James Osiris Baldwin

Brute Force: Chapter 7

We made it about twenty miles before I realized we had a problem. Two, actually. Those problems were food and sleep.

Survival of the Fittest had biological needs built in. Eating, sleeping, and bathroom breaks were all required. Why people wanted to watch this stuff, I had no idea. But sure enough, when we eventually decided to stop and make camp, there were over a thousand people watching me dig a hole and take a shit like a cat in a litterbox. Some of them left helpful comments. Other...

Brute Force Chapters List

Someone in the comments pointed out that the Brute Force Chapters didn't quite match up. That would be because I've been editing and refining this book as time goes on.

All previous chapters are updated: since it's been a while, here's a list of the updated chapters for your reading pleasure:

- Chapter 1 

- Chapter 2<...

Brute Force: Chapter 6

We fled into the pitch-black jungle that surrounded the City of the Apes, angling north. My lovely passenger, unable to see or hear, clung to my back and trusted I wouldn't drive us into quicksand or the edge of a ravine.

I didn't stop running until my Stamina bar was blinking red, about five miles at a flat sprint. The journey had been made on instinct alone, and when we stopped, I realized we were in a different biome. The surrounding forest was much rockier, drier, and less humid. It...

Sneak Peek for Patrons: Brute Force #1 Cover Art!

And we have liftoff! The brute Force #1 cover art is done and now awaits final corrections and typography. What do you think?

Updates: Mental Health Difficulties, Project Progress

Hi all - I'm sorry I've been quiet regarding updates. As most of you know, I've dealt with life-long chronic mental health issues, and they've been climbing on top of me in recent months.

Quite honestly? I've been struggling to write much, if at all, since about the beginning of April. The reasons why are complex, but it functionally boils down to everyone's favorite friends depression, ADHD and anxiety. As Archemi has progressed and succeeded, my expectations of myself have increased, ...

Crowned In Black (Archemi #6) - Chapter One

“Voivode Dragozin. I’m afraid to report that Lucien Hart has taken our king.”

The Court Mage’s words rang in my ears, and the world around me - the soldiers shouting orders as the entire population of Vulkan Keep emptied toward the Throne Room, the frantic chatter, all of it - became a blur of ringing white noise.

Ignas, captured. Revala, conquered. Now we had the Ilian Empire right on our doorstep, west and south. Suddenly, Violetta’s presence in Dakhdir and Or...

Crowned in Black: First Page

“Voivode Dragozin. I’m afraid to report that Lucien Hart has taken our king.”

The Court Mage’s words rang in my ears, and the world around me - the soldiers shouting orders as the entire population of Vulkan Keep emptied toward the Throne Room, the frantic chatter, all of it - became a blur of ringing white noise.

Ignas, captured. Revala, conquered. Now we had the Ilian Empire right on our doorstep, west and south. Suddenly, Violetta’s presence in Dakhdir and Or...

Character Art Just for You (+ book/audio news)

Noodles has landed! This art was done by the talented Scaliepunk, especially for Patreon patrons. Working out monster design is a intense collaborative process, especially when that creature is a somewhat original one like the Reaper Nemesis.

Noodles is basically an omni-directional murder machine. Just look at his smug little face.

2021-06-01 04:03:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Brute Force: Snippet

Brute Force continues! Read down for a Patrons-only snippet a bit later in the book.

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Quicksand

Induce the earth to soften into a mire. 30ft targeting radius, 20ft circular area of effect.

“Okay, Booger! Let’s test this out!” I leaped to my feet. “Quicksand! Give it all you got!”

Booger vibrated intensely for several seconds, and then a small two-foot patch of soil turn...

Updates: Brute Force, Stickers, Spear of Destiny Audio

Damn, what a couple of weeks it has been. You may have noticed that Brute Force updates were paused. The short version is that I'm not happy with it yet. The first third of the book is drafted, but there's a lot of character building and story 'spine' to establish before I feel confident sharing more of this new series. I tend to write/create in bursts, so this isn't unanticipated (by me and my spouse, at least: she is very familiar with my patterns). 

