After countless trials, Lucian has collected multiple Orbs, and has almost proven himself to be the true Chosen of the Manifold. Only one person stands in his way: Xara Mallis, the Psion of Darkness.Lucian is not ready to face her. With each Orb he gains, the Shadow that follows him grows ever stronger. Lucian can't risk it becoming fully formed. He puts his quest for the Orbs on hold and sets his sights on the Mako Academy, hoping the masters there can teach him how to defeat Xara...

The Worlds will never be the same...The Swarmers are on the move. As star systems fall one by one, the League of Worlds begins to fragment. The Dread Pirate Zheng Yang advances her Golden Armada toward the League's core, bringing either death or salvation. The Prophet Sharo Khalin consolidates a theocracy in the spinward mid-worlds, while the League of Worlds concentrates everything toward a last-ditch defense against the Swarmers.But unknown to all these m...

The Worlds are saved—but not for long.Lucian Abrantes and the Starsea Fleet have driven back the Alkasen. While the Worlds rebuild and recover from the brutal war, the Ancient One threatens to undo the uneasy peace.On the world of Mako, the Ancient One has done the unthinkable. Marshaling the ether of the Source of Power, he has escaped through a Time Gate, an action that threatens to unravel Lucian's heroism and even reality itself.Lucian has no choice but...

Lucian Abrantes and his companions have done the impossible. They have gathered the Orbs, found the First Gate, and entered the Light Realm. But finishing the job has dire consequences never foreseen, and things in the Light Realm are far more complicated than initially thought.He carries with him the Orb of Shadows. As long as it exists, the Ancient One can return. As Lucian grapples with godlike powers and impossible choices, he aims to complete his quest, a journey that will tes...

Long lost since the disappearance of Arian, The Prophecy of the Seven is the key to finding the rest of the Orbs of Starsea. It would secure Lucian's position as the true Chosen of the Manifold for good. The only problem? He doesn't know where in the Worlds it is.When he receives a mysterious vision, he drops everything to return to Volsung, the planet he’d hoped to never see again. Only there can he discover the prophecy's location.But it might already be too late. As the ...

A mage's fate is worse than death...Lucian dreams of a new life outside the cesspool of Earth. Unfortunately, his wish comes true when the government identifies him as a mage.No one knows why the mages are being born. No one knows why their powers lead to madness and death. The only solution is to train them at the Academies, for them to serve the League of Worlds that subjugated them fifty years ago.When Lucian is exiled from Earth, he must travel ...

Lucian must do what no mage has ever done before: escape the Mad Moon. But between frayed mages, violent monsters, and the hostile environment, that may prove impossible.Wandering the brutal surface, every breath is a fight for survival. And things only get worse when Lucian receives visions from the so-called Sorceress-Queen of Psyche, whose Psionic Magic is second to none.Teaming up with a dedicated captain, a frayed mage, and a former Mage-Knight of Dara, Lucian sets off...

Lucian has achieved the improbable with his acceptance into the prestigious Volsung Academy. Now, he must do something even more difficult: survive it.As a Novice, he must learn the fundamentals of magic while navigating Academy politics. Lucian must not only pass the grueling Trials but survive other mages' mechanizations. But doing that is difficult when he's being left behind.But one day, Lucian makes a breakthrough that puts him on top. He's about to learn that...

A mage's fate is worse than death...Lucian dreams of a new life outside the cesspool of Earth. Unfortunately, his wish comes true when the government identifies him as a mage.No one knows why the mages are being born. No one knows why their powers lead to madness and death in a terrifying disease known as "the fraying". The only solution is to quarantine the mages in academies.When Lucian is exiled from Earth, he must travel to the distant world of ...

Justin Talemaker is a college dropout with zero prospects and even less social grace, especially after getting kicked out of his online gaming guild for being "that guy." Then a freak Oklahoma tornado flings him into Eyrth, a world governed by actual LitRPG mechanics.Any sensible protagonist would roll a warrior or a mage. But Justin, still reeling from his latest flameout, makes a different bet: the obscure Socialite class. He’s all in on Charisma, hoping to master the sk...

Lucian may have bested the cunning Sorceress-Queen of Psyche, but his journey of survival is just beginning...When he learns the location of The Prophecy of the Seven, he has no choice but to embrace his destiny as the Chosen of the Manifold and find it. Only the prophecy can lead him to the rest of the Seven Aspects of Magic. But the prophecy is in the last place he wants to go: the Golden Palace of Dara, the seat of the powerful Sorceress-Queen.His newfound powers and abi...

Updated with an introduction by Joe Manganiello and extensive new content for the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the fascinating and authoritative history of Dungeons & Dragons that “tracks D&D’s turbulent rise, fall, and survival, from its heyday in the 1980s…to the 21st century” (The Wall Street Journal), by award-winning journalist David M. Ewalt.Even if you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, you probably know someone who has: the game has had...