Bryce Anderson

J.S. Morin

Karpov Kinrade

Becca Mills

Richard Levesque

Misha Burnett

Russ Linton

Van Allen Plexico

Jefferson Smith

Dave Higgins

Christopher Ruz

Brett Adams

Regina Richards

Graham Storrs

Belinda Mellor

The 2016 ImmerseOrDie Anthology. What do you get when you ask 34 of today's top indie authors to each submit a story and then ask a team of ruthless judges to scour that ore and pick out the gems? You get All These Shiny Worlds: A world of today, divided, black from white, good from evil, and held apart by the taste of a cookie. A world of griffons and glimmer bunnies, wise old mothers, sassy llamas, and the magic of beer. A world of contemplation and serenity, of service and devotion, ruled by a jewel and guarded by children. Plus 12 more, for a total of 15 worlds to explore. From the brutal curators at ImmerseOrDie.com comes this collection of indie short stories, each a distinct jewel forged in the fires of judgment, and all carrying one simple promise: Guaranteed not to suck.

The 2016 ImmerseOrDie Anthology

All These Shiny Worlds

Nineteen-year-old Spencer Harrington is the son of the Crimson Mask, the world's most powerful superhero. Since witnessing his mother's abduction two years ago, he's been confined to his father's arctic bunker. When the "Icehole" comes under attack by a rampaging robot, Spencer is forced to launch into his father's dangerous world of weaponized human beings known as Augments.With no powers of his own save a multi-tool, a quick wit and a boatload of emotional trauma, Spencer seeks to uncover his mother's fate and confront his absentee father. As he stumbles through a web of conspiracies and top secret facilities, he rallies a team of everyday people and cast-off Augments. But Spencer soon discovers that the Black Beetle isn't his only enemy, nor his worst.

Crimson Son

Hunted by Death, one man will face the forces of Hell to get back home. Former Baltimore cop Eustace "Ace" Grant is on a quest to find lost sorcery. An apprentice shaman, Ace walks the spirit realm in search of a cure for his terminal illness. When asked to recover a Civil War sword, Ace finds traces of a magic more potent than he's ever experienced. Forged in England by a smith in possession of the Primal Flame, the blade had been intended for a different battle entirely - the one at the end of time. That battle upon us, it's up to Ace to recover the sword. Without it, the world as we know it will be plunged into a nightmare. He'll find the sword or die trying. That is if his ghostly mentor, Atofo, will only let go of his soul...

Blood Harvest

All Spencer wanted was a normal life. College, a job, maybe even a research fellowship which culminated in finding a way to free his mother from the psychic snow globe where he last saw her. Okay, so as the powerless son of the world's most powerful Augment, maybe normal is too much to ask for. Spencer's soon sucked back into his father's world of weaponized humans by his best friend, Eric, and the Crimson Mask himself. The battle this time isn't with a psychotic robot builder, but with an enemy whose vision of the future is as infectious as the computerized plague set to deliver it. Hound, Ember, Polybius, Aurora, and Danger join the Crimson Mask alongside Spencer and Eric as they try to control the aftermath of Killcreek's destruction. Augments long forgotten have emerged with their powers amplified. And with them, a reminder of Spencer's greatest loss.

Crimson Son 2: Motherland

"Linton has drawn his epic world best in the reflections of those impacted by it, be they Augment or human. Like an origami creation, he builds his tales in subtle layers, crisp folds of storytelling that make a shape far different than first expected." - Fanboy Comics - 5 star review “Linton takes the horror of the atomic bomb’s emergence in WWII and transforms it into the emergence of laboratory-grown super soldiers — but with similarly horrific consequences and the same desperate global struggle to cram the genie back into the bottle afterward. It gives the entire story world a grittiness and gravitas that we rarely see in superhero stories. And that darkness makes it chilling.” - Jefferson Smith of Immerse or Die Empty Quiver (n) – A U.S. Military term to identify and report the seizure, theft, or loss of a nuclear weapon. Hurricane. Ember. Aurora. Danger. State-sponsored superhumans known as Augments. Weapons created to end a war. With the war over, their creators couldn't surrender the power and sought to hide it in the shadows. They forged ahead with covert operations and proxy wars despite growing condemnation. But one by one, Augments begin to ignore their handlers or disappear altogether. The quiver emptied. Empty Quiver takes a dark dive into the Crimson Son universe. Not your typical superhero tales, this short collection pulls no punches as it examines the clandestine program that changed Spencer’s world. Download your free copy and enter the universe of Crimson Son!

