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An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”

Zorian is a teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. He is a driven and irritable young man, consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, whom he resents for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, he has no time for pointless distractions or paying attention to other people's problems. As it happens, time is something he is about to get plenty of. On the eve of the Cyoria's annual summer festival, he is killed and brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take a train to Cyoria. Suddenly trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, Zorian will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery before him. And he does have to unravel it, for the time loop hadn't been made for his sake and dangers lurk everywhere... Repetition is the mother of learning, but Zorian will have to first make sure he survives to try again - in a world of magic, even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill. ********************************** Mother of Learning is now available for sale on Amazon. The story will remain available in full here on Royal Road and on Fictionpress, but if you're more interested to read the story as a Kindle Edition e-book you now have a way to do that. The audiobooks can be found on this link here. The physical edition is available through a Kickstarter campaign, which can be found here. I will keep you all updated on that as things develop. ********************************** If anyone is interested, I have a story-related worldbuilding site that can be found here. I don't update it as often as I should, but there is a fair amount of content there already. It also contains a page with all the fanart, fan translations, audio books and the like - you can reach it directly by clicking this link. I have a patreon account for those kind people that want to give me money. It also contains info for those who want to donate via paypal. The story was originally posted on fictionpress, back in 2011. When I reached chapter 91, I started uploading the story to RoyalRoad, one chapter per day. The Fictionpress version of the story can be reached by clicking on this link if somebody is interested, though at this point there is nothing there that isn't also on RoyalRoad.

The Perfect Run is now available on Amazon and Audible: Volume 1 (Audiobook), Volume 2 (Audiobook), Volume 3 Ryan "Quicksave" Romano is an eccentric adventurer with a strange power: he can create a save-point in time and redo his life whenever he dies. Arriving in New Rome, the glitzy capital of sin of a rebuilding Europe, he finds the city torn between mega-corporations, sponsored heroes, superpowered criminals, and true monsters. It's a time of chaos, where potions can grant the power to rule the world and dangers lurk everywhere. Ryan only sees different routes; and from Hero to Villain, he has to try them all. Only then will he achieve his perfect ending... no matter how many loops it takes. The Perfect Run updates on Tuesday and Saturday. Cover by Vitaly S. Alexius.

Scorio will rise from the ashes to conquer the ten layers of hell.Reborn without memories, Scorio learns that he is a Great Soul, a legendary defender of the ancient city of Bastion. That within the hallowed halls of the Academy and under the stern eyes of the underworld’s greatest instructors he will enjoy enormous privilege, rediscover unique and wondrous powers, and one day return to the millennium-old battle against their infernal foes.Until he is betrayed. Singled out and sentenced to die for crimes he can't remember, Scorio is hurled to his doom—and forgotten.But from even the dimmest spark an inferno may one day rage.Clawing his way back from oblivion, Scorio vows to return to the Academy at any cost. To emerge from the ruins and within those golden walls defeat his elite classmates in a quest to ascend the ranks and change the course of history. For only then will he learn about his forgotten past, and why his enemies have rightly feared him since the day he was reborn.

Could you survive a horror movie? That's the question Riley must answer after he and his friends get lured to Carousel, a malevolent town where horror movies come to life. Riley thinks he is in big trouble when he is assigned the Film Buff archetype, a minor support class that has a penchant for dying early in movies. At first resigned to his fate to die over and over, he believes he has found a way to survive. Upon obtaining the Oblivious Bystander trope, monsters and killers will not harm him as long as he can convincingly pretend he has not noticed them. At first, this ability appears to be a joke, but Riley thinks that with some clever exploitation, it might just be his greatest strength. What to expect: -Strategic gameplay and clever uses of movie tropes to survive -Perilous storylines right from your favorite horror movies -Creative Twists of Classic Horror Movie tropes -Moderate stats-based combat and strategy Discord: https://discord.gg/3VdE2cpD25 Art: Andrew Clark artstation.com/atcillustration

From the author of "A Practical Guide to Evil", comes the Pale Lights series. Book I: Lost Things Tristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape. It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them. Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost. Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies. The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things. Where every year many go, and few return. Book II: Good Treasons The trials of the Dominion are over. The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts. Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier. Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying. Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face. Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting. Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive. And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous. Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it? -- Update schedule: once a day until caught up to the wordpress version, then weekly on Fridays. My Patreon has three advance chapters. Cover done by Gwennafran, whose work you can find here.

