Showing results by narrator "Joel Jackson" in All Categories

The killings that once plagued New Orleans are cropping up again in Seattle. The local office is stumped. I’m called out to lend a fresh set of eyes, and my unique magical touch. It’s only when I get there that I realize the Seattle office isn’t stumped at all. They’re being silenced by the Mages’ Guild, a corrupt magical institution that doesn't want word to get out of what is plaguing the city. Worse, news of my magic might’ve slipped down to the underworld, hitting the ears of some extremely powerful demons.

Cotton Pickens’s parents had a cussed sense of humor, but there’s nothing funny about the way the man can draw a gun. Now he’s in the middle of a mining camp district slowly being crushed under the iron fist of another misnamed, hardheaded fellow, Carter Scruples. With Cotton facing off against Scruples, a beautiful young woman caught in-between and a band of outlaws living high and mighty in a dry-docked Pullman Palace Car, the town of Swamp Creek is surely going to get blown sky high.

Earth, AD 2519. Less than a year has passed since the clone military of the Enlisted Man’s Empire toppled the government of the Unified Authority. Now the clones rule Earth, but a new enemy has emerged — and set off civil war.... Formerly trained to fight for the U.A., clone Marine Wayson Harris had led the Enlisted Man’s Empire invasion of Earth and wrested control away from the old regime. He’s now ready to do what it takes to ensure the new balance of power isn’t jeopardized.

Bianca Xing has spent a lifetime on a provincial planet, dreaming of travelling the stars. When her planet is annexed by the Barony of Letnev, Bianca finds herself being taken into custody, told that she’s special–the secret daughter of a brilliant scientist, hidden away on a remote planet for her own safety. But the truth about Bianca is stranger. There are secrets hidden in her genetic code that could have galaxy altering consequences.

The clone soldiers of the Enlisted Man’s Empire, formerly members of the Unified Authority’s powerful military, maintain a tenuous grasp on the power they fought so hard to gain. But the U.A. will not be so easy to suppress as they had hoped.... A provocateur attacks the Pentagon. Gunships converge on the penitentiary where Unified Authority war criminals are held. And a clone assassin murders Admiral Don Cutter, commander in chief of the Enlisted Man's Empire....

The Barfield family, Arkansas sharecroppers, are heading west with their sons Jeffrey and Todd. In far West Texas their camp is attacked by Comanche raiders and the elder Barfields are killed and scalped. The younger boy, Todd, is taken captive by the Indians. The older son, Jeffrey, manages to hide and is rescued by the militia men. Jeffrey is taken in by a home-steading family, while Todd is sold, for a rifle and gunpowder, to a Comanchero trader named January.

When a mat-trans malfunction strands Ryan Cawdor and his friends in a gutted redoubt in the West Indies, the crystal waters offer them a tantalizing glimpse of untouched splendor. But the oasis is abruptly shattered by violent and ruthless pirates, and Ryan has to barter with a young guide, a teenage boy on a blood quest against a sadistic local warlord, to navigate a land teeming with predators-mutie, human and animal. The race is on to find a second redoubt, buried deep in the inhospitable heart of Monster Island.

Kehlem, the sickly son of a widowed physician, has devoted his life to learning his father’s craft. Wanting to finally step out of his father’s shadow, he embarks on a project of his own, seeking out the help of Themia, the town's newly arrived Alchemist and a rare wielder of magic. But Themia has secrets of her own, secrets carried from the heart of the empire itself, secrets that would steal Kehlem away from his home and into the empire’s Academy for magic users.

The mysterious prophecy that has shaped the life of Kelvin Knight Hackleberry and his family seems nearly to have run its course. The Two Kingdoms that were joined by Kelvin to form Kelvinia have now been united with three others, to make a great confederation under the rule of the young twin kings, Kildom and Kildee. Kelvin has earned some time to rest with his family. Charles and Merlain are now 20 years old, and so is Dragon Horace, their brother who is the Great King of all the land.