Tales from the Crimson Son Universe

Empty Quiver

Ace has a plan: Surrender himself to a soul-eating demon so he can get close enough to strike. He didn’t say it was a good plan. But when you’ve got terrible luck, sometimes the best course of action is to get ahead of it. Do the time. Accept the sentence. But never, ever accept the deal. Ace’s plea bargain is a deal with the devil — an actual demon by the name of Mordecai Sunday. Mordecai and his corrupt forces plan to bring about the end of the world, one imprisoned soul at a time. Ace? He just wants his world to stop spinning out of control so he can go back home. He’ll surrender himself to be judged for a crime he didn’t commit. With death already around the corner, he’s got nothing to lose. But when he’s transferred to Mordecai’s prisoner reform program, he sees just how near the end really is. Now he’ll have to choose sides in a losing battle of magic and blood. Whoever he picks, whether it be his ghostly mentor’s tribe of tortured spirits, or his own ancestral power struggling to reemerge, he’s bound to make new enemies. End of the world? It’s whatever. Ace was born in the trenches. He’ll put them all back in the grave if that’s what it takes to see his son again. And if the gods themselves intervene? He’ll dig a grave for them, too…

Plea Bargain

Forge of the Jadugar

Sidge, acolyte of the Stormblade Temple, wants nothing more than to make his mentor proud and ascend to the ranks of the Cloud Born. To do this, he must complete a pilgrimage, walking in the footsteps of the Savior of Humanity, and prove he can wield the power of the Storm Dragon, Vasheru.Only Sidge isn't human. And though he has memorized each of the twelve thousand mantras, he can't yet channel even a spark of the Mighty Dragon's power. His journey will test not only his faith but his sense of identity as he and Master Izhar race to ensure the future of their temple does not fall into the wrong hands.

Pilgrim of the Storm

A singularity which knows no equal rules the Earth. Life is perfect. Efficient. Monitored. You can be anything, do anything…in the VR worlds of the Nexus. For M@ti, that isn’t enough. She wants to tear it all down. An experiment from birth, M@ti sees the Manhattan Preserve differently than the teeming millions who inhabit the city. With her eyes to the stars instead of hidden behind VR gear, she uncovers their caretaker’s secret plans for galactic expansion. But when a deadly hunter finds out she's hacked the networks, M@ti must decide if her unique skills are a curse or a blessing and choose sides in a centuries-old war which pits hackers against their AI overlords. Can she cling to her humanity long enough to deliver the world from AI domination? Or will old wounds finally bring the human race to extinction?

Under the Flickering Light

Can a misfit hacker finally fulfill an impossible legacy? When his mother disappeared, Spencer went on a suicidal mission to find her. When his father fell, he became the one thing he feared most. Hacker misfit. Augment hunter. Now he’s got to figure out how to be what he never wanted to be: a hero. With the world order crumbling and the rise of an Augment epidemic, Spencer and his unlikely crew of Not-So-Super Friends must confront the crisis which they helped unleash. There’s Eric, a fellow hacker seduced by a digital revolution he struggles to control. Hound, an aging veteran who has lost his place in a rapidly changing world. Jackie, a newly minted speedster determined not to be just another Augment weapon like Ember her short-fused, fire-wielding mother. Throw in a couple former traitors and a clairvoyant mother who can’t seem to keep out of his headspace and this may just be Spencer’s last stand… Spencer must make a team out of them and fast as their growing list of enemies tries to determine the fate of the world. But can the powerless son of a superhero ever fulfill his father’s legacy? Read the exciting conclusion of the Crimson Son Universe, the superhero series that turns the genre on its head, and find out! Praise for the Crimson Son Universe: “This bright, quirky fantasy, gives "superhero" a whole new meaning...” “Like an origami creation, he builds his tales in subtle layers, crisp folds of storytelling that make a shape far different than first expected.” “A brilliant scary story that may well happen someday…” “Russ Linton infuses his action-packed story with a genuine emotion that is often overlooked in tales like this.” Suggested reading order for Crimson Son Universe: Crimson Son Empty Quiver (Short Story Collection) Crimson Son 2: Motherland Crimson Son 3: Ashes Under the Flickering Light (standalone novel) Crimson Son 4: Legacy

Legacy

Death has come knocking, but is Ace ready to pay the price? Fresh out of prison, Ace returns to Saint Augustine to find that his victory over the Sunset King has fueled unintended consequences. The dead wander the streets of the ancient city, and it's up to him to stop them from dragging away the population, one by one. But can he do it alone? His new partner, Araceli, continues to cling to her secrets. History buff Caleb isn't ready for primetime when it comes to facing the forces of evil. And Atofo? His crude mentor is MIA as the dead patrol the streets. Ace can only rely on his magic and the mysterious force known as Kibaga's Cloak. But even those magics have been affected by the necromantic wave. With no way to hold back the disease ravaging his insides, this might just be Ace's final mission. Only a grave sacrifice will see him through. But is he ready to pay the price?

Russ Linton

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