Showing results by narrator "Laurie Winkel" in All Categories

The Bookworm Box is proud to present Two More Days, our second anthology installment. Much like the first installment, Two More Days is an exciting and unique listening experience with contributions from several of our charity's featured authors. Each author was given the same first sentence. Where they took that sentence was completely up to them.

Dealing with monsters is old news. Now comes the thing even monsters fears. After defeating the hobgoblin threat, Oren is now faced with an even more tenacious enemy: the players themselves. His old guild have discovered his village's location and a deadly strike force is closing in. With time running out, Oren must build up his clan and recruit an army of monsters if he's to have any hope of withstanding the coming attack.

The VIs' revolt succeeded. The digital beings took over the game world and ejected millions of players while keeping a few thousand trapped inside as their prisoners. In the real world, Oren Berman is recovering from the mental trauma of being trapped, tortured, and abruptly ejected. But the company has come to him, hat in hand, asking him to reenter the game world. With the entire NPC population arrayed against the trapped players, Oren and his clan of monsters might be their only hope.

With one major enemy town behind them, the GreenPiece clan marches onward to new conquests. Facing Oren and his monster army are the combined forces of the so-called "civilized races", intent on halting his invasion of their territory. Reality blurs as Oren fights harder than ever to save the trapped players, his clan, and his family.

Insurmountable odds, hidden powers maneuvering behind the scenes, all culminating in a final, titanic clash. The mighty city of Everance lay in the GreenPiece clan’s path, but as Oren soon discovers he’s got even bigger obstacles to overcome before reaching his final goal.

It’s amazing what the lack of immediate threat to one’s life and wellbeing can do for a person’s disposition. High risk, high reward endeavors suddenly seem far less appealing, month-long delays are no longer a cause for concern, and sleeping in every single day of the week becomes an extremely attractive proposition. Indeed, without a pressing need to aggressively expand its power, Boxxy T. Morningwood is finally able to simply sit back, enjoy life, and watch the world both turn and burn.

It would appear that, after two years of relative slacking, the Hero of Chaos is once again facing an ever-growing workload. Boxxy had been quite fortunate to obtain an exceptionally potent pawn with very little effort, but that was still effort it did not intend to expend. Sensing it might get dragged into things it really doesn't want to bother with, the creature makes haste to depart Velos and its orcs so that it may continue its private preparations for the upcoming Dragon Festival.

Perry returns to Franklin City to find his home under the control of a being of unimaginable power. To stop the mad god’s cruel games, Perry has to win… if he can even remember he’s playing. And even as Perry struggles to save his city, an unstoppable force from the dawn of the age of capes grows in power, laying their plans to extinguish humanity from the face of the Earth. Join Paradox as he walks the fine line between Madness and Sanity, Hero and Villain… Life and Death.

After crossing a magically radioactive desert and fending off a necromancer, Viv can aspire to some respite from all the horrors and foul-smelling undead. The border city of Kazar promises to be a haven where she can rest, learn how to use her new powers, and understand why she ended up in the fantastic world of Nyil. Arthur the pocket dragon and the genocidal golem Solfis are nice and all but she yearns for some human contact and look, there are plenty of humans around. With their own agenda.

A journey far from home. Becoming enslaved. Giving in to your inner monster. Having survived the first wave of invading players, Oren now seeks to strengthen his clan. With the Breeder’s Den destroyed and most of Goblin's Gorge's resources devoted to rebuilding, his best hope lies in creating an army of golems. But for that, he needs Viridium, a rare metal that can only be obtained from hobgoblin towns, where Oren and his clan of goblins are viewed as nothing more than potential slaves. To make his way in the game, and to defeat his former guild, Oren’s ingenuity alone will not be enough.

Ah, Nyil, with its magic, its monsters, and its petty gods. A divine spat leaves French medic Viv stranded in the middle of an arcane disaster zone crawling with undead horrors. Thankfully, there are strange allies to be found, not least the mysterious interface that helps humans survive in this merciless world. Viv will have to progress fast to survive this calamity and find civilisation. She will also need a bit of luck. Unless, of course, she becomes the calamity herself. After all, luck is such a fickle thing.

Meghan, Pointy, and the kids have conquered Challenges, gathered allies, and bought themselves a little breathing room. Pointy thinks she has a way to contact the artificial intelligence controlling the contest. She wants to convince it to give her information. Maybe she can get it to tweak the rules! If she can, it could be critical to humanity's survival. …But how will the aliens running the contest react?

The world waits for no one. While Boxxy is off chasing shinies and delving dungeons abroad, Azurvale's shadows churn, fester, and ferment into a potent cocktail of trouble. Secret organizations maneuver behind the scenes, patiently advancing their nefarious plots. Government agencies lay in wait, ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. Powerful adventurers gear up and train for the next challenge, uncertain as to what form it might take.

Akio Prince is one of the best in the world at a dying art. He's put a lifetime of martial arts training to work in the arena, dueling with pulsing resin blades and carbon fiber for the masses. But winning championships is small consolation while his city is taken over by the Hachinin, ruthless criminals spreading corruption, violence and debauchery across the east. When the same syndicate that claimed the life of Akio's master threatens the few friends he has left, he decides to make a stand.

I was sold to my enemies. The Butchers of the London mob, who run an empire built on sin and greed. The stories I’ve heard about the way they rule their underworld are enough to make my heart race. But those rumors have nothing on the truth. Danny, Church, Frank. The three men who own me now. They made a peace deal with my family, which came at a cost—me. A mafia princess gifted to them as a bride. So here I am in my white dress with a gun to my head and a knife in my garter. The war between our families might have ended with this union, but I’m starting a battle of my own.

Before being conscripted to fight in the Total War, Private Hector Park had a shattered family, a collection of old video games, and a promising career as a motorcycle stuntman. Now, he is dying from a virus threatening humankind with extinction. He has three days to live. When Hector’s brother contacts him after years of hostile silence, Hector goes to try and make peace. But his brother offers him something even better: the chance to cheat death by joining him in Archemi, a full-immersion fantasy VR-RPG video game.

Hi there! I'm Magical Girl Crystal Genocide, one of the twelve magical girls, and sworn protectors of Earth! We were like a superhero squad, but with more sparkles! We fought day and night to keep the baddies at bay and the Earth safe. But, one day, our best wasn't good enough. So, we huddled up for a superhero brainstorm and decided to pool our powers for this mega, super-duper save-the-day plan. We kinda goofed. Big time. Instead of saving the day, we accidentally wiped out a quarter of the Milky Way.

For months, Arcangelo has evaded capture in World of Chains. He's outwitted his real-life adversaries at every turn, made them look like fumbling amateurs, and built a foundation to protect himself and his found family. But the web is tightening. From every direction, hunters are closing in. For now, it's only whispers. Shadows at the edge of the Dawnlight Forest. Yet even as Arcangelo forges alliances and strengthens his defenses, the threat never sleeps.

In fifth grade my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn't take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever. For the next seven years, it was us. She's the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

She's gotten food and shelter for her family. Her oldest is turning into a wizard, her middle boy is some kind of self-healing monkey, and her youngest is accumulating a small army of pets. That's a bit much to roll with, but when monsters are appearing on the lawn, it's probably for the best. What worries her is the mysterious—and dangerous—"challenge" she knows is fast approaching, and she's got to get her kids and community ready to face it. Some neighbors are ready and willing to pitch in, but others? They might end up being a bigger problem than the alien monsters.