“A breathtaking new epic fantasy series. Morgan Rice does it again! This magical saga reminds me of the best of J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, Rick Riordan, Christopher Paolini and J.R.R. Tolkien. I couldn’t put it down!” --Allegra Skye, Bestselling author of SAVED The epic coming of age story of one special boy, a 14 year old from a small village in the Kingdom of the Ring. The youngest of four, the least favorite of his father, hated by his brothers, Thorgrin senses he is different from the others. He dreams of becoming a great warrior, of joining the King’s men and protecting the Ring from the hordes of creatures on the other side of the Canyon. When he comes of age and is forbidden by his father to try out for the King’s Legion, he refuses to take no for an answer: he journeys out on his own. But King’s Court is rife with its own power struggles, ambitions, jealousy, violence and betrayal. King MacGil must choose an heir from amongst his children, and the ancient Dynasty Sword, the source of all their power, still sits untouched, waiting for the chosen one to arrive. Thorgrin arrives as an outsider and battles to be accepted, and to join the King’s Legion. Thorgrin comes to learn he has a special gift, and a special destiny. He falls in love with the king’s daughter, and as he struggles to make sense of his powers, the king’s sorcerer takes him under his wing and tells him of a mother he never knew, in a land far away, beyond the Canyon, beyond even the land of the Dragons. With its sophisticated world-building and characterization, A QUEST OF HEROES is an epic tale of friends and lovers, of rivals and suitors, of knights and dragons, of intrigues and political machinations, of coming of age, of broken hearts, of deception, ambition and betrayal. It is a tale of honor and courage, of fate and destiny, of sorcery. It is a fantasy that brings us into a world we will never forget, and which will appeal to all ages and genders.

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

|COMPLETE| Life after death, ironically enough, does not live up to expectations. When the entirety of the afterlife is upended by unexpected chaos after the gods took a leisurely vacation, Death himself enlists Evyionne's help to find out what went wrong. He leaves her with two things: memories of her past life, and his very domain. But with the trouble coming, it might not be enough.

A complete fantasy book. Technically ... a weird western. Gunslingers, hex witches, dogmen, minotaur, trains that run further than you can imagine ... Mikeos Jones is a gunslinger, faster than thinking, part of the gunlaw, a man who can seldom afford the luxury of looking past the end of any given day. Jenna Crossard is a hex-witch, but her ambitions are larger than spells and charms - the need to understand the world consumes her. They say the gunlaw keeps men safe from the endless horror of the sect, but to Jenna it's a cage and she wants out. If that means breaking open the world and killing a few gods ... so be it.

Fantasy and Magic meets Science and Technology. In this epic story of brotherly love, friendship, struggle, and conspiracy, come join in on an adventure that will take you on the journey behind the legend of one of the most beloved stories ever told! Volume 1 of the Siva Light Novel Series THE VIOLENT QUEST BEGINS! Rex is a talented young adult, prodigy, genius, and a charismatic young leader. His world is what you'd call peaceful until an accident changed his and his baby brother's life forever. Without money, in a body torn apart by the tragic accident, to save his brother in a coma, Rex jumps out of the frying pan and goes straight to the fire as the deal with a devil brought him into a world of war and tragedy, where people go looking for adventures but come out as warriors battling monsters and greedy foes. This is a story of triumph, adventure, trust, and deception in the Virtual World called Terroa, as seen from the eyes who created the legend behind the greatest villain ever known -The Destroyer. ===PRAISES FOR "SIVA" ACROSS THE NET!=== "...a definite page turner..." **Next_JK_Rowling "...I was breathless! I read it so fast, I held my breath!" **Hiraite "I'm really hooked!" **Chadmusika "...love the action and drama." **streetjumper "When it says it's a legend, then it's really a legend!" **kikologram "LEGEN... *wait for it* ...DARY! HAHAHAHA..." **Azumera "It's a brand new physics of heroism! A must read!" **Leotard_Hunter "Explosive action from page 1 to end!" **mightyreader66 "Once you start, you'll never stop! Definitely worth the read!" **kypt0nian "Just a heads up, it's a WIIIIIIIIIIILLLDD RIDE!! Hahahaha" **VRReader WARNING: This story is divided into volumes and subdivided into chapters. May contain mature contents, including, nudity, violence, profane langue, references to offensive topics, and even view of modern morality. Reader's discretion is advised. (Cover image courtesy of Yahoo. It's a random search)

"Mooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeee, this book is like air, i need it!" @noromance101 "These chapters are written BEAUTIFULLY! You are, without a doubt, my favorite writer on this site. " @nagykt "Reading this feeds my soul." @Yrthraethra Sixteen-year-old Mirra can see people's memories. She is a Shadow Weaver, one of the outlawed, glitter-eyed race feared in her land and forced into brutal slavery as children. She and her brother Kel have escaped their fate by hiding near the frozen mountains. But when bounty hunters snatch Kel, Mirra injured and unable to track long distances will lose him unless she gives herself up to his captors. As as a Shadow Weaver who's survived childhood and whose golden-flecked irises have faded, concealing her talent, Mirra's own value is priceless on the black-market. Taken to a lawless town in the northern territories, Mirra convinces her captors to sell her to a mysterious young man destined for the same province as the officer who has bought her brother. The young man is the Kingdom's missing Prince, feared dead after his escort was attacked on an expedition. He has been in hiding, waiting for a Shadow Weaver whose skill he can use to discover who ordered his assassination. But before he will risk breaking his father's law and taking Mirra to the royal court, he must test her talent and her ability to hide it. If Mirra fails, her hopes of seeing her brother again will be cut by the noose around her neck. HIGHEST RANKING #1 in Fantasy on Wattpad. #1 Amazon Sword & Sorcery This book was taken down in DEC 2017 due to publishing restrictions. It is now possible to put it back up on wattpad. From March onwards 2 chapters will be posted per week until the completed book is available.

For the last four weeks, the fate of the City rested in the hands of two seventeen year olds who have no idea they're best friends. Olivia Shadowheart and Jason Frostsong saved the City from being conquered by the Other, if only barely. As both their civilian selves and as Banshee and Cryophoenix, they pulled together and overcame Starsong's challenge, earning their amulets that will allow them to trust one soul with their true identity. If you ask them, they'd say they deserve a break. But with a complicated relationship developing between them, a new Luminary pair to train, and the old darkness locked away beneath the City beginning to pull free, their fight has only just begun. Only a set of ancient secrets and discovering the truth of what ended the first civilisation so many millennia ago will allow them to save both the city and the people they care about. They have one chance to learn the name of their partner. The question is: will they even want to? [Updates every Wednesday (Australian time)]

The chancellor has been overthrown. And the Empire of Light has risen. Everything the Watchers and the Saints have worked for has come. The lowborn have risen up to form their own nation under the leadership of the sorceress, Medea. And the hope of their new empire is spreading across the world. But freedom did not come without a terrible cost. And no one knows just how great that cost was. Except Tori Burodai. Everyone believes she is dead. And her magic has vanished. But after the last things in her world are stolen from her, Tori is determined not to go down without a fight. And she is not the only one. The chancellor may have lost his realm, but he has his own schemes to take back his empire. Ambitions, monster, and nations will collide in the thrilling third installment of the Shadow Watch series. Start reading now! © Stephen Klopfenstein 2019 All Rights Reserved

BOOK 1 // Human Error (COMPLETE) BOOK 2 // Human Instinct (IN PROGRESS) *NOW OPTIONED FOR A TV SHOW* "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness engineered right into their DNA." - William Shakespeare, 1602 (adapted for BioPlus) Astrid Oxford is not normal. Two hundred years into the future, society is recovering from global collapse, and genetic modification has saved the remaining population from a hunger crisis. The alteration of human DNA has been illegal since the technology was developed, but in the heart of New London, a sinister trend has emerged among society's elite. Designer children have been the city's best-kept secret for years, but strange side effects are now appearing as they hit adolescence. When a freak suicide forces modification into the public eye, eighteen-year-old Astrid is about to learn how difficult it is to stay under the radar when you really were born to stand out.

**Completed**Can smoldering resentment and attraction exist at the same time? Jess Parker has made a number of mistakes. The first was burning her school to the ground. The second, getting caught by the handsome, yet maddening boy who calls himself Asher, who tells her things that can't possibly be true. Now Jess finds herself blundering through a new and alarming world, leaving a trail of blazing destruction behind. She must choose between warring factions, two sides of an ancient war that both want her. And most of all, she must try to harness her explosive powers before they consume her. Note: FIRE is a stand-alone book set in the Jotun world. It is not book 2 of the Frost series (that will be published by Patchwork Press later this year). Cover artwork by @SeventhStar