I had intended to get right o...

Brute Force: Chapter 5

Green light flashed over the doors in a rippling sheet of energy. I skidded to a halt, sliding over the damp stones to avoid crashing into the barrier, and dropped the girl to the ground. She stumbled and fell, but swung back to bring her fists up at me.

"Wait here!" I reared onto my hind legs and signed to her in ASL.

That, she had not expected. Her eyes widened in shock as I put my feet back down, turned, and charged into the fray.

The temple was now complete and ...

Warsinger Audio released!

Holy crap: not even three full days after the Warsinger audio files were sent to Audible, the audiobook is live in store!

All Patrons in the $25, $10, and $5 tiers should have a free audiobook code burning a hole in their inbox. I also sent one to $2 patrons who have been subscribers for over 6 months. Thank you all much, guys!

Brute Force: Chapter 4

The Hell Pigs were about as subtle as their name implied. Their party crashed through the jungle like a carnival, plunging into a jungle that got thicker and wilder as it sloped down into marshland. The scent was lost in the brackish water, but I tracked Clive’s gang by following the corpses of the common Legions they’d left behind.

The Pig had fought their way home, so despite the enormous lead they’d had on me. I was able to catch up with them in time to see them approach a brok...

Brute Force: Chapter 3

After a couple minutes had passed, I crawled out of my hiding place and climbed down the tree. My stomach rumbled as I looked around – and smelled around. My senses of sight, smell and hearing were superhuman. I could distinguish and commit to memory the differing stenches of each Hell Pig who’d been here, as well as the spoor of their mounts and the disturbingly tasty smell of the dead Hyperboar.

The body was gone, but they’d left the boar’s loot bag lying on the g...

Brute Force: Chapter 2

So, yeah. I wasn’t Isekai’d, but I was definitely, one-hundred percent dead.

EdenFRAMEs were post-mortem virtual realities, heavily regulated by governments and corporations. Living people couldn’t upload to EdenFRAMES, and gladiatorial combat starring tentacled shark-panthers was definitely not a feature. That meant this was an illegal, unofficial FRAME run by a hacker… or worse, an organized crime outfit. Logically, that implied that not only was I un-alive, someone...

Brute Force: Chapter 1

One delightful sunny morning, I woke up on a beach: naked, alone, with no idea how I’d gotten there.

But you know what I DID have?

Tentacles. Four of them, each thicker than a can of beer and sheathed in black armored plates. And as soon as I drew in my first breath, all of them began whipping around like out-of-control fire hoses.

“What in the donkey-loving FUCK is going on!?” is what I tried to yell, but it came out more like ‘HHROOORGH! RRRAAAGH!’ and then ‘PF...

Brute Force: Starting tomorrow!

The first five chapters of Brute Force are nailed down. The book is about a quarter of the way finished - so starting from tomorrow, I'll be posting chapters every other day (unless something really requires substantial editing.

In Archemi news, the map is finished and is currently being scanned in! Once we have it digitized, we'll be stitching the images together, improving the color/contrast, and adding in major points of interest in Photoshop before making poster prints of it. This i...

Brute Force: System Development

What have I been up to since finished Spear of Destiny? Lots and lots of stuff.

Firstly, Soundbooth completed recording of the Warsinger audiobook. I finished proofing it a couple of days ago. Now we just have last minute tweaks left to do, and after that, we'll submit it to the store. Finally! 

It's taken a while because Soundbooth are a busy little studio run by a small team who puts heart and soul into their work. Justin Thomas James composes original music for each Archem...

Excerpt: Brute Force #1

The tentacles still had a life of their own as I blundered down the sandbar, sprinting for the tree line. Ferns and rotten logs crushed under my clawed feet as I tore a brand-new trail through the jungle like the whacky inflatable arm tube man. Behind me, the squealing and snapping grew closer.

The jungle closed in around us like a shroud. I charged through vines that would have strangled the real me, tearing them from the trees. Birds whirled up in a screeching chorus from the branches...

