System Fantasy

For Lori Straford, born into the lowest caste of citizens—the pleasure arts strata of their society—it is an inescapable fate that she can only hope to better by enlisting as a spa attendant and masseuse on one of the luxury world colonies under the purview of Darvel Exploration Corporation. When she is talked into working on one of their mining planets for a year with the promise of a hefty bonus and to be transferred to her choice planet after more non-gratas can be sent over, it is too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Where life as we know it is impossible, the real adventure begins. Venus is a hostile planet, covered by active volcanoes, but NASA launches an expedition to search for life there anyway. Their specially developed airship cruises in the clouds of Venus to serve as a research platform for its four astronauts. When they discover dangerous activities on the glowing-hot surface, there can only be one explanation: A highly sophisticated life form must be at work.

Long Fang is stranded in a foreign world where proper cultivation has been replaced by annoying blue screens. He is confused and alone...but not for long. Completely ignoring the System, he forms a wholesome sect of followers to spread cultivation across the wild world. Blue screens do not take kindly to rejection, however, and Long Fang’s stubbornness soon finds him pitted against increasingly dangerous foes. To overcome the System tribulations, he must quickly grow stronger and wiser.... But first, he needs to get past that one annoying town guard.

Weary and tired from playing galactic bounty hunter and assassin, John and his crew of intrepid human survivors find themselves in Spaks after their latest escapade bring more heat than ever. In the outcast station of rebels and pirates, John is caught up in galactic politics once again. As trouble approaches on the hyperdrive engines of his many enemies, John finds answers to the System Quest and even more questions in the Rebel Station.

A clock hangs over the head of every mortal. Counting down to the inescapable day that the Goddess of Death claims them. That is the way of the world. The natural cycle of mortals. The Gods, however, were said to live for forever. To exist so far outside of the natural laws of the universe that even their crimes can't be punished. But Knell Coba, at great cost, realizes this is nothing but another lie.

Melvin is lost when Kalli returns to Gaia. After pushing his friends away, he turns to his newfound skills as a healer for some much-needed solace. Paired with an unlikely partner in crime, Melvin must once again rise to the occasion when an ominous message comes from another world. Kalli is dying.

In 2014, the ESA spacecraft Rosetta lands a small probe named Philae on 67P, a Jupiter-family comet. The lander goes radio-silent two years later. Suddenly, in 2026, scientists receive new transmissions from the comet. Motivated by findings that are initially sensational but soon turn frightening, NASA dispatches a crewed spacecraft to the comet. But as the ship approaches the mysterious celestial body, the connection to the astronauts soon breaks. Now it seems nothing can be done anymore to stop the looming dark danger that threatens Earth....

The return to the city of goblins draws ever closer but Ivan Susanin's survival hangs in the balance. It is more than just the monsters. The capture of the Dungeon, creation of the Minor Altar and growth of the Cult of Heresy has attracted the attention of the Earth gods. The number of contenders for the grand prize is growing, hostile gods are joining the race, and the existence of an independent candidate is unacceptable. Nevertheless, the gods cannot sentence one of the Alliance leaders and the strongest player on Earth to death.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

Full of unexpected twists and surprises, Restoration is a major turning point in the ongoing saga of Star Trek, New Frontier. Read by Joe Morton!

The preparations are complete and the chess pieces have been placed on the board. Ivan Susanin and the other players are returning to the Celestial City of Sar, the destroyed goblin capital, in the final battle for the Altar and the legacy of the Great Y. These events will decide whether Earth survives this war or becomes yet another world ground down by the System. Defeat is unacceptable, but the chance of victory is slim. Although the goblins are vulnerable to firearms, the undead hordes know no fear and seem endless, unlike the store of ammunition.

The Leviathan is dead. Humanity has won the global mission but the price has been too high. Japan is in ruins, Honshu lies partially underwater, and the capital has been destroyed. The country has been left without leadership and tens of millions have perished, while monsters continue to hunt down the survivors. Ivan Susanin heads to the submerged Toyo as part of an expedition to find the missing raven, help evacuate the civilians and slay as many monsters as possible. And that's only on the surface.

A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with classes, magic, and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.

How much will you sacrifice to survive in a world turned game? When friends and family fall to monsters and aliens everyday, will you choose safety over freedom? These are the questions the survivors in the Yukon must ask themselves. New alien masters arrive, offering safety from ever stronger monsters in return for their freedom and future potential. Thrust into a position of power and influence by dint of his Levels, John must choose—not just for himself but Whitehorse itself. The price, however, might be more than he is willing to pay.

His life a wasteland post-System integration, John Lee struggles to deal with the weight of a world irrevocably changed. Given great power by chance, his Levels a by-product of a rage that he finds unable to quench, John struggles to find the balance between a hatred for the System that destroyed his world and the benefits it gives him, allowing him to save even more. Yet, as he draws survivors across the Yukon to Whitehorse, dangers grow in the deep wilderness, out of sight. It’s a race between Leveling and safety, for John and his friends. One that they might be losing.

Many yearn for a different realm, where the allure of enchanting women, otherworldly abilities, and thrilling adventures beckons. But what if you were born into a world where you're regarded as nothing more than a mere tool, utterly unsuited for their intended purposes? Plunged into the depths of despair, having lost that which he cherished most, the unmistakable chime of a notification altered not only his destiny but the very fabric of all existence. Yet, whether this change was for the better or worse remained uncertain.

For Marc and his party, their current quest seems to drag on and on. Clearing the Labyrinth, defeating Circe, destroying Medusa, and more have become a grind. The main factor that keeps them going is that Zeus is keeping his promise by helping their levels shoot up. Meanwhile, Marc's Safe Zone, Any Port, and the accompanying Safe Zone network continue expanding and growing. They keep him busy whenever he manages to get back home on breaks from the quest.

Marc is all too aware that the end of the acclimatization year the System has provided to Earth is quickly drawing to a close and that others will be allowed onto the planet to start claiming areas shortly. Zeus has promised that his series of quests will get Marc, at least, to the maximum level reachable in that first year, but Marc is nervous that it isn't going to happen.

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.

Everything is going according to plan. Ivan Susanin has successfully installed a beacon in the undead territory and returned home. The situation changes when the next mission to the city of goblins is delayed, while his home planet becomes the battleground. Monsters invade Earth, and Ivan must become one of the leaders and unite the players under his banner, albeit within the borders of his own country. If circumstances demand that he discloses his identity and cooperates with the authorities, so be it! Modern weapons and equipment, instructors, financing, and protection by law....