Free Stories

I admit it; I’m a long-time gaming geek. When I started back in 1984, I played on a Compaq DeskPro outfitted with an 8 MHz 8086 CPU and an awesome monochrome display adapter. I said I was a geek, remember? During the golden age of computer gaming, otherwise known as the 1990s, each month brought quantum innovations, spurring a host of inventive game designs. For me, the pinnacle was reached with the invention of the MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game), and my wife and I became lost in the world of Everquest from 1999 to 2001.

In the land of Norrath, we made many friends as we rose from a pair of pathetic magic users to guild legends, and I saw how the lines blurred between reality and the virtual world. People speak of how computer games are a waste of time. But a great many good things grew out of those days. One of them was a fertile seed of an idea that I pondered well over a decade ago . . . and still do. This story is the result.

Professional Integrity is a short story for the Blackguards anthology. This story focuses on Royce and Hadrian undertaking a rather unusual job several years into their working relationship. Chronologically, it takes place directly after the events in The Jester.

When a storm reveals a mysterious cave behind a waterfall, the young mystic’s apprentice and her wolf investigate. Inside, she discovers a secret place containing a pile of human bones and the young girl makes what could be a fatal mistake.

In this Legends of the First Empire prequel, we witness the events that helped shape the woman who would one day become Suri the Mystic, the first Rhune Artist, and a hero to a generation.

Little Wren and the Big Forest is a short story that takes place in the world of Elan that was written for the Unfettered II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy anthology.

If you’ve finished Heir of Novron (last book in The Riyria Revelations) and would like a little behind the scenes peek inside the brain of Michael J. Sullivan, it’s author than this is for you. Filled with spoilers, it shouldn’t be requested by people who haven’t finished the story. But for those that have, it might shed some light on why things turned out as they did.

Autumn Mists tells the story of an embittered man who at the end of his days has a chance to recapture the magic of his youth, if only he can remember, and believe.

Burning Alexandria it was written the day I learned of Ray Bradbury’s death and is me paying homage to him in the context of this anthology whose mission was to focus on stories involving the end of the world. When solar flares makes electricity a memory of the past a horder’s stash of paperbacks might just might be the greatest library left in existence after the conversion to digital. But when threatened with death from exposure will he sacrifice literature to survive?

Traditions is based in the world of Elan (the setting for my Riyria Revelations series) but it features a new never-before-seen character. The idea came from Shirley Jackson’s famous short story, The Lottery where the livelihood of a town is dependent on the sacrifice of one of their own. When Annie is selected, she takes matters into her own hands and dares to challenge the town’s traditions in order to move to a new future, that while it may be fraught with potential danger, it also possess the possibility of new opportunities.

HE WANTED TO ESCAPE HIS PROBLEMS. HE WANTED TO SEE THE FUTURE. HE NEVER CONSIDERED WHAT THE FUTURE WANTED. Confronted with suffering a painful death from cancer, Dan Sturges foregoes treatments to try an idea of his own. With nothing to lose but a few months of pain, Dan builds a time machine in his garage and pins his hopes on a future where his cancer might be cured. How could he have known that what happens after he presses the button is more shocking than the eighteen car batteries he connected himself to?

WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH? Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A thief, a candlemaker, an ex-mercenary, and a pig farmer walk into a trap…and what happens is no joke. When Riyria is hired to retrieve a jester’s treasure, Royce and Hadrian must match wits with a dwarf who proves to be anything but a fool. Difficult choices will need to be made, and in the end those who laugh last do so because they are the only ones to survive. This is a standalone short story of 7,200 words. No prior knowledge of The Riyria Revelations or The Riyria Chronicles is required to enjoy it to its fullest, making this a perfect introduction for new readers or a chance for Riyria veterans to spend a little more time with old friends. The Jester is a story of adventure, bonds of friendship, and a recognition that the choices we make dictates the future we find. NOTE: This short story was originally published in the Unfettered Anthology edited by Shawn Speakman.