In May, 1899, a hundred and fifty unassuming envelopes are delivered to households across the city. Most of them will be picked up by butlers and carried on silver trays to their recipients. All of them contain invitations to the wedding of Lady Eleanor Serrs to Mr. Ryce Penn. When the newspapers hear about it, they start buzzing. Who can blame them? This would be the wedding of the century! She’s the daughter of Duke Erravold Aubrey-Serrs, and the Marvelous Mr. Penn is one of the most famous men in the country. But Penn is famous for being the city’s most notorious thief. He’s an unrepentant attention-seeker with a taste for gems and danger. And Eleanor swears that she’s never met him. Chief Inspector Lucas Haley, Penn’s long-time nemesis, is called in to protect the Aubrey-Serrs family and try to figure out what the master thief is planning. He’ll need all his experience and tenacity for this case, as it quickly becomes obvious more is at stake than the reputation of an innocent woman.

Everybody Loves Large Chests is now available on Amazon and Audible! Featuring lots of editorial love and a more enjoyable reading/listening experience! Large chests are said to encompass all manner of hopes and dreams. Men covet them. Women envy them. But one fact holds true - everyone wants to get their hands on some big ones. The same holds true for one intrepid adventurer - a strapping young lad by the name of Himmel. Armed with his grandfather’s trusty longsword and the dream of being the strongest, he sets out on the journey of a lifetime! It is sure to be a long and dangerous road, fraught with danger! And it all starts with a simple test - reach Level 5 in the dungeon called the ‘newbie zone’ and earn the right to become a full-fledged adventurer! However, such things get hopelessly derailed when his adolescent mind beholds an exposed chest for the first time. A fateful meeting that would inevitably lead his life in a direction he never even dreamed of! This fiction is written, maintained and owned by Neven Iliev. It is also a participant of the WriTEr's pledge.

Hisoka Higawara struggles to understand those around him, but he's learning quickly. One day, he makes friends with a girl named Nanami, and his life will never be the same. My Hero Academia. MHA. OC. Sand Manipulation Quirk. Complete. Revised, restructured and rebuilt from the ground up, Just Deserts gets a new coat of paint. Enjoy.

The year is 1703, and Matthew Corbett, professional “problem solver,” is missing. Last seen by his friends in New York before he departed on a lucrative, seemingly straightforward mission for the Herrald Agency in Charles Town, he's been too long absent. His comrade-in-arms Hudson Greathouse has an increasing sense the young friend he thinks of as a son must have met with some unexpected peril. Following his hunch, Greathouse retraces Matthew's steps only to find him first presumed dead, then accused of murdering a young woman and apparently en route to London with a devious Prussian count last encountered on Professor Fell's Pendulum Island. Little does he know that Matthews's circumstances are growing worse by the second. For when Matthew arrives in the bustling squalor of Londontown, he's come shackled, charged for the murder of Count Anton Mannerheim Dahlgren. No matter the lack of body, presumed lost to the ocean. He soon finds himself locked up in the infamous Newgate prison, and has drawn the interest of a mysterious mask-wearing vigilante accused of several gruesome murders. Greathouse and the woman Matthew loves, Berry Grigsby, travel across the high seas to England to aid their friend, but it is impossible to know whether they will reach him in time to save his life. Freedom of the Mask is the sixth installment in bestselling author Robert McCammon's acclaimed series of standalone historical thrillers featuring the exploits of a young hero the USA Character Approved Blog has called “the Early American James Bond.” The most surprising and ambitious volume to date, this is a novel filled with unpredictable twists and a note-perfect depiction of early 1700s London. Fans will not want to miss Matthew Corbett's most dangerous adventure yet.

Clara Casewell is an ambitious up-and-coming associate at an international corporate law firm. Yet underneath her serious lawyerly persona lies a woman with a passion for all sorts of villainess stories. It doesn’t matter how trashy or badly written they are: as long as it’s got a haughty girl and a brooding duke, Clara will devour it like popcorn! After a heated year at the firm, Clara ekes out a promotion to Senior Counsel over her rival, the cocky Warren Righton. But on her way to celebrate, a bout of turbulence sends her plane spiraling down. When Clara wakes up, she’s wearing a… maid’s uniform? She finds herself in a world of nobles and magic, not social media and corporate grind. And there’s one more problem: Clara’s master is the notorious villainess Iris von Rhenia, and Iris and Clara are about to be put on trial for poisoning the heroine. A trial based on truth magic, where the accused get no defense. Join Clara as she learns the ins-and-outs of the unfair, convoluted, and often fantastical courts of the Holy Kingdom of Arcadia, meeting a colorful cast of characters including the heir to the Duke of the North™—but why does he look eerily like her annoying rival Warren?! Surely fantasy law can’t be harder than modern cross-border taxation, right? What to expect: ✦ Ace Attorney-inspired comedic legal drama, featuring mysteries with enough clues to be solved by the reader ✦ Slow burn rivals to lovers romance ✦ Character-focused interludes with Otome Isekai elements blended with aristocratic politics ✦ A competent but not overpowered MC who faces both warmth and adversity ✦ Plenty of OBJECTIONs! Book 1 cover art by Kisielec. Book 2 cover art and header art by 00chovo. Regular updates on Mondays and Fridays, occasional updates on Wednesdays. This story is only posted on Royal Road, ScribbleHub, and my Patreon. If you see it anywhere else, please message me.

