Showing results by narrator "Ryan Burke" in All Categories

When Pete Etchells was 13, his father died from motor neurone disease. In order to cope, he immersed himself in a virtual world - first as an escape, but later to try to understand what had happened. Etchells is now a researcher into the psychological effects of video games, and was co-author on a recent paper explaining why WHO plans to classify "game addiction" as a danger to public health are based on bad science and (he thinks) are a bad idea. In this, his first book, he journeys through the history and development of video games via scientific study....

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.

Joel Dunbar, the last branch of an Appalachian family tree, accepts a mysterious invitation from a billionaire plutocrat to attend a conservation expo in San Francisco. The rock star environmentalist has startling plans for the future and a caveat for Joel: Don’t ask too many questions, and don’t divulge any answers. But when Joel befriends a rebellious eco-friendly Arizona rancher, he’s roped into a new kind of war, with new kinds of casualties.

Efrem "Coleslaw" White is a video game tester and college student. He was on a tropical vacation with a diverse group of strangers, classmates, and friends when disaster struck. The next thing he knew, he was standing before a huge, floating man introducing himself as the god Dolos, and being given a second chance at life. There was a catch, though. There is always a catch.

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.

What separates great novels from mediocre ones? Story. Authors that master this vital skill keep their readers and listeners up at night, and suffer the deluge of 'when is the next book coming out' emails. Whether you are a first-time novelist, or a seasoned author, Plot Gardening will teach you the fundamentals of storytelling, delivered in a practical way. Through exercises at the end of each chapter you will build your own outline, and you'll do it without sacrificing the creativity that is so vital to telling great stories.

It's the Hollywood of the future, where moviemaking's been computerized and live-action films are a thing of the past. It's a Hollywood where Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe are starring together in A Star Is Born, and if you don't like the ending, you can change it with the stroke of a key. A Hollywood of warm bodies and sim-sex, of drugs and special effects, where anything is possible. Except for what one starry-eyed young woman wants to do: dance in the movies.

When the Solus Hegemony’s profit margins are threatened, expendable soldiers are called in to foot the bill—one bloody conquest at a time. Noah Rivers is one such soldier. Raised from birth with a single objective—obtain eternal glory through death in service to the galaxy’s most notorious corporate empire.

Were the Egyptian gods fanciful imaginings of primitive people or something more? Some believe they once walked the Earth as mortals, that they warred and loved just as any of their worshippers. This is their story--the tale of how Isis gained the power of shaping. How mighty Osiris died and lived again. How they discovered the fabled First Ark, a structure older than man. It is the tale of us all, the story that shaped our race from cave dwellers into the people we are today.

A man-made plague has ravaged humanity, the military is in shambles, and chaos reigns over the world. Hope seems nothing more than a dream. Captain Dominic Holland is determined to stop the inevitable. His daughters are finally safe, and his crew has found new ways to combat the Skulls. He leads the Hunters on a mission to recover vital research that may hold the key to stopping the biological agent responsible for this apocalyptic new world. Can the Hunters salvage what remains of humanity? Or is it already too late?

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.

Advertising is scary stuff, especially if you hate spreadsheets. If that's you, take heart! This audiobook will teach you how to run profitable advertising campaigns using a simple aggregate sales model. You don't need complex spreadsheets. You'll invest that time learning to find better images, and writing better marketing copy. You'll learn how to refine audiences, and the best part? You'll learn how to fit all this into 30 minute chunks. You'll learn to systematize your ad spend in a sustainable way that frees you up to write.

In a dire future following the Great Rebirth, the word “I” is unspeakable. Individualism has been erased in favor of collectivism. Any act that is not in service to the group is forbidden. And self-reliance is a punishable transgression. But for an anonymous rebellious street sweeper, that offense is all that stands between the authoritarian state and freedom. A hymn to egoism, Ayn Rand’s dystopian parable is the embodiment of her core tenets of self-sufficiency and fighting against the oppression of “We.”

The Purge decimated the planet almost a year ago, leaving small bands of humanity scrambling to find sanctuary from the hordes of unkillable monsters that reside in the darkness. Keo is one of the few who made it through that harrowing first night. Trapped in a small town in Louisiana, he finds himself joining forces with a group of strangers to make sense of what's happening.

A string of terrorist attacks explode across Galactic Union Space. The culprit: the Korvenite Liberation Front. Their target: humankind. If left unchecked, the Korvenites' vendetta will bring the Union - and humanity - to their knees. The elite Star Brigade unit once produced some of the Union's finest soldiers. And amongst Star Brigade's roster, Captain Habraum Nwosu was the best. Was - until one catastrophic battle annihilated both his team and Star Brigade's reputation.

It's been six years since a terrifying breed of seemingly unkillable creatures emerged from the darkness to topple the unprepared governments of the world, in the process knocking mankind down the food chain. Survivors called it The Purge. A few brave souls rose from the ashes of the old world to fight back, often against overwhelming odds. Led by indomitable heroes, they risked everything to achieve a final, stunning victory over the supernatural "ghouls" in The Battle of Houston. Five years later, what remains of the ghouls have fled back into the shadows.

The activation of the runes has the Osuna fleet mobilizing. They’re closing in, and thanks to a new class acquisition, the timeline to Judgment Day has sped up. After thousands of years in hiding, Governor Cullen refuses to believe the Cipher chose him just to watch his people lose everything. He races the clock to find and destroy the portal with the greatest loot. Problem is, every portal he opens cuts down his time to prepare. With his people’s future on the line, Cullen’s up against a war on two fronts—from the streets to the mystical beyond.

Jack Bennet has done the impossible: collected on a bounty in the notorious Pirate Worlds. He’s earned himself a nice boost to his reputation, a hefty payday...and a cult of enemies hell-bent on revenge. Reaching out to a friend at Fleet Intelligence lands Jack an offer he can’t refuse, but to collect, he’ll have to take the plunge back into the viper’s nest.

On a distant planet outside the reach of the Confederation, Garret Cushing finds himself in dire straits. Struggling with a guilty conscience and his life in the balance, he decides to do the unthinkable: turn himself over to the Confederation in exchange for protection.

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?