Online Fiction

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.

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.

Authentic voices shape this fresh look at a familiar story, the American Civil War, beginning with the rapid buildup of tension between North and South and continuing into early summer of 1862. But the narrative grip comes through the eyes of civilians, trapped in the conflicts of obedience to government and historic refusal to participate in warfare. Their options press with insistence (enlisting, fleeing, buying a substitute, or paying a fee) as the demands intensify.

Mace and his allies set off on numerous perilous adventures to discover the location of the legendary Five Sisters. Their journeys lead them into the heart of the Spitrotz, the home of the black dragons, and high to the craggy peaks where the ice goddess dwells. With his allies finally gathered and the army assembled, Mace is ready to face the demon lord Altirax once and for all. But not all is as it appears. Someone has been tampering with the coding of the game since Mace first joined and the final battle will finally reveal the culprit and their intention.

When Fourth of July weekend coincides with Wenonga Days—the annual celebration of a locally famous Ojibwe leader—the town of Battle Lake double-dips on the tourist trade. This year the hullabaloo hasn’t even started and there’s already a story for reporter Mira James. The Chief Wenonga statue has disappeared, leaving behind drops of human blood and a big question for Mira: How and why would anyone steal a twenty-three-foot monument? Things go from curious to worse when a local man is kidnapped.

Gemini Fowler’s party unseated the Governor of Knall and freed countless farmers from a life of servitude. When they eradicated the foul Wahrsager who cast a dark cloud over the university in Warrington, mana-born children from across eastern Rubal emerged from the shadows to learn the ways of magic after a century of suppression and abuse. When they trudged into the Depths of Seran, one of the greatest threats to ever dwell in Eastern Rubal was vanquished. There should have been peace.

What the streets don’t realize is that Mace can take a punch and doesn’t mind punching back. In fact, he prefers it that way! Along with Havervill, his irascible (but charming) virtual assistant; Tinsie, his sassy deputy; and Buddy his stoic golem, Mace will investigate several murders, the theft of a relic of mass destruction, and the kidnapping of the most famous woman in the game.

Eric McCaffrey has been playing Zag in the VR-MMOFPS Battlegrounds Online for a while now. The more he plays, the more entrenched into the game he gets. It hardly even feels like a game anymore. Zag, now one of the commandos for the Knights of the Tactical Operations Group, is tasked with freeing Punta del Muerta from the terrorist group Wyvern. Along with the rest of the Knights, Zag will dive deep into the jungles, war-torn cities, and concrete bunkers, but will he be able to complete all the missions in time?

The 33-year old game designer Dex Walsh spends an entire year devoured by sorrow after the death of his wife. As a last-ditch effort to regain his joy, he sells everything and joins Overtaken Online. Expecting to spawn in a noob-friendly area with guidance from his personal assistant, he instead finds himself naked and alone in a dark prison cell rapidly filling with gas.

Kyvir and his party have officially defeated one demon with an unknown number to go, but the cost was abandonment by both Mona and Albarth. The party is significantly weakened, nothing is as it should be still, and the world is no longer as safe as it once was. Time to get killlin’. Kyvir’ll chase any path to leveling up and getting to his lost friend, meaning Emma and Sundar need to work overtime to keep him from going too far. Navigating deeper into this magical game world, he finds himself in the company of strange and dangerous new allies, but does he dare trust them?

Zane's quest to win 10 million dollars and save his brother in MythRune Online is far from over. Following a clash with a fellow God Mode hacker, he and his companions find themselves on the road to the worldwide Tournament of Champions. Their destination is Mythgard, the in-game location of the tournament, a massive city surrounded by thousands of players with their sights set on the same goal.

The game has changed...again. Having traded one threat outside his foundation instance for another, Gemini Fowler enters a new phase in his mission to combat darkness in Rubal. High-level demon servants to the Underlord Caym patrol the blight. The threat of the Governor of Knall looms larger than ever. Having left a trusted friend to advance his foundation, Gemini must venture alone into the unfamiliar Hinterlands of Seran to convince potential allies to help combat the darkness that has ruled since before anyone can remember.

A demon uprising from the Plague Barrens threatens the city of Trowlsby. The elves are under attack. Gemini Fowler's new home is barely holding on. And Underlord Caym beckons. But Gemini has a plan, and it's unfolding before his eyes. Having come into his own and gathered a loyal and faithful family around him, Gemini is ready to take on the biggest challenge of his life so far in Enora.

If you keep a monster as a pet, don’t lose your grip on the leash...Captured by Deep Dive and broken by the nefarious Desmond, Ryan has become a weapon. Headshot’s developers use him to destroy their competitors, and along the way the enthusiastic gamer almost loses himself in a web of lies, pain and forcible mental resets. Almost. Months have passed. With Sasha off the grid and Ryan a brainwashed recruit, the relaunch of Headshot may finally succeed in its ultimate goal - malicious, unprecedented access to the innermost thoughts of those that play it.

Kyvir and his friends are just a few days away from Belgonna’s Hold. Yet, as excited as they are to take in the splendor of a new city, surviving the journey is holding all of their attention. The team has survived leveling up in the beginner city of Iradellum, fighting man-eating hell cats, and wrong turns with the guards. All of this just to gain access to Kyvir’s Summoning Aether. A little grass isn’t going to beat them.

Clever or lucky? Does it really matter if you’re still alive? Having survived sure death, Horus and his friends barely have time to breathe before they rush off to face the impossible again. It’s for a good cause. Finding really nice guy’s long-missing son is something you kind of have to do right away. It’s just good manners. There’s less guilt, and your mom won’t nag you as much afterward.

A dazzling world of wonder and power. Gifts from the game gods for every person. The perfect magic for every user. Seth, a popular streamer, can’t wait to see what this new world has in store. The game boasts algorithms designed to read biometrics and brain patterns to find the perfect magical fit for the user. In fact, the game company is so sure they will always be right that you can’t remake your character. The unthinkable happened. The safeties and the guarantees failed, not just once but apparently only to them.

He's found her...The Light Priestess stands in a room atop a fortress. Guards surround the installation. Gemini has authored a scheme, but even if he manages to snag her from the grasp of the governor's men, he will have to guide his party into one of the most dangerous regions on the continent to keep from being followed. A place drained of life by demonic blight with black shards of glassy sand and the home of a long-dead elven city.

Being murdered. Not so great. Waking up in your least-favorite game afterwards...While trying to figure what the whole “sword” thing is all about and which end of it he’s supposed to point at the cuddly, woodland creatures who keep giving him owies, Lucas stumbles across a player who looks rather familiar. Is he the man who murdered him? If he is, why is he in the game, and how can Lucas make him pay for what he did? Worse yet, Lucas’s pretty sure he left the stove and the air on before the whole getting murdered thing. Worst day ever.