Cyberpunk Fantasy

Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.

In the year 2107, the world has both made astounding leaps forward and reduced humanity to its most basic existence. While the megacorps and those who rule them enjoy lives of extraordinary comfort and ease, most people barely scrape by, doing whatever they can to keep going. Juliet Bianchi is one of the latter. She works cutting metal in a scrapyard and doesn't have much to show for it except for a small group of equally bereft, fiercely loyal friends. Still, she maintains a bright disposition, possessing more hope and optimism than anyone would expect her to—and she's going to need it.

The year is 2375, and the world has been drained of most of its natural resources. In order to preserve their dying planet, the government puts The Digital Life Initiative into action. Those deemed of low economic value are placed into a state of cryogenic sleep, their minds connected to a myriad of virtual worlds. They become digital citizens, living out their lives in virtual cities. Kadia Greene wasn’t someone who had any interest in the virtual worlds, unlike her brother who spent his days wasting away in a VR capsule.

When a down-on-his-luck engineer ends up coming into possession of a rundown suit of power-armor, he sees an opportunity to make some quick cash by selling it off to the nearest supervillain. Unfortunately for him, what should have been a quick and easy sale to pay off his debts quickly grows into an ongoing series of events that serve only to drag him deeper and deeper into the criminal underbelly of the city he calls home.

When Charles Morris is forced into retirement, the old multinational company CEO has to accept that it is all over. The days of running his financial empire have finally come to an end. All because of a stupid heart attack. While Charles is attending a fundraiser, however, something happens and he's transported into a strange medieval world where magic is real and legendary heroes coexist with mythical monsters. Follow him as he builds roads and shops, hires heroes, develops alliances with neighboring villages...but also fights terrible foes.

When a corporate lackey has the rug pulled out from under his illusions, will his hidden fire flicker or ignite a rebellion? Orphaned and alone, Moss is happy to have found a place in the world. But his humdrum working routines take a terrifying turn when a mysterious woman breaks into his apartment and hands him a data chip from his dead parents. Suddenly hearing messages revealing his benevolent employer has a far darker side, he braves the dangerous megacity streets in search of the truth.

Dakota Krout presents the second book in The Completionist Chronicles series.

Getting stuck in virtual reality isn't fun, but being trapped in an NPC's dead body is really the pits. Still, there might be a way out-provided John can find the Scroll of Rebirth. The problem is, finding it is only half the hassle; knowing how to use it is another bag of worms entirely. Several months of full VR immersion may have turned the cumbersome walking deadman into a swift killing machine, allowing him to earn the patronage of the Lord of Chaos and even acquire his own crypt - but John is still a long way away from reaching the coveted level 100.

Auras empowering the body to superhuman status. Invocations tearing the land asunder. The war has arrived. The necromantic armies are on the warpath and nowhere is safe—even the sanctuary of the flying dungeon has been threatened. The leadership of nearly all the sentient races has been wiped out, and only the people most suited to repelling the advancing darkness have an intact monarchy. Cal learns quickly that the primary threat is not the far-off war, but the actions of those entrusted with protecting the population.

In sparkling Night City, a ragtag group of strangers have just pulled off a heist, robbing a convoy transporting a mysterious container belonging to Militech. The only thing the group has in common is that they were blackmailed into participating in the heist—and they have no idea just how far their mysterious employer's reach goes, or the purpose of the artifact they stole.

Diving into a revolutionary new video game, Marcus and his friends escape a stagnant society, entering into a world that defies their wildest imaginations. But from the moment that he logs in, Marcus finds himself separated from his friends and thrown into a remote village under attack by a horde of goblins. Forced into battle, Marcus rallies the beleaguered villagers and, with their help, manages to drive off the invading creatures. With the village in ruins and their supplies spoiled, the villagers turn to Marcus for help in rebuilding the village.

Orphaned and alone, Moss is happy to have found a place in the world. But his humdrum working routines take a terrifying turn when a mysterious woman breaks into his apartment and hands him a data chip from his dead parents. Suddenly hearing messages revealing his benevolent employer has a far darker side, he braves the dangerous megacity streets in search of the truth. Surrounded by outcasts and criminals and running on instinct, Moss stumbles onto a rebel group intent on exposing their corrupt oppressors.

This is it, the day I take over my father’s adventuring shop! Set at the base of Gianskarl mountain, where lies a vast and mysterious dungeon, this is the perfect spot. Many adventurers come to try their hand at the Karl in the hopes of hitting it big. And it’s up to me now to sell them the equipment they’ll need to face the dangers that await them. But where my father was content selling trinkets for a pittance, I want to turn this modest shop into the industry leader.

Due to unusual circumstances, Randidly starts in an isolated dungeon far beyond his level, forced to rely on the mysterious Traveler Shal in order to learn and survive with the dangerous new status quo for his world. But survive he does, only to leave the dungeon and discover that while he experienced several hellish months in the dungeon, only half a day passed on Earth. Randidly's capabilities are now more than enough to help build a small enclave of survivors, but that doesn't mean balancing his sense of responsibility against the plots of an unfriendly town will be easy.

She's unlike any one or any thing else: a Non-Standard Leashed-Intelligence Cybernetic Enforcer aka NSLICE-00P. The first of her kind, she's let loose into a universe of superheroes on behalf of her sinister masters to destroy all who oppose them. And everything's going according to plan—until NSLICE-00P gets hacked and sent into the past to kill her own creator before he creates her. Obeying orders as always, she wastes the poor guy. Unfortunately, there are consequences to initiating a reality-breaking time paradox. The most significant: total ejection from that reality.

Like all Purebred with their menial jobs, Ken ekes out a living sweeping the floors of Kyoto Peacekeeping Central. His kind serves as a benchmark for XHumans to measure how far they've progressed and a reminder of what Homo sapiens once was. His life changes when 800-year-old Ryu crosses over from the World of Rivers and Lakes, looking for a lost temple; and Aya, a beautiful hacker whose Sensory Interface perceives the EtherCloud as Feudal Japan, learns that XHumans aren't as perfect as they thought.

When a high-value scientist is taken hostage inside the galaxy's most dangerous prison, Halek Cain is the only man for the job. The last remaining survivor of the Reaper program, Hal is an unstoppable force of fuel and madness. A veteran amputee-turned-cyborg, he has a history of violence and a talent for killing that is unmatched by any soldier. With the promise of freedom as his only incentive, he'll stop at nothing to earn back his life from the people who made him, imprisoned him, and were too afraid to let him die.

Tower 7 has gone completely dark, and security androids are killing civilians. No one knows what has become of the tower's 520,000 residents or who is responsible for the mysterious assault, but the priority of the mission is clear. Tycho and Gabriel must breach the tower, investigate the missing civilians, and locate the one responsible…all while trying to stay alive.

Seventeen-year-old Truth Medici scavenges for scraps to eat; weathers his parents' abuse; and battles derelicts, killer pimps, and demons in the soul-crushing stretch of desperation he calls home. Even the cops steer clear of the toxic Harban slums. But just across the canal live the magical elite, with their wealth, flying carpets, gorgeous mages, and custom spell beasts, all thanks to the patronage of the almighty Starbrite Corporation. Getting there, and taking his three vulnerable siblings with him, is Truth's only dream.

Ninety years ago, Earth was consumed—and irrevocably transformed—by a cloud of alien nanites known as the Mist, bestowing humanity with uncanny abilities and enhancing technology far beyond early twenty-first century science. But these advancements came at a high price: Billions are dead. The planet has been overrun by vicious monsters. And alien overlords await the opportunity to swoop in and exploit what remains of Earth and its people for all their worth.