Showing results by narrator "Ryan Kennard Burke" in All Categories

Bad luck seems to follow navy officer Archer Devereaux like toilet paper stuck to his shoe. Even when he tries to do the right thing, he ends up in hot water—or behind bars. Hemmed in by circumstances beyond his control, his reputation, particularly among graduates of the Phlegraean Naval Academy, has become a mess. Fortunately, one of his superior officers knows that Devereaux is more than his mishaps. She sees that he's a clever young officer. Cool under fire.

Our world is tumbling into the sun. The quakes have leveled cities. Soon the continents themselves will break apart. The ships are gone. There's no way off. But I'm not giving up. I'm a Relic Hunter...an archaeologist with a gun, and I have a plan. Our people arrived on Kemet thousands of years ago in the wake of a terrible space battle. The Great Ships are still up there, ancient derelict hulks powered by a combination of technology and magic, created by gods we no longer remember or understand. If I can get one of those ships active, maybe I can save myself.

Nefarius has risen. She is implacable. Unstoppable. God after god is fallen and consumed, and each time the terrible dragon-goddess grows stronger. Nebiat has stolen the Spellship, depriving Voria of its strength when she needs it most. But Nebiat's schemes have never been tested by someone like Talifax, and she will finally discover she's not as clever as she believes.

Captain Dominic Holland leads a crew of skilled covert operatives and talented scientific personnel. He's taken them to all corners of the Earth to protect the United States from biological and chemical warfare. When his CIA handler, Meredith Webb, gives him a mission to investigate a disturbing lead on a laboratory based out of an abandoned oil rig, they discover the most terrifying threat to mankind they've ever faced - a genetically engineered biological weapon called the Oni Agent.

Before he became an archmage to topple an empire, before he met the legendary Eradicator Xal, Saghir was born a free ratkin, living on the streets of Gateway, a perilous desert city at the edge of the Blasted Lands. Each month, the free laborers must pay their tithe in coin, or blood. Every ratkin in Saghir's tribe searches for something of value, lest their whole people be enslaved. Ruthless Corax, carnivorous scarabs, and worse infest the city. There are countless ways for a rat to die, and all it takes is one mistake. There are no second chances.

As Jack’s reputation increases, so does the size of the bounty on his own head, but that’s not the worst of it.... The conspiracy he’s uncovered points to a doomsday scenario, an impending act of depraved violence with steep collateral damage—and it’s set to happen right on his home planet.

Necrotis has raised an armada to make our sector tremble. Hundreds of warships have begun to overwhelm the Confederacy, and we don't have nearly enough magic or ships to defend every world. Our only real hope is resurrecting the Vagrant Fleet. We have the Spellship, and our demon allies control the Earthmother's Bulwark. I'm the captain of the Word of Xal, our most powerful offensive ship in the fleet. We're strong, but Necrotis is stronger, and the gap is growing.

Major Voria stands ready to accept the cost for her actions at Marid. Stripped of command and resources, Voria must find a ship and rally a crew. Somewhere within the Umbral Depths lays a hidden world, a world that the dead god, Marid, intended her to find. Aran faces a choice. Halt his war mage training and, in the process, give up clues to his past, or abandon Voria. Aran sacrifices everything to follow Voria on a suicidal quest into the one place where even gods fear to tread.

Only the trio of returning Ark Lords has a prayer of stopping Nox, but they face problems of their own. Blair and Liz arrive in Northern California to find Angel Island deserted, and San Francisco controlled by a kingdom of deathless. Jordan and Trevor return to Peru where werewolves have founded a new religion worshiping the Mother. A religion that preaches that Trevor is the ancient enemy and must be destroyed. Only Jordan can save him, if he can finally learn to trust an old enemy.

Technical Chief "Pappy" Gunther is a grizzled, burning out commando in the United Earth Armed Forces. He ponders a return to civilian life, yet feels a strong sense of belonging to his elite team. When colonists on a far-flung world request aid, a task force from several allied systems is assembled. Pappy and his crack unit are sent to investigate and to engage a mysterious alien force from beyond.