New and Improved! Spear of Destiny (Final)

Hi everyone - regarding the last post, all names have been credited, and minor editorial improvements made to the end of the book.

Link to your free copy of Spear of Destiny is here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/14qsq0f7ar

Impending Corrections to SoD

I've been made aware that I have not credited all Patrons in Spear of Destiny as the Tiers promise: I am very sorry if your name was left out. I will be correcting this, reuploading the book (to both here and to Amazon as well), and will let you know when all mentions are correct.

Spear of Destiny Complete

FINALLY. IT HAS ARRIVED.

Guess what? You can get your full copy of Spear of Destiny, right here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/14qsq0f7ar

Apologies in advance for any typos. 

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 34

Ebisa was able to confirm what I’d already suspected. Karalti couldn’t fly us to Meewhome. For one thing, the Azure Passage, the trans-oceanic flight to the island, was simply too far for her to make in one trip. For another, Meewhome was a sealed territory. A mini-Caul of Souls protected the claw-shaped island, which lay about two hundred miles south of the Shalid. To pass through the barrier, you had to have a special token of passage linked to the barrier. The token was not something y...

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 33

With the first round of money sitting in the KMS, it was time to do something I’d wanted to do for months: clean out my Inventory, replenish all my necessary tools, and get better gear. While Rin went to go deal with Ebisa, Suri and I linked up and hit the markets.

The best place to get gear tips in Taltos was at the Temple of Khors. Most Vlachians worshipped Khors exclusively, relegating the other gods of the Nine to support roles or ignoring them as myths. The God of the Forge had t...

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 32

Vulkan Keep’s library was built into a large cavern, kept dry by the geothermal warmth that radiated from the belly of Mt. Racosul. What seemed like miles of shelves receded into the depths of the mountain, which was clearly lit by rows of smokeless mage lights. After all the practice I’d been doing in Myszno, I could slowly read the sign at the front check-in desk without help: ‘NO pipes, matches, sparks, witchcraft, or loitering’.

“Oh! Hi, Kythias!” Rin called to ...

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 31

Once we were outside the War Room, it felt like a dark cloud lifted from over our heads. Rin took a deep breath. Suri rubbed her face.

“I think you’re onto something,” Suri said. “What Lucien and Ororgael are doing just doesn’t sit right.”

“Yeah. My jimmies are definitely rustled,” I said. “But we either don’t have enough wealth or renown to convince Ignas’ officers more than we already have right now. I’m not sure that Lanz is really on Team Ignas.”

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 30

The seat of power in Vlachia was Vulkan Keep: a cave castle built into Mt. Racosul, the towering black volcano that loomed over the black city of Taltos. Sheltered by the mountain on all sides except for one, it was the closest thing to an impregnable fortress I’d ever seen in Archemi. Even Solonovka, with its tiered twenty-foot walls, couldn’t hold a candle to it.

Normally, Karalti angled for the Parade Ground, the great red square which faced the Volod’s garrison barracks. But w...

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 29

There was a time difference of three hours between Myszno and Taltos, the capital city in the province of the same name. That meant there was a bit of wiggle room to sit down with Nethres and find out what she knew—and why she was here to begin with.

“You sure this place is private?” She asked, once we took our seats in the Ducal Suit. The place was looking bare: volunteers had already stripped out the images of Bolza and his family, as well as all the green and silver furnishings...

Spear of Destiny: Chapter 28

Hi everyone - sorry this took a while to get out, but I had to finish the book and get cracking on editing before I felt like I could keep posting.

There's some significant changes to prior chapters to make some plot connections more clear and link the start and end of the book more clearly. You'll see that in the final version of SoD - which every Patron receives as part of their sponsorship. I'll be able to set that download up for you on the 31st :)

And oh look: it's the firs...

Editing Pause #2

Posts are paused while I address some editing issues. Chapter 28 is a scene that needs to be handled somewhat delicately, but it will be available soon !

I'll be posting multiple chapters a day in the leadup to the release - and everyone here gets the ebook as part of their patronage, so rest assured you will have it in your hot little hands soon enough.