Showing results by narrator "Steven James" in All Categories

Everyone, regardless of their background and training, can improve their storytelling abilities. But what is a story? How can you tell it in a way that delights and informs your listeners? Take a journey into the keys to great storytelling with two of the country’s top experts on story presentation and speech writing.

This anthology, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg, offers a sweeping survey of robots as depicted throughout literature. Since the Iliad—in which we are shown golden statues built by Hephaestus “with minds and wisdoms”—humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life. From the Argonautica to the medieval Jewish legend of the Golem and Ambrose Bierce’s tale of a chess-playing robot, the idea of what robots are—and who creates them—can be drastically different.

Captain Felix Duval and the crew of the Temerarious quietly patrol a remote Mentak Coalition colony system where nothing ever happens. But when they answer a distress call from a moon under attack, that peaceful existence is torn apart. They rescue a scientist, Thales, who's developing revolutionary technology to create new wormholes. He just needs a few things to make it fully operational...and now, ordered to aid the scientist, the Temerarious is targeted by two rival black-ops teams intent on reacquiring Thales.

In the not too distant future, the Earth finds itself under constant threat from Zelda, a blood-thirsty android who, along with her fiendish family and monstrous creations, has established a base on Mars. The only thing standing between this evil queen and her quest for the ultimate annihilation of mankind are the Terrahawks - an intrepid band of heroes led by the stern but fair clone, Doctor Tiger Ninestein. In this new series, the Terrahawks defence grows all the more desperate when a terrifying new enemy joins the androids on Mars.

Richard MacBlair has all the answers Idina Moorfield needs and is finally willing to share them. Well, most of them. Who knew there was a whole special forces division? Dedicated to people exhibiting magical powers to deal with unique challenges? Things are starting to make a lot more sense to Idina. But a lot more changes may be coming her way.

Brave and beautiful Ranger Brynn Dharielle sets out on a daring mission to free her beloved homeland from tyrannical rule. But she cannot imagine the depth of chaos, corruption and betrayal that seethes amidst a ruthless sect of warrior priests, led and manipulated by an evil chieftain who conceals a dark, age-old secret. For Brynn and her trusted elven companion Belli'mar Juraviel, the way to Behren turns into a fierce and illuminating voyage beneath the Belt-and-Buckle mountains.

Some people don't know when to leave bad enough alone. Just when it seemed that Smoke Jensen's life had settled down to something resembling normal, he'd all but forgotten the vicious young gunfighter who called himself Sundance. Smoke had hoped to teach that twisted kid a lesson by shooting off his ear. But the lesson didn't take. Now, after years on the run, Sundance's hunger for revenge has pushed him over the edge.

Robber baron Clifton Satterlee's plan is twofold and simple: Wrest the timber-thick hills in New Mexico Territory from the Tua Pueblo and then populate the town with his own subservient labor force. But in his near-perfect campaign of terror, Satterlee has overlooked one mighty obstacle: Smoke Jensen.

After a lifetime of robbing banks and holding up trains, Jimmy “Slash” Braddock, and Melvin “Pecos Kid” Baker are ready to call it quits — though not completely by choice. Sold out by their old gang, Slash and Pecos have to bust out of jail and pull one last job to finance their early retirement....

In Sakuri, a young woman is about to be sacrificed to the vampiric Noblewoman who reigns over the village. But before the princess can drain the life from the woman, a young man tries to slay the vampire. He fails and manages to escape, but in doing so incurs the wrath of the entire town. The citizens of Sakuri have entered into a pact with the Undead princess and her monstrous bodyguards. With the ritual offering disrupted, the vampire's armored bodyguards vow to murder the villagers one by one until the would-be hero is captured.

On the border between Mexico and Texas, Frank Morgan is caught between two warring ranchers, men who speak different languages but share the same stubborn courage - and are both being terrorized by a raider called the Black Scorpion. Texas Rangers are struggling to bring law and order to the chaos. But as the air is split by the sound of gunfire and men and women die, Morgan starts to see a different picture - and even comes face to face with the Black Scorpion himself. Suddenly, amidst deceptions, double-crosses and secret liaisons, the Last Gunfighter has become the next renegade.

Jill Kismet is back from the grave in this explosive conclusion to Lilith Saintcrow's fantasy series. She wakes up in her own grave. She doesn't know who put her there, she doesn't know where she is, and she has no friends or family. She only knows two things: She has a job to do - cleansing the night of evil. And she knows her name - Jill Kismet.

Years have passed since the great miracle atop Mount Aida—a miracle known as the Covenant of Avelyn. Corona is a different place. Avelyn is about to be elevated to sainthood by the very church that once proclaimed him a heretic. And King Danube has asked Jilseponie Wyndon—the outlaw hero of the Demon War—to become his queen. Jilseponie can never love any man as completely as she did the Ranger Elbryan, the father of the child she lost. But she cannot deny that she has feelings for the wise and kindly king. Yet danger looms.

Smoke Jensen has a good woman by his side. Now all he needs to make Sugarloaf the best cattle ranch in Colorado is John Chisum's prime steer. But a cattle war has turned the landscape into a battleground, and a ruthless gang of rustlers is hot on Smoke's trail. The bullet-proof mountain man is determined to get what he wants - even if he has to blast every one of the dirty desperadoes back to hell!

It is 1944. A message from Paris warns Allied Intelligence of something big in the works - something which might have serious implications for D-Day. The only way to get more information from the agent in Paris - now closely watched by the Gestapo - is to send in a personal courier. Russian émigré Michael Gallatin is picked for the job. In retirement as a secret agent since a grisly episode in North Africa, Gallatin is parachuted into occupied France, on a mission which will take him to the festering heart of the Third Reich on the scent of doomsday.

Atrum Terra: Dark Lands tells the story of two people from different sides of the nation who struggle to survive after a devastating attack breaks the back of the United States. It is a journey in which the whole world is sent spiraling toward a dark future where humans are an endangered species.

He was raised by the mountain man called Preacher, and he was said to be the fastest gun alive. Until he hung up his gunbelts to raise a family. Smoke Jensen was the last mountain man and a force of nature. But Lee Slater and his gang of low life desperadoes didn’t know that. Stirring up a motherlode of trouble for the retired gunslinger was Slater’s first mistake. Shooting Smoke Jensen’s wife Sally was his second.

Smoke Jensen was the last Mountain Man and the fastest gun in the west. But this time, Smoke is going to put his reputation to the test in the southern reaches of Mexico. When two Mexican Gunfighters, and old friends of Smoke Jensen, send a letter asking Smoke for help, he can't possibly say no. He quickly straps on his hog legs and heads down into the middle of a war. A crazy Mexican Bandito, that fancies himself the resurrection of Montezuma, has formed a vast and unstoppable army, and he marches across the land.

Wendy McCloud is ordered into Anger Management Therapy. But it's not much help when pirates murder her father, Planetary President of Chromius. Now that Anne Manx has left, Chromius still needs someone else just as smart, relentless, incorruptible...and sexy.

Kylara Vatta is the only daughter in a family full of sons, and her father's only child to buck tradition by choosing a military career instead of joining the family business. For Ky, it's no contest: Even running the prestigious Vatta Transport Ltd. shipping concern can't hold a candle to shipping out as an officer aboard an interstellar cruiser. It's adventure, not commerce, that stirs her soul. And despite her family's misgivings, there can be no doubt that a Vatta in the service will prove a valuable asset. But with a single error in judgment, it all comes crumbling down.