The saying goes that when a man is born the Fates weave his destiny and swaddle him in it. Then one day the man dies, and the swaddle becomes a shroud. Heaven moves on.

It is audacity to question the Fates. Olympus is Olympus. The land of men is the land of men. To transgress that, to cross the line of divinity and scale Olympus Mons? To defy the Fates and cast off their threads?

That is hubris. It’s a mark that every philosopher bears plainly on their soul.

[Virtuous Sons updates every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8pm EST.]

Milo lives in a steel cave within a man-made mountain of steel and concrete. He spends his days repairing the machinery that keeps the habitat livable and tinkering with the prosthetics that help his twisted body move about through the small tunnels and air shafts that are his world. He's as much a piece of discarded machinery as the equipment he keeps running. 

Given a chance at being someone different will he become a hero and live in the sunlight? The light beckons, but there are secrets buried in the ground. Ancient mysteries left by races that delved deep and stayed below. Maybe only a tunnel rat culd find them?

And thanks to the artist of that handsome rat for inspiration. Find more of her work here: https://www.deviantart.com/watch/memymine/deviations

Revised version now available! Amazon paperback, ebook, audiobook, Kobo, B&N, Google

In the war-torn land of Cyraveil, four heroes strove to overthrow an empire. By cold steel and elemental sorcery, they brought peace to a warring land on the brink of destruction. As the flames died, the realm needed strong leadership, and who better than the champions who had saved the kingdom? But when the people sought out their saviors... they vanished.

Matt, Blake, Jen, and Carl: the four mysterious companions, who together had deposed an insane ruler and saved countless lives, were gone—spirited back in a whirlwind of magic to a sleepy suburb in Mellbridge, Oregon, never to return. The friends found themselves home in the real world, exactly as they'd been the night they were taken, as if no time had passed... except only three came back.

Hi there! This was my entry for National Novel Writing Month, because why only write one series at a time? The more the merrier! (meanwhile, my keyboard bursts into flames...)

I'm also the writer of The Last Science, an ongoing low-fantasy/speculative sci-fi series. If you're familiar with that, you know what to expect here: lots of character-focused drama and dialogue, not a whole lot of traditional action. However, I'm writing a bit differently than usual here, and in a very different structure, so there should be some surprises for returning readers. I hope you enjoy it!

 [Discord] — for those of you who want to hang out and chat.

Cover art (fullsize): Path of Revelation, by taenaron (Tobias Roetsch), modified by Etzoli. Normally I like to do my own cover art from scratch, but I was in a rush for the contest. Might be replaced down the line if I get time.

[winner of the NaNoWriMo Royal Road 2018 challenge—Most Favorites]

Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1 is now on Amazon! 
mybook.to/dungeoncrawlercarl

Book 2 is also now available! 
mybook.to/dungeoncrawlercarl2

Royal Road and Patreon is where to get the newest chapters and releases. 

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

DCC Discord! 

10/01/20

The first several chapters of DCC are now off of Royal Road because the book is on Amazon. I want to thank all of you for 9 months of amazing support. This is and Patreon will always be the place for the newest chapters and content, but to comply with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited policy, I can't have more than 10% of the story up here. 

This is a work in progress. Major editing will be done after the book is complete, so there will be egregious typos and parts that make no sense whatsoever. Please, please feel free to point any and all of these things out. Chapters WILL get edited, and that editing might break earlier chapters. I will attempt to keep readers apprised of all changes. Updates one-two days a week. 

In a world where magic is a science, Siobhan Naught is a genius.

But even geniuses need schooling.

Siobhan has just been banned from the country's only magical university.

As the unwitting accomplice to the theft of a priceless magical artifact, she has suddenly become a wanted criminal. There are fates worse than death, and if caught, she will face them. Unwilling to give up on her dream of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer, she resolves to do whatever it takes to change her fate.

Even if it means magically disguising herself as a boy and indebting herself to a gang of criminals to pay for University tuition.

With the coppers after her, the pressure of trying to keep her spot in the devilishly competitive magic classes, and the gang calling in favors to repay her debts, Siobhan will need every drop of magic she can channel.

Life is rough. Jobs are non-existent. And far too many people live in poverty in the real world and can only find work online in VR worlds. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but most of them are destroyed. Now everyone is scrambling to get into the GENESIS ENGINE, as it becomes the new global market place

Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.

Four friends find they are locked into five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money and buy their way to freedom. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways they can take advantage of the system.

When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

Arael is an otherworldly being from the upper plane, a place similar to Heaven, full of Light. He now dwells on Earth, touched by Darkness, unable to return. When he rescues Sariel, an innocent angel from the clutches of Dark mages, he is no longer alone for the first time in centuries, but knows that he must return her home before she is also stranded on Earth.

The question is, does she wish to go?

(Pure fantasy romance)

- Cover art credit goes to Cassandra DenHartog (www.cassandradenhartog.com)

A humble [Maid] in a backwater household, Fayette was resigned to living the dull life of a proper domestic servant, slowly leveling as she cleaned the estate. However, everything changes after she discovers another path in a sudden monster attack.

