Online Fiction

Voices in her head. Sure, that was how Murmur always imagined fully immersive VR. With the getashi’s growing in influence, Fable's race against the clock is thrown into disarray as the dungeons begin to make their own rules. As a last resort, Fable teams up with Spiral and Exodus to speed things up. But with tensions growing between the groups, it’s a matter of when and not if they’ll be betrayed. Murmur’s team begins to fray as her abilities branch out and start to those around her.

Actions have consequences. Grant’s prior adventures tie together and he finds himself back in Continue Online, as Hermes - in jail. He's forced to experience life as a digital convict and earn redemption points to gain his freedom. Each in-game death pushes his goal of helping his friends out of reach. The AIs Grant’s grown to love, trust - and sometimes fear - are facing extinction, and he holds the key to their survival.

Coral joined the immersive virtual reality video game Travail Online because her waitressing job, like so many other jobs, was automated by a growing robot workforce. She starts as a Seamstress, hoping to craft useful clothing in-game to sell for real life cash. The game, however, has other ideas. She soon discovers a knack for peeling the skins off creatures she never thought she'd lay hands on and crafting grotesque wearables from them instead.

Kurt was becoming more comfortable entering the world of Darklands Online. He might not be that much closer to unraveling the mysteries it held, but with his brother and new friends, nothing could stand in their way. That all was about to change with the Challenge of the Ithkari in full swing. New challenges await Kurt, Greg, Bhae, and Carmen. Old enemies resurface while new ones make themselves known. It will take more than strength and guile for Kurt and his friends to survive in Darklands Online.

With Somnia coming apart at the seams as the virus rampages, Murmur desperately plunges through the portal to save Sinister, Fable close behind. James' entrance into the game has added yet another problem for the development team. Meanwhile, Jirald takes his vendetta to the next level, doing everything he can to sabotage the raid. Allies and friends clash as uncertainty hangs over access to the final dungeon. The virus has figured out how to access some headsets, risking potentially millions of lives.

Sam has been deemed a dark lord by the Game Masters, and now everyone in Rebirth Online is gunning for him. To make matters worse, an overzealous NPC paladin has been resurrected to destroy Sam and his demon sons.

Entriss Online was Ian's life: by day, as one of their lead developers; by night, gaming as the accomplished Mandorf the Wizard. Now, they are shutting down the game, and Ian has no way to stop them. After years of leveling up, both professionally and personally, everything he has worked for is going to end. His goggles-and-gloves virtual reality MMORPG is being replaced with Everyworld Online, a next-gen game that provided full immersion so players can experience a world that looks and feels real.

A tide of war. A tyrant king. Will Dahlia and her allies be strong enough to withstand the storm of foes? Given a short reprieve from debt collectors, Dahlia must focus on finding the source of a world boss’s power. She’ll have to rely on Madi and Alysand to help her endure a wave of enemies from every direction. And level up fast enough to survive. Slay a God-Tier boss? Done. Convince allies to join the cause? Working on it.

I'm entering the endgame. Even as I gain new allies, new gear, and greater understanding of Albertus' true plans, the odds are growing more extreme. Who can I trust? What is the AI Albertus Magnus trying to accomplish? What happened to archmagus Jeramy, and why is Guthorios massing an undead army so vast that it stretches from horizon to horizon? Any sane player would quit. Any reasonable person would admit defeat. But I've got no choice. I'm going to see this battle through to its bitter end. I'm going to unearth the secrets behind Euphoria Online - or die trying.

After eight years together, Lil Bailey thought she’d already found ‘the one’ - that is, until he dumped her for a blonde 20-something colleague. So she does what any self-respecting singleton would do: swipes right, puts on her best bra and finds herself on a first date with a handsome mountaineer called Max. What’s the worst that can happen? Well it’s pretty bad actually. First Max ghosts her and then, after weeing on a stick (but mostly her hands), a few weeks later Lil discovers she’s pregnant.

My name is Zephyros, and I have spent my entire life inside an amazing virtual game world, but when I hacked the mainframe server, the Overseer sentenced me to the real world, where I am now commanded to sacrifice my new and very mortal life for the heaven that cast me out. The real world is far horrifying and crazier than I could have ever expected. What's worse is the war I have been sent to fight is against fantastical creatures and demons and the human body I’ve been placed is hard to endure, given how it suffers the agonies of its mortal existence.

The game has changed multiple times. He's faced demons and new races. He's found love and a town to make a home in. He's found friends and companions, discovering that there is more to the NPCs than previously thought.

Robin Lindstrom spent her first year as a young widow cocooned in the safe haven of the Minnesota farmhouse she’d once shared with Gabe, the love of her life—the man she thought she’d be with ’til the end. But her world is turned upside down when she receives an email informing her that her late husband has enrolled her in a dating app. The subscription lasts 12 months; use it!, Gabe’s message-from-the-grave reads. I don’t like the thought of you being alone. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it as a favor to me. Please.

After a summer of meeting handsome French boys and getting a tiny bit sunburnt. OK, fine - a lot sunburnt, Lottie's heading off on a week-long residential school trip. A whole week away from embarrassing parents and Toby's tasty air biscuits! But the trip soon turns into a total disaster. The other girls staying at the camp are MEGA-MEAN, best friend Jess is spending all her time with new girl Isha, and Lottie's diary gets stolen! Who knew a school trip could cause so much DRAMA?!

Things in the Vale of Dreams are...complicated. Anpu has tasked our intrepid heroes with recovering the next piece of the Devourer from the depths of the Forbidden Barrows, but entry to the dungeon is heavily regulated.

Kaiden Moore is on the run. A fugitive both in real life and the game world of Nova Online, his only hope is to follow the trail of virtual breadcrumbs left behind by Bernstein, the man whose murder Kaiden was framed and jailed for. The data Bernstein gathered may be the only way to expose the corruption of the Party and finally clear his name. With a new ship and crew of their own, Kaiden, Titus and Zelda will travel to the furthest reaches of Nova Online and push their classes to the limit to defeat threats intended for players much higher level than them.

Unable to find work in his field, Joseph Ponthus enlists with a temp agency and starts to pick up casual shifts in the fish processing plants and abattoirs of Brittany. Day after day he records with infinite precision the nature of work on the production line: the noise, the weariness, the dreams stolen by the repetitive nature of exhausting rituals and physical suffering. But he finds solace in a life previously lived. Shelling prawns, he dreams of Alexandre Dumas. Pushing cattle carcasses, he recalls Apollinaire.

Laid-off teacher Olivia Crawford feels lost without the everyday, personal interactions with her students. Attracted by the salary and the potential for a career change, she considers an offer to become a beta player for a new Jane Austen virtual world within the VR universe of Allworld Online. Swallowing her fear, she accepts the position…and the invasive neural implant that will give her access to the virtual realm.

In 'A Fault on the Line' you will meet a husband who values a televised Hibs v Hearts game more than his wife’s life.This short story features in the collection 'Reheated Cabbage' and is available unabridged on audio for the first time. Hilarious, shocking and hugely entertaining, it has all the classic Irvine Welsh ingredients.

Kevin was a young man enjoying his college life when a car jumped the curb and crippled his body. Unable to support himself and dependent on others to meet his needs, Kevin was slipping into depression when his best friend convinced him to play a new game called Genesis Online. The concept was simple: a revolutionary artificial intelligence controlled the game world and adapted it to the actions of the players. Even the developers didn't know what course the game could take as it evolved.