Four centuries ago, the Stewards rained ash on the heartland of an empire for a year and a day, murdering the Elentian Empire and orphaning the Hasran Imperium where I was born. The stories say the ash drains magic and that any who venture into the Ashlands will need to contend with the armies of unliving swimming beneath the ash—unliving as old as the Mad Imperator Jhordil himself.

The Void Wraith are not yet ready to begin their war against the Milky Way. Experiments must be conducted. DNA mapped. Slaves created. They move cautiously, their agents infiltrating the governments of every major race. But every invasion leaves clues - clues that one OFI officer has stumbled across. Stations are disappearing. Whole populations gone seemingly overnight. Commander Nolan convinces the Office of Fleet Intelligence to dispatch him to investigate. He discovers something far more sinister and far reaching than he imagined.

Dragons with assault cannons? How is that fair? I saved Highspire and the academy from the dissolution of our world. Seventeen-thousand students survived, and I want to keep it that way. The ship is breaking down. Life support needs repairs, and we have almost no food. We need money badly. That means scavenging tech that we can sell to the same people who blew up our planet. Fortunately I'm the best Relic Hunter in the business...though to be fair all the rest died when my world tumbled into the sun. There are six other Great Ships out there, and who knows what we'll find inside?

I have been sentenced to death for the crime of being born; of winning the Hasran's war for them. But my death has purchased the freedom of my people, and so I go to it gladly, ready for whatever final torture they might have in mind. The Imperator has decreed that I will be sacrificed in the Great Games, a sacred ritual that will magically empower the Gateway Arena. It requires five god-souled, the reincarnations of gods, divine shards that can be fed to the Arena, and used to increase its size. It means my life has narrowed to one purpose: live.

Captain Nolan destroyed the Void Wraith factory and the fleet guarding it, but every victory comes with a price. The destruction of the Helios Gate in the Ghantan system stranded Nolan and his crew months from the closest Gate. Dryker and Khar have been imprisoned by the Primo, forced to remain idle.

They sent me into the blasted lands to die. I refused. I lived. And now...I return to the empire that discarded me. A god, rich with worship. I don't know what has become of Hasra, or the war with the Fomori. I don't know where Li is, or if her homeland is still dealing with the wyrm Khonsu. My sister and mother were freed—the reward for my blood price— but I have no idea what has become of them. It is time to go home. Time to right old wrongs, and to find the legacy left behind by my former incarnation. Three tombs remain. Once I am certain my family is safe I will seek them.

The Borwyn remain undeterred as they gather hardware and rally their allies. It’s best not to fight from within a vacuum, unless that vacuum is space, and the fight is between starships. The crew of Chrysalis are challenged afresh when their goal is changed in light of new revelations. Jaq, Crip, Max, and the rest continue their fight against the Malibor in this fast-paced continuation of the Starship series.

Make a high-speed run of Septimus, the Borwyn home planet, but the Malibor have a different idea about where the battle will be fought. Who is the predator, and who is the prey? The Borwyn find their new friends can be both a hindrance and helpful. Liberate Septimus and free the Borwyn. It takes all of Jaq’s willpower to focus the crew on their singular goal.

When an ancient evil threatens the galaxy, all that stands in the way is a bounty hunter with a plan… but no plan survives contact with the enemy. Jack walks right into a trap, inadvertently giving the Predecessor Cult exactly what they want; the means to unleash a devastating new weapon. Without immediate and decisive action, death and destruction will wash across the entire galaxy, wiping out human and Tahni alike. A threat of this magnitude cannot be thwarted by a lone bounty hunter.

War on a scale not seen in this sun-cycle has begun. Nox and his demonic army were thwarted at the Proto-Ark, but not before forging the tool that will hasten the destruction of the world. The Grey Men have a Primary Access Key, and are ready to bring their masters home. The Builders are coming. Millions of deathless surround Jordan in the broken Ark of the Mother. The only thing standing between Lima and destruction is the last god anyone wants to trust...Irakesh. Jordan follows Sobek to Australia in search of allies, but what lurks there predates humanity.