What if she were to take a more... direct approach to cleaning the filth plaguing this world?

What to expect from this novel:

-Household skills put to gruesome use in combat.

-A bit of romance. Eventually.

-Guillotines. Eventually.

Cover by @Risukasa_nen

Choosing a college when your family is struggling can be difficult, but it isn’t supposed to be world ending. And the falling meteor is seriously limiting Matt’s options. 

Now in the aftermath, his home city is locked down by a mysterious dome, corporations are looking to monopolize a wealth of new untapped resources, and people are suddenly developing powers via a system that seems to have borderline sinister intentions. In the chaos, he decides to stick to what he knows: stay out of the spotlight, grind, and survive.

Watch as Matt is dragged into a dark LITRPG set in the real world, where the price of failure is death, and the prize for winning is beyond his wildest dreams. 

++++++++++++++++++

There’s a couple big influences here: Solo-Leveling, Squid Game, and Code Geass. If you enjoy LITRPG stories with morally gray characters, high stakes, and smart protagonists who start weak and eventually become powerful in a unique way, you’ll probably find something to like. But be forewarned. It won’t be easy.

I'll be writing this fast, so keep in mind there's likely to be typos that we'll correct as we go.

Developmental Editing by Lev.

Formerly titled Transmigrating Into the Main Character's Political Rival

Kayla is a burned-out college graduate who's neck-deep in student debt, stuck in a minimum-wage job, and about to be evicted from her apartment. One morning, she abruptly wakes up in the body of a short-lived villain from a web novel set in Ancient China. Now, Kayla has to deal with living in the body of a man while trying to survive as the doomed political rival of the Seventh Prince. She'd rather roll over and play dead than take on a fight, but fate and the Imperial family seem to have different plans for her. Caught in a web of political intrigue and backstabbing amidst a succession struggle between the Imperial Princes, it will take Kayla every ounce of wit she has to stay alive.

A political fantasy set in Ancient Chinese with elements of magic, transmigration, and time travel. This story will be updated every four days.

Elevator pitch: '300' meets 'Lone Wolf and Cub'. A retired veteran has to keep some orphans from being eaten by horrible monsters.

This fiction contains the professionally-published novel Obstacles as well as the ongoing sequels. 

Back Cover Copy:
Androkles, son of Paramonos, spent twenty-five years in the world’s greatest army trying to earn enough money to buy back his good name. He’s battle-scarred, weary, and heartbroken after decades of watching dear friends die, but he survived. He’s ready to retire and be welcomed as a hero, finally able to see the reward he sacrificed so much to achieve. 

There’s only one problem: his wife just fled civilization with all his hard-won savings. Now he must pursue her north, through desperate bandits, ravening beasts, and worse. But after he rescues a pair of orphans from starvation, he is faced with his most difficult challenge yet: a question that goes to the very heart of honor. The consequences might be deeper than he realizes, and it’s not just his life on the line…

Updates: Irregular but Ongoing

Book title in the chapter heading.

If you like what you're reading, please consider
purchasing a copy of the published novel Obstacles:
books2read.com/u/mleazq

Travel with a newly born demon as he grows and learns in his own world as well as in other worlds as he gets summoned again and again. Usually to die or kill for others in strange and exciting places, but it's never certain what the next one will bring. It has its perks. With each new world comes a new story with new experiences and new lessons. There is always more to see, more to learn and more to know. Maybe, someday, it will all make sense. For now he will just work hard to become stronger, to be useful and, hopefully, survive that way.

A coming-of-age story, but different.

Things start to slow down to a crawl. Colors blur into one another until my vision is completely white. All I can think is "Shit, not this again!"

I hate being summoned.

_________________________________

updates once a week until I get more time

The idea for this story began in two places. One was the ridiculously rapid pace of gaining power in many novels. Both in games and in novels, I enjoy the struggle of the beginning character, why always the rush? The other was the way many monster or non-human MCs always seem to hurry to become human (again). It always felt like a cheap way to grant the character extra powers without the difficulty of writing a non-standard thought process.

Thus I wanted to write the slow(ish) progression of a monster character gaining strength and intelligence, while remaining distinctly non-human. There are no stats, xp or systems, no reincarnated soul or completely formed being to start with - unless I want to make fun of those. While the MC 'evolves', the process takes months if not years to proceed step by little step. Sit down with me and imagine, what would it be like if...

The world is a wide, wide place. And that's without taking into account the many creatures that inhabit it. When a new Dungeon Core is born deep below the surface, it faces challenge after challenge. The only question is; is it up to the challenge of living in this world?

This is my first attempt at writing a Dungeon Core story. I'll gladly take any and all advice, comments, or criticism. 

Releases on Tuesdays and Fridays. Mostly.

What you can expect:

 The year is 1329, and the Horns of the Apocalypse are about to sound.

