Bøger af Greg Curtis

Yorik of Ender's Fall. A Paladin of the Order of the Lady, and a man at risk of losing everything. His entire family has been murdered by a dark wizard, and there has been no justice for them. Instead the wizard Mayfall has fled, fleeing the hangman's noose and his brothers in the Order have been unable to capture him. So Yorik has broken his vows, escaped the chapter, and set off after Mayfall on a mission of vengeance. A mission that will at the least end his life as a paladin of the Order, and may end his life completely as he breaks his vows to the Lady. But he will not be stopped. What he doesn't know is that if he should succeed in his mission of vengeance he will begin a chain of violence and death that could well destroy the world. And then he ran into the elves.

Retired agent David Hill lives a quiet life in a remote wilderness community. His neighbours don't know him. His name is a lie and even his face is not his own. With enemies like his it's safer that way. Then one night an injured alien woman crashes into his life needing his help. She's beautiful and innocent and above all else, in need. What's a man to do? But she also poses a conflict for him. Because he knows what his old bosses will do to Cyrea if they catch her. What they will do to her people. And to his neighbours who've been hiding the Leinians for years. He must choose between his duty and his conscience. To expose her to them is to place them all in deadly peril. To keep the secret is to betray everything he has believed in his whole life. But a greater danger stalks them all. David's most dangerous enemy is hunting him. The Leinians have their own enemy though they don't know it. And when the two of them get together it just may be the end of the world.

We're nephilim. We're screwed. Words to live by for Special Agent Garrick Hamilton. Not that life as a nephilim was terrible. But it was hard. The trouble began with the Choir who had no understanding and even less tolerance of their half blood offspring, but plenty of rules for them to follow. Then there was the need to keep their secret from the normals, which meant hiding their gifts. And of course there was always the pain of coming from broken homes and broken parents. Still he'd made a life for himself. He used his gift to help him hunt down serial killers. He had a house and a career. He had a future. Then one day the Choir came to him with a teenage girl to escort to the Westlord Academy. A nephilim connected to the world's most notorious bank robber. And from that moment on his life turned to hell. The kid was a nightmare. The Choir were unhappy with him. And people were trying to kill him. But then he was a nephilim. He had always been screwed.

There are doorways in the world. Fractures in the world between Earth and fourteen other worlds. Places where a few very special people can not just see these other worlds, but travel to them. These people call themselves travellers, and Elrick Moorcroft is one of them. Life as a traveller is good. You can easily make a lot of money by digging up the untapped wealth of the other worlds. You don't have to work. And you can explore the fifteen worlds as much as you want. But there are two things you never want to do. First let any of the governments of Earth know about either the doorways or the travellers. And second disobey any of the rules of the Ellis veri (elves) High Guard. They are less than understanding. But the day that Elrick stepped through from his home in Erislan to the number nine platform of the Wellington Railway Station and came across a dead body he knew that both of those things were likely to happen. When the man had very obviously been killed by a giant predator from another world, a predator that was loose in Wellington, it seemed almost certain. And he knew that one other thing was almost certain. It would all be his fault somehow!

Life is not easy for Samual Hanor. As a half elf living among the elves of Shavarra he is distrusted. And yet that same life helps to keep him safe from the army of assassins his half brother Heri keeps sending after him. But safety isn't enough. As a husband whose wife has been locked away by his half brother the king of Fair Fields, he lives in a dark place of conflicting emotions. He's torn constantly between the rage for Heri for what he's done, and the fear that he may never see his wife again. He lives in dread that she may die in that dungeon before he is finally able to rescue her. Every day he trains, aching to free her through his magic and the might of his sword. But always he's held back by the fear that Heri might kill her the moment he comes for her. He grows in strength as he trains, yet lives with despair as he doubts that he has the power. That he will ever have the power he needs. He is trapped. But then an ancient warlord known only as the Dragon sends an army of steel machina against the elves of Shavarra, murdering thousands and driving them from their home, and Sam finally has an enemy he can fight. An enemy he can unleash his fury on. It's time for him to release his fire!

It is the twenty sixth century and mankind has suffered under the tyrannical rule of the ubers for over a century. Four fifths of humanity were wiped out in the uprising by homo superior. Those humans who survived were turned into slaves in all but name. They were luckier than some. After conquering the Earth the ubers turned their greedy eyes to space and started a war with the Alliance. A war which has lasted for decades and cost countless billions of lives as world after world has been overrun. Those aliens captured, have been enslaved, while the humans have been forced into the unwilling role of overseers. In the middle of this is Manx. An engineer on board a starship and a human who has defied the ubers genetic purity laws and fallen in love with an alien woman. A man who will be betrayed by her as the Alliance deals a devastating counter attack to the Terran Empire. That's war. Betrayal is a strategy as old as time and it lies at the heart of every war including this one. And uncovering that secret history of betrayals may be the key to ending the power of the ubers. But it will take an engineer's mind to do that. It will take Manx. Can a man betrayed learn to find trust again? In the woman he loved? In the enemies of his people? Or will the war never end?

