My Books

Silver Queendom

Service at the Red Rooster Inn leaves much to be desired. The innkeeper, Darin, has a scowl for every new face. The homebrewed ale seems to grow less palatable with each new batch.
The barmaid, Evie, only seems to work when wealthy young men are around, and the old witch Seraphina ensures that’s not too often. As for Big Tom, well, everyone learns right quick to stay on the bouncer’s good side. But there’s a reason everyone at the Red Rooster crew bad is at their job. By night, they’re the best team of con artists in the Old Queendom.

When a stranger shows up offering a hefty sum to steal a shipment of imperial dreamwine, Darin knows he should refuse. But thanks to a string of bad luck, he owes money to the Gray Dame, the local crime boss. The payout from this job will get him square and then some. It might leave enough to explore the promises of power that silver whispers to him. Of course, they’ll have to steal the dreamwine first. It’s the most precious substance in the Old Queendom. Never duplicated, never stolen. But there’s a first time for everything. Read More

Domesticating Dragons

In a future where a canine epidemic has wiped out all dogs, one company, Reptilian Corporation, aims to replace them with custom-made dragons. To that, they’ll need to domesticate an otherwise ferocious reptilian predator. Fresh out of a PhD program for genetic engineering, Noah Parker is thrilled to land a job at the hottest biotech in the American southwest. He hits the ground running and soon becomes one of Reptilian’s most productive genetic engineers.

Yet his success is a carefully planned subterfuge. Noah’s younger brother was born with a rare muscle disease. It’s incurable, unless Noah can find and prove the genetic mutation that’s responsible. He plans to use Reptilian’s considerable resources to do just that.

The company, meanwhile, begins producing various models of dragons en masse to fill the countless voids that dogs left behind. Noah wins the chance to design a much-needed dragon, an agile flying model reminiscent of the dragons of myth. But his quest to develop an ideal prototype uncovers disturbing secrets about his employer. Bringing them to light is the right thing to do, but might end his career and his already-remote chances of helping cure his brother’s disease. Read More

Putting the Fact in Fantasy

Collecting articles from editor Dan Koboldt’s popular blog series for writers and fans of speculative fiction—plus a foreword by Scott Lynch (author of The Lies of Locke Lamora) and a collection of never-before-published articles-Putting the Fact in Fantasy connects you to experts in a broad range of fields. This book brings together linguists, historians, horse trainers, and other experts to debunk the myths, correct the misconceptions, offer advice on getting the details right, and help writers create more realistic yet engaging stories to satisfy discerning readers.

Putting the Science in Fiction

• Understand the basic principles of science, technology, and medicine that are frequently featured in fiction.
• Avoid common pitfalls and misconceptions to ensure technical accuracy.
• Write realistic and compelling scientific elements that will captivate readers.
• Brainstorm and develop new science- and technology-based story ideas.

Whether writing about mutant monsters, rogue viruses, giant spaceships, or even murders and espionage, Putting the Science in Fiction will have something to help every writer craft better fiction.

The Triangle

When a category-five hurricane rips through the North Atlantic, it kills hundreds of people, decimates local infrastructure, and rewrites the geography of the so-called Bermuda Triangle. As the recovery operations begin on storm-ravaged islands, something has changed. Ships and planes begin to disappear, leaving behind a trail of haunting radio transmissions.

Though no wreckage is found, most consider these unfortunate but random events. That changes when the amphibious warship U.S.S. Wasp goes missing en route to Bermuda. Three hundred marines and over a thousand sailors simply vanish.

A covert task force investigates, but finds themselves caught in a third hurricane and shipwrecked on an uncharted island. They discover something shocking there—and not just that they aren’t alone on the island.

The Rogue Retrieval (Gateways to Alissia #1)

For fifteen years, they’ve studied it beneath a shroud of secrecy. Now, the head of their research team has gone AWOL, with a backpack full of disruptive technology. They’re sending in a retrieval team, and they want Quinn Bradley to come along. His talents for illusion, backed with the company’s considerable resources, should make for some convincing magic.

It will need to be convincing. Because Alissia has the real thing.

The Island Deception (Gateways to Alissia #2)

For stage magician Quinn Bradley, he thought his time in Alissia was over. He’d done his job for the mysterious company CASE Global Enterprises, and now his name is finally on the marquee of one of the biggest Vegas casinos. And yet, for all the accolades, he definitely feels something is missing. He can create the most amazing illusions on Earth, but he’s also tasted true power. Real magic.

He misses it. Luckily–or not–CASE Global is not done with him, and they want him to go back. The first time, he was tasked with finding a missing researcher. Now, though, he has another task: Help take Richard Holt down.

It’s impossible to be in Vegas and not be a gambler. And while Quinn might not like his odds–a wyvern nearly ate him the last time he was in Alissia–if he plays his cards right, he might be able to aid his friends.

He also might learn how to use real magic himself.

The World Awakening (Gateways to Alissia #3)

Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.

But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.

As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval and The Island Deception, The World Awakening is the spellbinding conclusion to the Gateways to Alissia fantasy series from Dan Koboldt.