Showing results by author "John Van Stry" in All Categories

Chase had it all planned out. Do a little time in one of the emperor's jails, say a four-year stretch, for getting rid of some trash that no one would miss, and when he got out, the path to leadership would be wide open. Unfortunately, his bastard of a father, the same one who left his mother to die in poverty and him to run wild on the streets, took an interest. Seeing him sitting on the bench when his case went to court was a shock. But not as big a shock as being sentenced to ten years in the Imperial Navy.

With the Battle of Portlandia behind him, Chase is a hero now, and the rank and file truly believe he's the prince the Command Team claims he is. For his part, Chase has made his choice, and now he's committed. As the face of the revolution, he's in it to win it because anything else will lead to his death. The twenty-five million-credit bounty on his head will see to that.

Chase is finally coming to understand just what being Prince Chase means, and what becoming emperor of the Solarian Empire will mean as well. He's getting better at the job every day. Now if only he could just bring himself to tell Captain Witner and the other members of the command staff that he really is a prince and not the fraud they all believe he is.

Fresh out of college with his Ship Engineer 3rd-Class certificate, Dave Walker’s only thought is to try to find a berth on a corporate ship plying the trade routes between the many habs, orbitals, and moons in the Solar System. The problem for Dave, however, isn't his straight C average; it's that his stepfather, a powerful Earth senator he’s never met, now wants him dead. Forced to take the first berth he can find, Dave ends up on the Iowa Hill, an old tramp freighter running with a minimal crew and nearing the end of its useful life.

Breck was a heavy metal rock star and to some, perhaps, even a rock god. Playing bass since he was 10, he learned to sing and write music under the tutelage of some of the industry's best. His band was one of the loudest and heaviest out there, and they had moved from one hit record to the next with ease. Married to a supermodel and being at the top of the rock star pyramid, life for Breck was everything he'd ever wanted it to be.

With no otherworld tasks to run for Fel, Will has spent the last year mainly helping Rachel consolidate her hold on her expanded kingdom. Barassa has been set back, for now, but Will knows it's only a matter of time until they're at odds once more and Barassa still has the bigger army. So, taking the time to learn more about their enemy seems like a good place to start, and of course, Rachel has more things she expects him to do, even if he has no idea just how he's going to do them.

With the first of what he suspects will be many favors completed, William finds himself busy with important tasks back at his home on Saladin. Queen Rachel has several jobs she needs him to do, and Feliogustus has similar tasks in mind for him as well. All in all, it seems easy enough to Will, it's not like he'll be fighting in any wars, or traveling across the infinite on a strange quest after all.

Mark's job seems pretty dull, working as an investigator into crimes committed against Church property, theft of holy objects, vandalism; nothing terribly exciting but he does get to travel the world. That's just the window dressing. Mark does work for the Church, but as an elite member of a thousand year old secret society that hunts down devils, demons, and other evils. His job is not just to find them, but to remove, dispel, or kill them: He's on the front lines of the secret ongoing war between Heaven and Hell.

Being on loan to the FBI has its advantages, and for the first time in far too long, Mark is taking a few weeks off with his family. But he's barely gotten started when he finds his brother unwittingly entangled in a mess that can be traced directly back to an attempt on Mark's life some months ago.

From book 1: Paul's been having a bad day, perhaps one of the worst days he's ever had. And now into the middle of all this, his instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world... From book 2: Coyote has a new task for Paul, one that involves him traveling north hundreds of miles over the post-apocalyptic landscape of California, the place that Paul once called home... From book 3: Coyote has one final task for Paul, the one that is the whole reason Coyote shanghaied him here in the first place.

Life can be complicated for those who the gods pick as their champions, and for William, it's really no different. Many of these tasks have had consequences however. As always, there are things you need to take on faith when you work for a god, but sometimes their responses can be very frustrating. Especially when they order you not to ask questions, but the welfare of your own child is involved.

Nash has got a pretty good thing going on. A hot girlfriend who always takes him back, money whenever he needs it, the respect—no matter how grudgingly given—of his peers, and a safe place to lay his head each night when he goes to sleep. For one of the animal people working the underground of the recently rebuilt Vegas, what more could he want?