Showing results by narrator "Dave Cruse" in All Categories

The difference in their uncanny eyes could not be easily discerned. In the rays of the setting sun, both Aravel's and Morlan's eyes appeared gold. In the pale moonlight...yellow. Seemingly the same. Such inscrutable likeness is the way of things with identical twins. But all who knew the two brothers well noted unmistakable differences, peculiarities more experienced than seen.

It had been ten years since Roy came to New Terra. At the conclusion of the great interstellar war against the Serpent People, Roy went from being an ace fighter pilot to a simple farmer, married to his beloved wife Katreena and father to their three beautiful children. He had discovered a happiness that he had long given up on having again in his lifetime. However, their lives were overshadowed by a dark prophesy.

Wars with aliens make for strange bedfellows. Five hundred years ago I died. In most cases that would have been the end of it. The thing is, I didn't stay dead. Well, actually I did, but more to the point my mind woke up in brand spanking new, state-of-the-art cloned body custom built by the Imperium to fight the B'dar. This is my story. This is the future history of me.

Although Miss Bessie Myers is a figment of my imagination, she is every bit real in the sense that we all have a Miss Bessie in our lives. Miss Bessie is everyone’s crazy aunt, spooky neighbor, beloved grandmother, and dearest friend. She can be brutally honest, painfully funny, sweet as honey and prickly as a pear. She is both the preacher’s staunchest supporter and sharpest critic. Of all the words used to describe this godly saint, there is one which stands out above them all...unpredictable.

For generations, a sentient AI watched over the world, solving all of humanity’s problems. It was an era of objectivity, social equality, and ecological recovery. It should have been a golden age. Now, three strangers are on a pilgrimage through the arid, lonely sagelands and underpopulated cities of the Systemic era to the seemingly innocuous town of Prower. There, they'll uncover the secrets that lay buried beneath the town and learn the truth about their half-remembered pasts. In the end, they'll choose between their sanity or solving humanity’s final, most intractable problem.

I watched as the alien weapon’s neutronium hull fractured and then exploded. The antimatter-driven explosion engulfed the remaining three ships. Even neutronium is not impervious to antimatter. In one final act of love, my wife had saved us. A piece of my heart died that day in the Paradise system. In a way, the wound never healed. I learned to live with it. I raised our son as best I could. I carried out the mission. But I missed the woman who represented everything good in my life.

When James Kreider receives the devastating news his life is shortened from cancer, he is immediately filled with shock and disbelief. At 60 years, Jim is too young to die and believes he has a whole life ahead of him. When the reality of his impending demise sinks in, Jim methodically prepares for his final days, including trying to heal old wounds. With a dash of life's regrets and unfinished business, Jim's hours are spent pondering the legacy he will leave for his friends and children.

Hotshot astronomer Rick Tagler thought terminal brain cancer limited his options—until a celestial cataclysm hurls him and other Outcasts into Illdari, a perilous new universe where survival is just the beginning. Join Rick, his pet turtle Gams, and a spitfire Fae named Gail as they navigate monstrous beasts, mercurial storms, sinister guilds, and rule-breaking overseers. In Illdari, the odds aren't just stacked against you; they'll stomp you into jelly and spread you on toast.

An imperfect hero for an imperfect time. For generations, Riker men have been the best of the best. For the Battleborn that comes with a cost. I spit out the blood in my mouth. I had to give the other guy credit. That was a fine right hook. Every bit as good as my mom used to give me. Of course, the best right hooks were the ones I landed on the other guy rather than the ones the other guy landed on me. My dear departed mother had always taught me it was better to give than receive.

Fateh’s world was changed forever when the Shadows invaded. What makes it worse? The betrayal by people he once thought of as friends and the loss of his mother. Who is truly to blame? Tabor was there before the Shadows and when every tragedy happened.

What would you do if the Fae took over your town? Fateh's life was as ordinary as it could be with the Fae. He deals with Tabor, an annoying but familiar presence. The fact that he's one of the Fae complicates things.

The north was decimated by war centuries ago and nature never recovered. Rumors and whispers now spread of the return of the darkness that once plagued the lands. Prince Gilford remains as the only surviving heir of a dying kingdom but he must remain vigilant as he knows there is more to fear than simply the darkness.

This morning was no different than any number of other mornings, except for one small detail, I had no idea where I was. In fact, there were a lot of little things I didn't know: Who was I? Why was I here? How come I was so hungry? And what the hell was that smell?

The final prophesy for the Commander says that he must face a trail to stand before the oncoming darkness. Neither Roy nor Katreena knew what that would be, just that it would one day happen. It would be the moment that would change everything, for it is the last of the prophet Queen’s predictions.

Newly reinstated Captain Deborah Allen Riker (a.k.a. Admiral Dare) has been called many things over the years. Risk-averse is not one of them. When she and her badly crippled starship found themselves lost in the middle of an ocean of uncharted stars, with the fate of the galaxy on the line, facing enemies from the past, present, and future.... She did what any Riker would do....She attacked.

Avington, Bryngate, Teris Falls, village after village felt the stilling touch of the iceman. Sanctuaries left in ashes, entire populations of First One followers left silent and cold, Alastair led a secret cadre of Wolfguard assassins on a historic murderous rampage. How then could the bloodthirsty, remorseless persecutor of the faithful...become their greatest champion? What happened in Salkyrie Vale in the midst of the screams and flames? How did the decades long feud between Alastair and Cythraul begin? Listen to Coldhollow, a Myridian Constellation origin story to find out.

Abbagael Coldhollow’s desperate journey forces her to cross the shrouded borders of the Witchlands. There, the question that has haunted her soul will be answered once and for all. Returning from the Forsaken Continent, Telwyn finds Myriad in bloody chaos. What can one man do against the tide of tragedy and war? A dark excursion to find the Mirrors of Manticore may hold the answer.

Fleeing the kingdom he once ruled, Lochlan Stormgarden leads the survivors of the Bloody Red Night across Myriad on a desperate quest for safety. With tyrannical High King Morlan's legions and the lethal bone ministers constantly dogging his steps, Lochlan discovers that the only refuge might be a legendary contagion-cursed fortress deep in the heart of the Gorrack nation.

Trapped in a boring life, Carryl longs for something different. With the death of a dragon rider, she realizes her dream of becoming a rider herself. But first she must save the despondent dragon’s life. Ruskya has settled into his new role as a dragon rider. A sinister rider has attacked the colony. The fate of all that Ruskya holds dear lies in his hands. Ruskya and Carryl step into leadership roles to defend the colony and their village. Now they battle dragons and their own insecurities. They’ll need the courage of a dragon to defeat their enemies or die trying.

Something wicked has made its home in Yewland's famed Blackwood Forest. Dozens of Queen Illaria's finest soldiers have ventured in, only to meet hideous, violent ends. Now, it's up to Nock and Mallik to hunt down the threat that lurks among the dark trees. But they will soon discover that they are not the only hunters in the Blackwood.