Showing results by narrator "Gabriel Vaughan" in All Categories

Happily ever after. That was what we were supposed to have. Pudding cups, sandy toes, and a lifetime of making each and every one of our dreams come true - that is the future I'd promised her. I could see it in my dreams, hold it in my hands, but then I watched as all of our hopes and wishes suddenly slipped through my fingers like sand.

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....

Regan turns his full attention to the North to finally deal with the Undead Queen Alara. Challenges and barriers abound that work to keep him from achieving his goal. Magic, technology, and Regan's intelligence are put to the test as he fights his way north.

The remnants of Lecazar are in turmoil. Louella is working as hard as ever to save as many people as possible from the constantly spreading undead taint in the east. With new visitors investigating the Wave of terra mana that swept through the world, she will need to stay on her toes to protect her valley.

Flint, Wren, and Ace, along with Charles, are now members of the Eureka, a state-of-the-art vessel heading for a world in the far reaches of a new galaxy. Sixty years ago a colony ship was sent there, along with someone close to their benefactor. But when they arrive, they find getting to the surface isn’t as easy as they thought. With a crash-landing, and news that shocks the entire crew, they must collectively find a way to get the Pilgrim off-planet and into the fight against the Watchers.

Regan is hoping for a few minutes to breathe, but the universe has other ideas. The demons from the world of Deorus have finally arrived. He expected a tough battle, but he underestimated just what the demons would bring to bear. That doesn't mean he is giving up. Regan is not averse to a challenge. Yet the demons aren't the only threat that seems to be rearing its head, and he just can't seem to grab the new one by its tail.

The horde dealt with, Regan turns his attention to the north. As he works to increase his children's and his power, events in the world seem to be against him. Powers continues to grow all around the continent in response to this new player emerging on the map. Louella only wants a few moments of peace to process the changes happening to her and her valley. No one wants to give her that peace as her valley grows to be the center of the continent.

A lively and engaging guide to vital habits of mind that can help you think more deeply, write more effectively, and learn more joyfully.

The battle for Sar rages on. The Alliance offensive has failed, ammunition is running out, and only nuclear weapons have saved the players from utter obliteration. Ivan Susanin, also known as Vasily, found himself in a Lich trap and escaped by a miracle. Yet the mission continues as long as the return card has not been used. He can still return and find a way to reverse this seemingly hopeless situation. Retreat is not an option—the fate of two worlds rests in his hands. Victory or death!

The continent is in chaos as one world-shaking event after another continues to rattle the foundations that the people have lived with for centuries. The flames of all-out war threaten everyone, and few people seem to want to stop it. Louella and Regan work tirelessly to protect their own slice of home from forces that want to bring ruin to everything around them. As secrets and truths come to light, will Regan's intellect and Louella's compassion be enough to lead their people through the troubled time?

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.

Regan and company have successfully escaped Hellia. The question that now haunts him is at what cost to the universe? Back in Murgin, Regan has to deal with more mundane threats. If you can call the potential return of the Primordial Dragon a mundane threat. With a new desire to protect his family, the question is how far he will go to ensure that desire is achieved.

My name is Colton Calloway. You've heard part of my story, but it turns out there's more. My little girl, Kylie, is all grown up. Seventeen, beautiful, and talented, just like her mother. And just like Nell, my daughter seems to have fallen for a bad boy, one with a lot of darkness and a lot of secrets.

Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time—fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them—and still living them—today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called "modern myths." But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did.

Montreal, 1978. Newly promoted Sergeant-Detective Émile Cinq-Mars attends the scene of 17 break-ins at an apartment complex. Nothing more than stolen toasters. Cinq-Mars suspects that the burglaries are a trial run for a bigger heist...until he discovers a body pinned to a wall with a machete in one apartment. When the former captain of Night Patrol, Armand Touton, receives a tip from an undercover informant in the Mafia, Cinq-Mars is ordered to intervene with a prisoner's release: the man must stay behind bars. He fails with the task and the immediate consequences are devastating.

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.

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.

Six months have passed since a devastating EMP struck the nation, forcing survivors to adapt to a dangerous new world without power. Now, winter is here. Jack and his companions are surviving at a caravan site in the wilderness. The weather is treacherous. Supplies are dwindling. Hope is running thin. But when Jack witnesses a group of helicopters passing over, sparking hopes of salvation, the group must go on a journey to seek out shelter once and for all. But Jack's group isn't the only one seeking shelter.

Bad Things addresses various philosophical questions about the nature and moral relevance of harm. The most basic question is this: under what conditions does an event harm a given individual? Neil Feit focuses primarily on the metaphysics of harm, and he both defends and extends the counterfactual comparative account of harm. On this account, in its most basic form, an act or event harms an individual provided that she would have been better off if it had not occurred.

Agent Raibert Kaminski and the crew of the Transtemporal Vehicle Kleio have stumbled across a temporal implosion that has claimed two whole universes, and neither Raibert nor his crew can ­ figure out what caused this calamity, or how to stop its spread. Meanwhile, old colleagues of Raibert’s from the Antiquities Rescue Trust, together with a version of Samuel Pepys transplanted from the 17th century into the 30th, have proposed an expedition into the past. The goal? To branch the timeline by preventing the Plague of Justinian, one of the worst pandemics in human history.