A huge world full of adventures, ancient mysteries and monsters starving for your death. A world where everyone can make their biggest dream come true and become anyone they wish – a successful trader, a wise anchorite, a brave warrior or a battle mage who can control disastrous elemental powers. But don’t expect that the path to your dream will be easy and rosy. The path to the top is very long, if only you can ever reach it.
Merkwürdige Dinge geschehen in der Zweiten Welt, einem multinationalen Online-Rollenspiel gigantischer Ausmaße. Auf einmal sind Neutralitätsabkommen und sogar Freundschaften vergessen. Ehemalige Verbündete schleichen wie Wölfe umeinander herum, und bald klirren ihre Schwerter aufeinander, schwirren Pfeile durch die Luft, und magischer Donner grollt über dem Land. Eine weltvergessene, völlig wertlose Mine wird zum Schauplatz erbitterter Kämpfe. Ihre niedergebrannten Ruinen wechseln mehrmals täglich den Besitzer. Jede Straße der Provinz wird kontrolliert. Niemand darf die Städte betreten oder verlassen, ohne seine Identität überprüfen zu lassen. Die Schwachen leiden unter der anhaltenden Gewalt durch Invasoren aus dem Osten, und die Starken...Die Starken setzen alles daran, den Schuldigen zu finden: den seltsamsten Noob, den die virtuelle Welt je gesehen hat.
[Complete Edition includes Part 1 and Part 2, plus a bonus chapter!] My name is Allec Renn, and I was born with ALS. Even with our modern technology, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cannot be treated or cured. I've been bed or chair bound since I was a kid. The advent of Virtual Reality technology has given me a chance for a new life. Or rather dozens of them. Heh. I'm an avid gamer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. In the games I could be what I wanted to be, who I wanted to be. A mighty warrior, a powerful spellcaster, the charming rogue. The crafter. The builder. All of those and more have helped to greatly alleviated my problems. But a new game is coming out; one with the power to change the world. It uses a brand new technology, based around the first ever deep immersion Dive Pod. With it there is no more game lag or graphical limits. It is being heralded as the greatest breakthrough in Virtual Reality technologies since its founding. And the first and only game for Universe Online. No longer will players be stuck on a single large world to explore. No longer will there a limit to what you can do, what you can be. Fly spaceships between the stars, conquer planets, create custom technology. Mine, Build, Destroy. Explore. Rule. This is my story, and my path in Universe Online.
Once a seasoned gamer, Max has cheated fate swapping his dying body for an immortal avatar in the world of sword and sorcery MMORPGs. He joins the ranks of a new race of people: perma players, forever stuck in the virtual castles and cities of AlterWorld. Now they have to obey the ever-changing rules of their new home while learning to live together in peace, love and justice.
But freedom and immortality are a poisoned chalice. Some of Max's new friends crave power, others become traitors and spies. Soon the first screams of pain fill the virtual world as its freshly-minted slavedrivers and torturers indulge in the absence of law and order. Their crimes provide a constant flow of gold back to their real-world controllers: the power-happy governments plotting to take over AlterWorld's magic technologies and limitless resources.
What would you do? Would you step aside and watch the magical world turn into the Earth's dark twin? Or are you strong enough to step in the virtual sharks' way?
The flames of war spread through the Cursed Princedom to devastating effect. Bound by powerful centuries-old magic, the Great Essences yearn to regain their freedom. In the face of an impossible mission, Krian has no choice but to keep going, while risking everything that's become dear to him. The only solution is to become stronger and forget the meaning of the word “impossible.” And so a plangent wolf’s howl soars over the battlefield as a plate-clad cavalry rushes the enemy ranks…
The Battlefield Realm. A realm where sects rise and fall where the ground trembles under the feet of fighters from the higher realms.
Where riches are gained and Empires lost.
This is where Erik and Rugrat must go if they want to increase their strength, to increase the strength of Alva. They say that fortune favors the bold. This is the Ten Realms. To the Victor go the spoils.
The Fourth Realm will change their lives, or end them.
Bran is about to face the Hero’s Clan initiation, ready to unlock the legendary bloodline he’s always craved. But nothing goes according to plan. Instead of a smooth ascent to power, Bran is forced into the spotlight when one catastrophe leads to another, threatening the lives of every new recruit. Hiding was never his strong suit, but now it’s impossible. To save his clanmates, Bran steps out of the shadows—only to uncover a long-forgotten branch of the Hero’s Clan, one that was erased from history in his past timeline. With secrets unraveling and danger mounting, Bran knows the future of the clan rests on his shoulders. But to protect them, he may have to take off the mask and seize control of a destiny that’s been waiting for him all along.
After a terrible car crash puts seventeen-year-old Noah Newbolt into a coma, he is hooked up to the innovative Dream Engine—a virtual reality helmet that immerses the player in an online fantasy game. The Dream Engine keeps Noah’s mind alive while doctors frantically work to heal his body, but his death in the game could result in irreversible brain damage.
While Noah learns to navigate the Dream Game, his girlfriend, Sue, suffers injuries from the same crash. Then the doctors’ attempts to connect her to the game result in her apparent death. When a mysterious avatar drops notes suggesting the last remnants of Sue’s consciousness are being held prisoner in the most dangerous part of the game, Noah takes it upon himself to rescue her.
He allies himself with a group of high-level players to help him in his quest, but his rise through the ranks earns him a bounty. With top players across the world gunning for Noah, can he stay alive--and awake--long enough to save Sue and escape the game?
When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over.
After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil—and he is now its newest recruit.
The island once belonged to the Amazons, daughters of Ares, the God of War, and stood as the final bastion between the human world and the monstrosities of the Great Below. But Jacob’s arrival has awakened the old gods and disturbed the seal holding the ravaging darkness at bay.
Now, with the help of a sacred gem containing Ares’ power, Jacob must recreate the Amazonian defenders of humanity and fortify the island stronghold. And if he fails, Hades will unleash his army of the damned and the world of men will fall, giving rise to an age of walking nightmares.
"You had me at mythology. You sold me at the crafting, game mechanics, great characters, and serious action. From start to finish, War God's Mantle delivers. Do not miss this book!" — Harmon Cooper, author of Fantasy Online and The Feedback Loop series.
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