Once there was a man named Anders Voss. He was a criminal. A man caught and sentenced to a lifetime in jail. And a man given a single chance to escape his fate. They would take him, train him, and send him to the stars. And they did just that. But they lied. They didn't tell him that the transport would kill him. That he would die on Earth and another innocent man would be born on an alien planet. A man with his memories and his body, built from his remains. A man who would be born out of death, with its fingers gripped firmly around his soul. With his body damaged from the process, sickness stalking him, and death due to claim him soon. But they also didn't tell him that they would send him to a world where there were aliens.

Life as a rural detective in the Waikato wasn't what Clem had always dreamed of. He wanted to investigate homicides not missing farm equipment. And to add to his woes his commanding officer hated him. But he was a gorgon. His vipers might hiss a bit, but he would endure.Then he was handed the worst murder case possible. One that couldn't be solved because it had been committed by magic. The Council could never allow the existence of magic and magical creatures to be revealed to the world.A thief's life was a better one however, and Acadia was pleased with what she did. Until the night the FBI rang her up to tell her her baby sister had been killed. Then she was plunged into a world of grief and pain. Worse, she found herself immersed in a world of the supernatural as she investigated the murder. Of wizards and gods and ancient Greek myths. A world she'd never even imagined.And somewhere in the middle of it all were the revenants.

Life for a wildling is tough. Survival depends on how far you can run and how well you can hide. Dorn has run a very long way and learned to hide very well. More than that he has made a home for himself in the wastes - a land so dangerous that his enemies would not dare venture into it. His family are lost, maybe dead. He is alone. But he has survived. Still when he killed a harpy to save the life of a woman Dorn knew it was a dangerous mistake to make. He had no idea how dangerous. He didn't know that the dusky elves were riding through the wastes killing and enslaving his kind. He had no idea that the black priests were also riding for them, planning on burning them alive. And he never knew that an ancient war was coming to his home. But he would soon learn that the time for hiding was over. On two legs or four it was time to run again - or fight.

Christian Aaron Moody the Third lost his entire family a decade before when they went off prospecting in the family ship and never returned. Now ten long years have passed. He has spent that time learning everything he needed to know about spaceship construction and hunting for an ancient battleship to restore to its former glory so it can carry him out into unknown and dangerous space. It has been a long journey. It has taken everything he has. But finally he's ready. Now nothing is going to stand in his way as he sets off on his quest. Not the navy who refused to search for his family when they first went missing. Not the pirates who jumped their claim and quite possibly killed them. Not an alien race set on destroying the entire Federation and enslaving its citizens. Not even his health, which is failing after years of illegal drug use. And it certainly won't be the endless whining of his faithful android, Bibby, as he constantly reminds him of the danger of his actions. Christian Aaron Moody the Third is on his way to find out what happened to his family and it's time for the galaxy to stand aside!

Life can be confusing. One moment he was flying high above a barbarian realm in the Royal Skyship and his life made sense. The next the ship's deck had gone - disintegrated beneath his feet - and he was plummeting to his death. Then the one after that he was injured and trying to find his way back home. Walking through a realm full of savages and wild creatures. Hoping to cross a thousand leagues on foot without getting himself eaten. All of that Fineas understood. But why was there a wild boar traveling with him?

We reached the stars but they didn't want us! It is the twenty fourth century and mankind has finally achieved the dream and travelled to the stars. Unfortunately when he got there, it was to find that the stars were already filled with advanced alien races, and that humanity would have to earn their place in the Interstellar Community through a probationary period. But worse was to follow, as that normal probation of fifty standard years, became over a hundred in mankind's case, for no known reason. And there is no end in sight. In this dark time for mankind, Dr. Daryl Chalmers, a xeno-archaeologist working alone on a dead alien world, is co-opted by a scientific expedition sponsored by the Interstellar Community to take part in one of the greatest xeno-archaeological quests ever attempted. They intend to back track the exodus of the Calderonians from the local sector of the galaxy, ten thousand years earlier. This in the hope that their journey will in turn will lead them to the almost mythical race known only as the ancients. This will be the expedition of a lifetime. But trapped for at least a year on a military ship, surrounded by aliens that detest him, given the task of breaking into ancient cities filled with deadly defences, and likely unable to return home, Daryl knew it would not be easy. And that was before they threw him in the brig, before the attempts on his life, and before he discovered a race of human beings living in the Community. It was also before he accidentally triggered an interstellar war.