In a small Scottish town, a young boy begins a journey from a carpenter's apprentice to one of the most powerful forces in the Host of the Heavens.

His Journey: A path of adversity lies before him, spanning from the Scottish Borders to the Spanish Reconquista, the Holy Land, and Realms beyond. 

His Ascension: An unceasing trial, where one misstep may condemn his soul. Our hero must discover a path of progress and conquest over mythical beasts, hordes of demons, and the other fell beings created by the System for the Tribulation of Mankind. 

His Tribulation: Will he live by the Words of God, be guided by his own intent, or will other forces claim him for their own ends?

His Fate: ...

Is yet to be determined.

Discover the wonder of the Tribulation Apocalypse in Chapter one of the Echoes of the Tribulation: an Historical Apocalypse LitRPG Series.

Current Schedule : On Hiatus.

Updates expected to begin again around October.

Thanks for reading!

Summary:

The daughter of a dying house is summoned to the Imperial City to meet and perhaps marry a handsome prince. It sounds like a fairy tale.

Except Mydea doesn’t have the advantage of a half-forgotten childhood encounter, supreme magic to match the highest echelons of society, or even the privilege of an ally. In order to survive and make a name for herself, she must beat the Imperial Court at its own game.

At least no one's tried to kill her—yet.

Notes: Basically, if you liked the magic of Harry Potter and the politics of Game of Thrones, you'll probably like this. While the first book focuses on the female lead, and the interplay of competing regional and imperial interests, subsequent books will also cover warfare and how I imagine that differs wildly from historical norms with the introductions of a magical aristocracy. 

Updates every Mon / Thurs / Sat
Advance Chapters available on my Patreon 

[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]

Born to die and be born again, Gell, the Jellyfae must discover her strange connection to the horrible monsters called humans, that speak with words she understands, but seem to want nothing but her death. Driven by a desire for safety and freedom, she ventures forth to Tread the Sky, and finds more worlds than one.

Tom's baby-momma died, and now her past is coming back to bite him. He's broke, The cops are out to get him, the babysitter is pure evil, and he's got a limited time to dig himself out before her world collides with his own.

An obscure jarl’s daughter will rise to wield the power of the gods. 

The old order is collapsing. The Archean Empire devours all in its path, toppling kings, razing cities, and massacring any that oppose it. Sweeping into the north, a land of brutal cold, ragged mountains, and dark myths, they believe their infamous discipline will crush the white-hot rage of its sea reavers and dreaded berserkers.

And at first they are right. 

But their invasion dislodges a pebble that is destined to become an avalanche. When Skadi Styrbjörnsdóttir is forced into exile to escape the Archeans, she begins a journey that will bring her to the attention of the gods, arm her with legendary weapons, and set her against immortal foes. 

Wielding the power of her ever-growing wyrd, Skadi seeks to avenge her people, and in doing so defy the world-devouring Archean Empire—and one day destroy it.

Content Warnings are selected to give me artistic freedom down the road.
Release Schedule: 5 chapters per week, Mon-Fri.
This web novel is only posted on Royal Road.
See my Amazon author page for other works of epic and progression fantasy.

World Map

Argus was a dungeon, sprawling for miles under the cities of man above all the way until a human, angry at the death of one of his companions, murdered him. 

When he discovered where he was, he found that he had come back to life as nothing more or less than a human being, complete with its own nervous system, organs, and brain. Worst of all, his precious System is gone, and he has to actually grow up.

How disgusting.

ALL HUMANKIND died thousands of years ago...

…but the xenos still worship them as GODS.

Today, hundreds of alien civilizations thrive in the gods’ lost cities and fallen megastructures. One Empire has learned to harness the remains of humanity's forgotten technology to reconnect the distant worlds... and dominate them.

Eolh is an old, jaded, avian thief who lives in the dark underbelly of a conquered city. When the Empire first opened the gate between worlds, they stormed his home, killed his gang, and burned everything he held dear.

But that was a long time ago.

Now, the resistance is dead. No one dreams of fighting back—for the Empire wields the weapons of the gods: warships that fly, robotic constructs that hunt, and rare mysteries scavenged from the tombs of the gods. Eolh lives a half-life, thieving, running jobs, and selling his services as a freelance listener for the last gangs of Lowtown. He trusts no one, and only looks out for himself.

When an unusual heist takes a deadly turn, Eolh must bargain with an overzealous android who carries an impossible secret—one that will shake the foundations of the universe.

There is one last hope for salvation. For his people, or maybe just for himself…

Read this series if you love Dune, Star Wars, or stories about prophecies and long-forgotten technology.

Take a journey across far-flung worlds filled with alien cultures and impossible technology. This epic Space Opera mixes elements of science fiction and fantasy, and features a cast of underdog characters who find untold strength as they awaken the ancient wonders buried by time.

All this was foretold... One day, a human god will return.

Now a Published Novel!

Buy a Copy Here or keep reading on RoyalRoad :)