Daniel S.

What is it like for a small flap-eared goblin herbalist to play the role of the Dark Sovereign, the main antagonist for Boundless Realm's hundreds of millions of players? What is it like to find one's self the standard bearer for an army of man-eating giants, cyclops, skeletons, ghosts, and other hellspawn, who don't give a damn about their modest little ruler? Our hero didn't desire such an unenviable fate, but there is no way back now. But the longer he plays, the better he understands that he is just a pawn in someone else's game.

The decision to start a new life is never an easy one, but for Joe the transition was far from figurative. Becoming a permanent addition to a game world, it doesn't take long to learn that people with his abilities are actively hunted. In fact, if the wrong people gained knowledge of what he was capable of, assassins would appear in droves.

It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.

It only took the end of the world to find my calling. Unfortunately, getting rid of humanity's biggest internal threat was just the start of my trials on Gaea. Just a few short days after my friends and I defeated Roman, the System gleefully informed us about a hidden world event. We have no idea when it'll strike, nor do we know when the two alien species brought to our corner of Gaea will appear. Even worse, Boris and Miki have vanished. With the two brutal criminal bosses lurking in the wings, no human is safe.

My life was ordinary, but never boring. That is, until a colossal tower landed smack-dab in the middle of the city. What should have followed was mass panic and hysteria, but I never got to that part. Why? Simple. I was taken along with 99,999 other people from Earth and dropped onto an unknown world. Strange beings appeared before us—floating, featureless figures that call themselves demi-gods. They ruled this place, this fantastical world called Gaea. The reason why they took us? We'd supposedly been selected to show that Earth was worth saving from an upcoming cataclysmic event.

By day, Mark Wojcik can be found elbow-deep in engine grease, making cars and trucks safe for the highway. By night, he can be found traipsing through the wilds of Pennsylvania, making the world safe for humans. He's more than just a mechanic, he's a New Templar Knight. He travels the backroads and byways fighting weresquonks, ningen, selkies, ghosts, and . . . gnomes? Is that gnome . . . naked? (Sigh.) Season One collects the first four novellas in the Spells, Salt, & Steel series: Spells, Salt, & Steel; Open Season; Deep Trouble; and Close Encounters.