Playing Gods

Playing Gods is a new action packed cosmic fantasy, filled with humor, modern relevance and amazing new alien worlds and cultures. Isolation is Book One of a series. Xriah and Vylis, two avatars, both empowered with differing superhuman abilities, are repeatedly thrust into wildly varying worlds to do battle on behalf of their respective deities. Though the nature of their deities is shrouded in mystery, both avatars' faith in their purpose is strong and unwavering. On each successive world they seek one another out, and then it is a battle to the death, despite the fact that both the defeated and victor alike are reborn and plunged into yet another world, to begin the fight all over again. And as they continue their endless battle the real victims are the inhabitants of the avatars' battlefields. The avatar Vylis feels nothing but the joy of the game, the sport of defying expectations, and exploiting the true weakness of his nemesis avatar, namely: that Xriah has come to care for the unfortunate denizens of the worlds upon which this world-crushing game is played. In Playing Gods 1: Isolation, the two bitter opponents unknowingly become trapped on a world cut off from the source of their immortality, the very gods for whom they fight. There will be no re-spawning this time in the brutal game they play. Now for everyone who walks the face of this alien world, inhabitant or intruder, death is absolutely final. Themes, concepts and tropes from the world of gaming are reinterpreted and explored in depth in Playing Gods, with complex emotional consequences for the creatures who just might live in such a reality.

Picking up exactly where Playing Gods 1: Isolation left off, Playing Gods 2: Adaptation brings the zehuderan warriors Xriah and Vylis to the world of Gravios. A far cry from the last plane where the two battled, Gravios is an ocean world of cybernetically augmented humans and post-apocalyptic sea vessels. All land on Gravios has been completely submerged into the depths, the sea level elevated by the planet-swallowing marine creature known as the Grava. In this arena of hostile waters and cyborg warriors, this plane's denizens may prove a more formidable factor than others have been in this endless two-man war. It should be an easy victory for Vylis, though. After pushing his foe past the breaking point, Vylis should be able to capitalize on one of Xriah's trademark mistake-filled rages. This time, however, things are different. Xriah is different, and this new Xriah might just be a little more calculating than Vylis bargained for. Meanwhile, the goddess Synandri's right hand man Xzarius is rewarded for his heroic efforts on the last plane with a new task: assisting another zehuderan named Vellady in her ascension to the Nexusplane. The eventual fate of all successful zehuderan, ascension is the ultimate trial, presenting challenges few zehuderan are equipped to handle. Even with the help of Xzarius, these new obstacles may prove too unfathomable for Vellady to overcome. With lives so long, the routines so ingrained, change is difficult. Our coping strategies for new challenges are themselves challenged, and survival itself is often at stake. The only way to overcome change is to embrace it. The only way to survive is to Adapt ...

Playing Gods is a spectacularly action-packed cosmic fantasy series, laced with edgy humor, social satire and imaginative world-building. Xriah and Vylis, two warriors with diametrically opposed morality and empowered with superhuman abilities to match, are repeatedly thrust into wildly varying worlds to savagely do battle on behalf of their respective deities. Themes, concepts and tropes from the genres of gaming fantasy are reinterpreted and explored in depth in Playing Gods, with complex emotional consequences for the beings who just might live in such a reality. Dragonball Z meets Game of Thrones, with a dose of the anarchic meta-humor of Deadpool. Playing Gods: Altruism is Book Three of the series. When his virtuous opponent turns even more callous than he is, Vylis, the ostensible bad guy and playfully psychopathic audience favorite, begins to smell a rat in the walls and starts punching holes in his carefully constructed reality to see what's really on the other side. The creator of that reality will not be pleased. Performed by David Coyne, Chris Rohan, Colleen Delany, Richard Rohan, Jessica Lauren Ball, Marni Penning, Michael Lee Taylor, Tia Shearer, Ken Jackson, Henry Kramer, David Jourdan, and Kimberly Gilbert, Nanette Savard, Danny Gavigan, Bradley Smith, Jeff Allin, Mary C. Davis, Tim Carlin, Joe Mallon, Amanda Forstrom, Robbie Gay, Nora Achrati, Shayna Small, Jason B McIntosh, Steve Wannall, Christopher Walker, Drew Kopas, Patrick Bussink, Bill Gillett, Nathanial Perry, Andy Brownstein, Todd Scofield, Tracy Olivera, Chris Genebach, Terence Aselford, Delores King Williams and Alejandro Ruiz.

"Seven metacycles later... Mortals fall, Ascended rise, and Gods consume. The planar energy crisis is now fact; proof written into the very air of the Nexusplane. For the first time in immeasurable history, the eternally luminescent Realm of the Gods knows night. Everything has changed… …and nothing has changed. The Council continues to operate as it doesn't; with seemingly no consideration to those outside itself. Within its labyrinth of bureaucracy, officials and agents play their petty games. Not even they can tell if their actions bear any relevance to the imminent threat. Synandri, despite nearly destroying the Omniverse with a careless turn of phrase, continues raising her apocalyptic Ageless in a desperate bid to offer a solution. Azryst the Savior, wielder of the azure flame, struggles to hold onto his conviction to redeem the sadistic, white-haired cannibal, Wravier. Another carefully-constructed dynamic teeters on the brink of collapse. Xzarius, disillusioned by the various corruptions surrounding him, forges his own path. He and his humble team of specialists operate in the shadows, providing what meager help they can to those in need. All the while, they desperately look for any opportunity to slow or stop the approaching end. And unbeknownst to all; a collection of selves, personas that should have been erased, plot. Their leader works to bring another, more dramatic solution to the table: Deicide. Produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!"