“What a joyous childhood we had!” wrote Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. These were no mere words and it was a sentiment shared by many of her siblings. Far from being the tyrannical or neglectful parents presented so often by the sensational press, Albert and Victoria devoted themselves to their children, doing their utmost to secure their happiness while preparing them for a future of personal fulfilment and service to their people in a rapidly-changing world.

After launching an unsuccessful invasion of Washington, DC, the Unified Authority is on the verge of defeat. Then the clones intercept a message detailing the U.A.’s last ditch plan for survival: a super weapon, a virus designed to attack the clones’ internal architecture. Only one clone was created without the fatal flaw — Wayson Harris, an outlaw model with independent thoughts and an addiction to violence.

After decoding an ancient scroll — one that purports to pinpoint the treasure of the Jewish Temple, lost for 2,000 years — archaeologist Annja Creed agrees to lead the party to recover the find in Judea. It’s a perilous desert journey through sandstorms and bandits, and complicated by mysterious sabotage within the group, to arrive at a long-forgotten fortress deep beneath a mountain.

Kehlem the Butcher. Hero. Villain. A pale ghost that haunts the empire, or righteous revenant of Casere. Titles thrust upon him that he had no desire to bear, charged by the Aspect itself to end the Vin Empire. And yet, his true and only desire is to get to Mercy before the empire does, to salvage his only chance at redemption. But change is coming. He can feel it in the crushing weight of his waking nightmares. See it in the uprisings in the empire. Hear it in the hushed rumors of Seer assassinations. The Aspect demands retribution. Balance. Where there was Order, may there be Chaos.

After suffering great loss, but still surviving impossible odds on their journey to Avanoth, the newly formed Collective travels across the massive Central Continent. Hunted by powerful dark forces, the unlikely group of heroes race against time to reach the den of the mighty dragon, Elyptus. But their journey will not be an easy one - as word of the Warlord’s Chalice and its power spreads, devastating truths are revealed and old enemies return to cause chaos and division.

RK Holliday weaves interesting tales all within the expanded universe of the Edifice Series. Featuring short stories from different settings and time periods such as: "Never Too Late", "Orphans and Outlaws", "The Woman in the Garden", and many more! If you love classic American short stories with a hint of science fiction and fantasy, then you will find these journeys a delight to experience.

Long ago, an evil wizard rose to power and waged war on mankind. Few were willing to stand against the dark wizard, and those who did fell. Desperate and determined to save his people, a king named Astilles traveled to a realm called Barrenworld, where he found the Warlord’s Chalice, an ancient cup said to give infinite power to those who drink from it. Believing himself to have no other choice, Astilles drank from the chalice and gained the strength to defeat his enemies - but that strength came at a great cost, as the chalice only granted it in exchange for eternal servitude.

The news has been full of headlines, whether watching on television, reading on a webpage, or following them through an online app. The world is in a 24/7 news cycle that none of us can escape from, unless we literally go off the grid. If you are someone who is a news junkie and gets excited about the latest headlines, then you were probably intrigued by the events that occurred in late January related to GameStop and other retail stocks.

Benjamin Bright had lived a normal life up until his powers awoke, plunging him into a hidden world of fairy-tale creatures, monsters, witches, and wizards. A legacy is tragically thrust upon him, and a terrible curse is bestowed that sets him on an epic adventure into the darkest depths of love, murder, betrayal, and magic.

Nathan Stone was a living legend in the West as a lawman, as an outlaw, as a gambler, as a wanderer through the wildest towns and terrain. He blazed a vengeance trail, giving no quarter and asking for none. Fearlessly, he played his cards and used his Colt .45s as best he could in games of chance, skill, and savagery, for stakes of life or death. Now he was riding on a course that would test his rawhide nerve and lightning draw against the likes of Doc Holliday, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the fleeing James brothers, and the incredible John Wesley Hardin....

After coming to the stark realization that they were deceived by a close and trusted ally, the surviving members of the Collective struggle to find purpose in the new apocalyptic, war-torn world around them.