Briagh has a secret. He's a morph. One born with the gift of changing shape. He has another secret too. He's also a thief. A genuine cat burglar. Meanwhile Elan has her own secret. Despite pretending to be a bardic warrior she's actually the Princess of Abylon. And she too has a second secret. Her entire family is mad. Her father and brothers are unable to rule. Her mother is not dead as people believe. Instead she's become the psychotic wolf mother, whose pack has been killing and devouring the people of the city for a decade. And then there's the Court and their little secret. They rule the Kingdom of Abylon even though they do not have the right. Secrets are useful things. They allow people like Elan and Briagh to live normal, even comfortable lives. They allow a kingdom to be governed by those who do not have the authority. They make life for the people of Abylon possible. But when their secrets are revealed, none of those things may hold. And when the wolf mother is the reason for that revelation - it may be war.

Watch the sky, friend - You never know when a cow might come tumbling out of it! Wizards grow old like everyone else. But some wizards grow deadly with it! Wilberforce Wilberton is such a wizard. Once one of the most powerful of his peers, his mind has slipped into chaos. His spells are failing spectacularly. Paranoia has taken root in his heart. Normally that shouldn't be a problem for Edrick - a young wizard in hiding from his family. He could just retreat to his home in Faerie and let the world go on without him. In fact that would be best since Wilberton has focused his madness on him. But even he needs to come into town every so often. Unfortunately the wizard's latest misfiring spell has abducted an entire village of winged elves from another realm and now he can't send them home. And as a fellow wizard Edrick has an obligation to help fix things. But Wilberton won't like that!

Not all elves are nice! High Lord Finell of the elves sits on the Heartwood Throne, lost in grief and rage. His sister has been brutally murdered and he dreams of revenge against those who murdered her, the savage humans. And he doesn't care who has to suffer to make his dream a reality. Not his people. Not his own house. Unknown to him his trusted adviser Y'aris was actually the one behind the crime. He plays the high lord like a puppet, while he secretly plots to destroy Finell and take the throne for himself, and then to launch a war of purification. He dreams of a day when the only people left in the world will be elves of the most noble blood, and he will sit as their king. Unfortunately to make his dream come true Y'aris had to make a deal with a demon, and the demon has his own plans for the world. Standing against them are Lord Iros of Greenlands, envoy for the human realm of Irothia, and a few other brave souls. But their dreams have become nightmares.

James Henderson was once a proud cop. A detective. A husband and father. But then the world of magic came tearing into his world and that life ended. Now five years on he's a hunter. Tasked with tracking down rogue witches and wizards for the Illuminati. It's not the job he dreamed of. It's not the life he loved. His co-workers don't respect him. He's forever in trouble with his bosses. They even tried to take away his Sig and give him a magical toy gun! But it's a job and he's good at it. Then the banshee entered his life, and his world was turned upside down once again. Suddenly he had a whole new problem to deal with. And an unexpected question to answer. Was he the hunter? Or the hunted?

Ten thousand dollars. It was a lot of money for a simple injection. It was a lot of money for a student. And the one thing that William Simons knew about the research trial was that it was safe. Of course he said yes. But that was before he discovered that Doctor Millen had a secret agenda. Before he discovered that what he'd been given wasn't the same as what the other subjects had been given. And it was before his body started to transform into something else. Something not human. It was also before a series of inexplicable natural disasters started to destroy Los Angeles.

Alan Feralis, half dark elf, wizard and son of a human knight, has been called upon by the elves to save them all. There's just one problem - they are his most hated of enemies. Still the necromancer stirs in his lair once more, and he brings with him the promise of the end of all life if he is not stopped. And it seemed like such a simple task at first, for a powerful elemental wizard. Just go to the mountain, send in his elemental servants, and have them tap on an ancient wizard's tomb. Such a very simple, if somewhat dangerous task. But then he never expected to awaken an entire family of ancient wizards, or after that thousands more. He never expected to have to battle armies of the undead. And above all else, he never expected to upset the dragons!

Artemis the Huntress has descended to the world. Her armies of chimera have laid waste to the five kingdoms. And those who survive under her temple's bloody rule either serve or hide. Ever since the fall of Lion's Crest Harl has been forced to run and hide knowing that his family and everyone he has ever called a friend are dead. He has hidden for five long years, torn always between his desire for vengeance and his fear. But fear has always won. After all what can one man, even a swordsman with an enchanted blade do against a goddess? All he can do in the end is survive. Then one day a dryad came to him, begging him to rescue her sister from the temple and he finally gave in to his wrath. To his desire for vengeance and his need to finally save someone. But when he did he began a chain of events he could never have foreseen. Terrible secrets and betrayals were revealed. A war for the liberation of the five kingdoms began. Harl's life was thrown into turmoil. And the gods themselves started getting involved. All for a pretty woman's tears.

Independence Day (c) 2018 Greg Curtis, Kim Calder, Ariel Evans Insert Blanc Press

REFUSE PRIZE © Greg Curtis Ben White Insert Blanc Press 2015 ISBN: 978-0-9961696-1-5 Photography by Michael Underwood This work was previously exhibited at Elephant Art Space and The Phoebe Conley Gallery at CSU Fresno.

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