Similar stories:
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Mud Crab Kingdom: The Soft-Shelled Prince by Dr. Joel Anthony Hamilton In a time ruled by fair-skinned kings and racial divides, the son of a fair-skinned king and mud-skinned peasant, Marcious Leojé, spends his days far beyond his father's kingdom in the muddy mangroves with his best friend, Etel Duetman. Here, they form an unusual kinship with the native crabs and build a mud kingdom. These two mud-skinned teenagers feel invincible within this playground-sized fortress. The discrimination within the kingdom cannot reach them and the mud walls provide a sense of security. However, they soon learn that their kingdom is nothing more than a mud wall, as it is unable to protect those they love. Cast into despair and the unknown world, they must learn to build a kingdom capable of protecting those they love. Along their journey they encounter people who show them the products of love, war, and despair. However, Marcious cannot envision his product, his own kingdom. Everywhere, being mud-skinned is worse than murder, and being "different" is worse than being mud-skinned. Will his vow to create a kingdom withstand the rising tides or will it wash away like that of his childhood? |
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Summoning and Sacrifice by Nathan Hartle A hunted woman. A missing god. The adventure of a lifetime. All that Shada desires is peace and freedom. What she has is fear and hunger. She’s a servant on the run from her cruel master, who is determined to lock her away. Then comes a chance at a new life. Alone in the vast, cruel city of Ronia, she meets the Lady. This enigmatic spirit makes her an offer: Shada can accept her dismal lot… or undertake a quest to find Ronia’s vanished god. For the gods disappeared without a trace in the long-ago age of legend, leaving the worlds of humans to chaos and war. Without its god, Ronia’s once-mighty empire is crumbling toward an abyss. To save their people, Shada and her ragtag companions will journey to the ends of the universe. But first, they must escape Ronia alive. Many in this city of blades, poison, and shadow mean to stop them at all costs. If they fail, slavery or death await them... and their world will fall into darkness. Summoning and Sacrifice is the opening book of the Liturgy of Worlds epic fantasy series. |
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Non-Conscious by Andi van Houten In a post-cybernetic world where most have abandoned their neural enhancements, seventy-year-old Herbert Ferris clings to his outdated tech—and the troubled legacy it carries. Once a rogue hacker, Ferris now clocks in at Re/Live Corporation as a digital ecologist, crafting biomes for the popular fantasy game world, New Europa. But when a glitch starts turning players’ avatars pink, triggering an online uproar, Ferris is thrust into the heart of a spiraling corporate crisis. Ferris is ordered to clean up the mess alone. Fed up, he decides to go non-con, using his neuromod to become the perfect corporate zombie until the storm blows over. But when he reawakens, the chaos has only escalated: protesters are picketing Re/Live’s head office, his job is on the line, and, to make matters worse, an innocent schoolgirl has gone missing. Gripped by a paranoia he hasn’t felt in decades, Ferris races to uncover the truth, clashing with police, protesters, ruthless rivals, and—worst of all—his vindictive ex. Non-conscious is a darkly humorous journey of one man’s battle to reclaim his dignity and sanity in a world where the line between fantasy and reality has blurred beyond recognition. |