STUBBED UP TO CHAPTER 453 FOR BOOK 5. You can read Book 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on Amazon HERE ---- Ever since Arwin was summoned as a child, all he has known is war. And now, to claim the demon queen's life and end the war, he has to kill himself. But, as he deals the final blow to his mortal enemy, the Hero of Mankind is betrayed. Caught in a magical explosion thought to end him, Arwin awakens a month later to find that everyone has already moved on. His [Hero] class has changed to a unique blacksmith class called [The Living Forge] that is empowered by consuming magical items, but some of his old passive [Titles] remain, giving him the power to forge his new future exactly the way he wants to. Arwin isn't going to settle for anything less than completely surpassing the powers he wielded as the Hero. After all, you are what you eat – and Arwin’s diet just became legendary. DISCORD LINK: CLICK HERE! What to expect: - Item focused crafting story, where a lot of the MC's power comes from his equipment - Mix of crafting & combat as the MC has to get the materials himself. The MC does not spend the whole novel in one room crafting. - No Harem - Strong to Stronger MC - Slow burn revenge with a focus on the MC rebuilding his life and discovering new purpose Chapters every day at 11:30 AM CST

Hypothetically, if a neighboring nation with whom you shared a checkered past reached out to you, hat in hand, for assistance in preventing a once-in-a-generation tragedy, what would you do? If your response was in any way resembling 'send a mentally unstable weapon to their largest center of learning and wait for the fireworks' then you may qualify for a job in the Federation's highest military office. Good timing, as they may soon have some vacancies. Meet Cal; he's not actually unstable. Awoken in this new world years ago, his second lease on life has not been a smooth one. Now called upon to serve his country by completing what is, on paper, a covert military assistance mission, he finds himself marooned at the heart of the enemy. Saddled with a fake identity and family, Cal must balance the school life associated with attending a hybrid of magical college/highschool for nobles while also secretly investigating a plot with the potential to doom the Academy and the city in which it resides. Somehow, failing a class or two doesn't seem as important as stopping demons from burning everything down. Not everyone agrees with him. Update target is once a week.

The singular journey of Odd Thomas is approaching its unforgettable conclusion in Saint Odd. But before Odd’s destiny is revealed, this exclusive eBook short story looks back—way back—to where it all began for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, two souls who are destined to be together forever. Amid the dizzying rides, tantalizing games of chance, and fanciful attractions of a state fair, two teenage sweethearts on the cusp of life and love’s pleasures find their way to a shadowy carnival tent brimming with curiosities. There, from the bizarre and enthralling Gypsy Mummy, a mechanized merchant of dreams and prognosticator of tomorrows, the young couple learns what fate promises for them. But fate, for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, is something altogether full of dark corners, sharp edges, and things no seer or soothsayer could ever anticipate. And for Odd Thomas, a gallant fry cook from a sleepy California desert town, the future beckons—to listen to unquiet spirits, pursue unsettling mysteries, and learn shocking truths . . . for a purpose far greater than himself. Acclaim for Dean Koontz and his Odd Thomas novels “This is Koontz working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The nice young fry cook with the occult powers is Koontz’s most likable creation . . . candid, upright, amusing and sometimes withering.” —The New York Times “One would be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying read. . . . Not since Watchers has Dean Koontz created such an endearing and enduring character as Odd Thomas. . . . A superb story from one of our contemporary masters.”—San Antonio Express-News “An inventive . . . mix of suspense, whimsy and uplift.”—The Washington Post “Heartfelt and provocative . . . a wonderfully rich and entertaining story.” —Chicago Sun-Times “Suspense, tension, and surprising plot twists . . . Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of his work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune

Cover art done by Tofuyi! BOOK 1 COMPLETED! The war ended, but the world didn't. For years, the lands burned in the wars of the White Queen, a sorceress and tyrant whose mad ambition brought ruin to all she touched. Now she is dead, but all that remains has been bled dry. Charred towns lie hollow, fields return to the wild, and quiet shadows settle where folk once made their homes. The gods themselves seem tired. Where humanity retreats, darkness creeps in. Through this darkness the young wizard Martimeos walks the broken roads, following the fading trail of his brother, who marched west to fight in the Queen's War and never returned. He left behind no grave, no message, no certainty. Only rumors of what he'd done. On his journey Martimeos must barter with demons, trade riddles with fae, and contend with the wild witch Elyse, a fellow practitioner of the Art with secrets of her own. At last the road brings him to Silverfish, a cursed village whose future has been stolen, overgrown with thorns and lies. His search will lead him to the horror at the heart of Silverfish's tragedy—and the truth behind his brother's fate. WANDER WEST, IN SHADOW is a dark fantasy set in a world of faded kingdoms and lost history, with no litrpg elements. Magic is subtle, especially when Elyse and Martimeos first set out, and it is often better to run than it is to stand and fight.

