of brutal murders is sweeping Chicago, baffling both the local police and the Seelie Court, who sense that an aura of corruption and death has touched Mick himself. When Mick's associates become targets, and a vampire appears in his office, Mick is drawn into his most dangerous hunt yet. A hunt that will lead him to seek answers about his mysterious past and what it could mean for those in his present.

After questing through the sidhe realms with her ex-hellhound lover, Nathan, Kai Tallman Michalski has finally returned home. But she knows Nathan will eventually be called back to serve his queen - and Kai will have to decide whether to enter her majesty’s service as well. Sure, the job comes with great bennies, but there’s one big downside: She would have to swear absolute fealty to the Queen of Winter.

Kane finds himself 25 years into a parallel future, a world where the mysterious Imprator has seemingly restored civilization to America, overthrowing the baronial oligarchy — with the help of the Cerberus exiles. In this alternate reality, only Kane and Grant survived the battle and its spilled blood has left them estranged. Yet Kane is certain that somewhere in time lies a different path to tomorrow's reality...and his obsession may be humanity's last chance to battle evil in two worlds — the past and the future — where a sinister madman controls the heart of the world.

Gavin Guile is dying. He’d thought he had five years left - now he has less than one. With 50,000 refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies. Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole 16 years ago.

Jon-Tom and Mudge are bored. Their adventuring days long behind them, the spellsinger and his once-thieving otter sidekick have settled into a life of tepid domesticity, and they are sick of it. They hunger for an old-fashioned adventure, but there are no more great evils to combat. And so they decide to follow the music. Literally.