Fabulous riches, unfathomable power, and the undivided attention of the girl she's obsessed with—that's the offer the Jovians made to Rachel. All she has to do is sign the dotted line. Ten years ago, the planet Jupiter vanished from the night sky. That same day, the Jovians announced their presence on Earth by gifting magical powers to teenage girls. Then one of those girls—one of the first witches—blew up Texas. Now the Jovians are more selective, and they only choose adult women to join their war as magical girls and witches. Rachel has always had an interest in magical girls, but it became an obsession when she learned that her own roommate, Sophia, was secretly Strix Striga, one of the most powerful and respected magical girls in all of North America. Sophia’s double life as a heroine has left her without any time for Rachel—and the witches she fights get all the attention from Sophia that Rachel desperately craves. It’s infuriating. It’s untenable. But now Rachel is a witch, and one that the Jovians have taken a special interest in. With their guidance and her own burning drive, she’ll grow her power until she’s ready to challenge the invincible Striga. And then, at long last, her precious Sophia will be hers. This Magical Girl is Mine updates every Sunday and Wednesday, with a break week every 3-4 weeks. Each chapter will tell you when the next break week is happening in the author's note at the bottom. Note: this story will never go to KU exclusivity. It will remain free for everyone forever.

With this darkly intriguing original e-short story, #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz sets the stage for his masterly new novel of mystery, suspense, and strange wonder—Innocence. “The world is a machine that produces endless surprises and mysteries layered on mysteries.” Addison Goodheart is a mystery even to himself. He was born in an isolated home surrounded by a deep forest, never known to his father, kept secret from everyone but his mother, who barely accepts him. She is haunted by private demons and keeps many secrets—none of which she dreads more than the young son who adores her. Only in the woods, among the wildlife, is Addison truly welcome. Only there can he be at peace. Until the day he first knows terror, the day when his life changes radically and forever . .

When the system warned the world that it was coming a week in advance, Alex couldn’t have been more excited. In college for a degree he didn’t care about to get a job he didn’t want, the promise of a world where magic and challenge awaited — even at the potential cost of death — was the best news he possibly could have imagined. Alex was ready for a new life. He wasn’t ready for his only friend to shove him through a portal into hell the moment the apocalypse started. Instead of getting to punt rabbits and farm wolves, Alex finds himself stranded in a warped world where even the bugs are stronger than he is. Even with a summoner class that gains the powers of its monsters, most people would have died. Alex didn’t get the memo. He might have liked challenge a little bit too much. Where others saw certain death, he found something else. Opportunity. CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOK 1, 2, AND 3 ON AMAZON! BOOK 2 STUBS UP TO CHAPTER 189! BOOK 3 STUBS UP TO CHAPTER 300! Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday @ 11 AM CST Expect some slight elements of Pokemon mixed with a LitRPG Apocalypse setting that takes some inspiration from the Solo Leveling's summoning/dungeon solo-ing & elements of JJK's power system! DISCORD LINK: CLICK HERE!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Following Last Light comes Final Hour, the second of two standalone eBook original novellas leading in to Ashley Bell, the highly anticipated new novel of suspense from Dean Koontz! Just by touching others, Makani Hisoka-O’Brien can see the darkest secrets they keep. The troubling talent has made the Southern California surfer wary of casual contact. But while impulsively saving a stranger from an accident, she experiences her most disturbing vision. With only a good friend to help her, and mere traces of information to guide her, Makani must track down two mysterious women—one of them innocent, one not. But Makani is stepping into the path of an adversary more dangerous than she can a brutal predator behind a pretty face, who won’t go down without drawing blood. Acclaim for Dean Koontz “Dean Koontz is a prose stylist whose lyricism heightens malevolence and tension. [He creates] characters of unusual richness and depth . . . with a level of perception and sensitivity that is not merely convincing; it’s astonishing.”—The Seattle Times “Demanding much of itself, Koontz’s style bleaches out clichés while showing a genius for details. He leaves his competitors buried in the dust.”—Kirkus Reviews “A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. ‘Serious’ writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review “[Koontz] has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match.”—Los Angeles Times “Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.”—USA Today “Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontz’s] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune “A literary juggler.”—The Times (London)

Alternate Title: The Snake Goes Ara Ara By cruel trick of the fates, intervention of stupid gods, or just the apathy of an uncaring universe I find myself woken up as Orochimaru just after he had possessed a woman for his new host. Now I need to find a way to turn this hoard of sycophants and psychos into something that will not only keep me from an early grave, but also how to change it to a force of change in this messed up world.