J. L. Doty has 9 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators. The most-rated is The Heart of the Sands.
When Dead Ain't Dead Enough
Summary
Paul Conklin is a rather ordinary, 30-ish fellow, sharing his ordinary, present-day San Francisco apartment with the ghosts of his dead wife and daughter. Suzanna's cooking for him again, and Cloe's bouncing around the apartment in her school uniform, and things are almost back to normal. But a piece of Paul realizes he's really bug-f--k nuts, or at least that's what he thinks. He has no idea that a Primus caste demon from the Netherworld covets his soul, and that he's going to have to take a crash course in killing big, bad hoodoo demons, or lose his soul for all eternity.
©2012 J. L. Doty (P)2017 J. L. Doty
Child of the Sword
Summary
Rat is no ordinary thief. A feral, filthy, and malnourished child, he haunts the streets of the medieval city Anistigh and survives on what he can steal. When he tries to steal a purse and bungles it, a mob wants to cut off his hand as punishment, so to save himself, he slips into a convenient shadow to hide. Rat thinks it's just another warm and comfortable shadow cast by the sun, but a clan wizard sees him create the shadow with his magic, an instinctive act of which Rat is unaware. Rat's magic is subtle, but potentially quite powerful, so he is adopted into the greatest of the Lesser Clans, adopted into a family, and given the name Morgin. Morgin quickly grows into manhood and the clan teaches him wizardry and sorcery and swordsmanship. Having survived the streets of Anistigh, Morgin is inclined to avoid conflict, would be content to remain on the sidelines in the ever present clan rivalries. But as a clansman he inherits the enemies of the clan, and his shadowmagic proves to be a powerful weapon. As the ancestral conflict between the Greater and Lesser Clans once again leads to war, not even the clans realize that their petty little war is spawned by the primeval battle between the righteous gods of the Celestial Plane and the fallen gods of the Nether Plane. For it is upon the Mortal Plane, with mortal lives, and mortal pain and suffering and death; it is upon the Mortal Plane that the gods meet and fight their wars.
©2013 J. L. Doty (P)2020 J. L. Doty
The Thirteenth Man
Summary
From the author of the Treasons Cycle, the Gods Within, and the Dead Among Us series comes a standalone science fiction novel for fans of David Weber, Pierce Brown, Lois McMaster Bujold, and more! Spanning the galaxy, The Thirteenth Man blends the best traditions of space opera and military sci-fi into a nonstop adventure that's as much Patrick O'Brien as it is John Scalzi. When Commander Charlie Cass, the bastard son of the Duke de Maris, returns from five years in a squalid Syndonese POW camp, he finds that little has changed in the Realm. As always, the King and the nine Dukes are conspiring against each other, but now some of them are plotting with Charlie's old enemy. And as interstellar war looms, they certainly don't need Charlie Cass messing up their delicate plans. Unfortunately for them, that's what he's best at. With ingenuity, tactical innovations, and just a little bit of luck, Cass might be able to not only save the Realm, but perhaps even change it for the better. Which, of course, means he'll likely face the headsman's axe.
©2016 J. L. Doty (P)2020 Tantor
Still Not Dead Enough
Summary
Salisteen, a very powerful colleague of McGowan's, suspects a demon is loose in her city, the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Something has murdered and possessed the souls of a string of young girls. At her request, McGowan brings Paul down to see if his special necromantic powers might be of help in hunting down the demon. McGowan also brings Colleen and Katherine. But Salisteen's hidden agenda is for her and another senior practitioner to have a look at Paul, and he finds himself under their microscope. From Anogh Paul gets hints that Suzanna's death was not an accident. But Anogh's insinuations are vague and frustratingly obtuse, and Paul begins to suspect that Anogh murdered Suzanna, or at least had something to do with her death. It's then that Paul starts to realize the dead, and maybe a few Sidhe, still aren't quite dead enough, and that they probably just need a little helping hand to get there.
©2013, 2017 J. L. Doty (P)2017 J. L. Doty
The Steelmaster of Indwallin
Summary
Morgin finds himself living two lives. When he goes to sleep at night he dreams of a life 1,200 years in the past. But it's not like a dream, it's more like another life, for when he goes to sleep in that other life, he awakes again in this one, still a hunted man. In the far past he's a mercenary Benesh'ere warrior hired out to one of the 12 Legions of Angels fighting in the Great Clan Wars. And there he fights alongside, and against, legendary figures from the far past of the Shahot. He gets to see firsthand the truth of the Wars, and the truth of, or rather the lies behind, the legends that every clansman has heard of since childhood. And the Benesh'ere warrior has his own memories of a peaceful childhood disrupted by the Wars, and centuries spent at the forges shaping the steel for a legendary blade, a blade without flaw, a self-forged blade. Beware the power of the self-forged blade.
©2013 J. L. Doty (P)2020 J. L. Doty
Of Treasons Born
Summary
A gripping military science fiction adventure starring the hero of A Choice of Treasons. As a lifer in the Imperial Navy fighting in a war that has lasted for generations, York Ballin's only hope for an honorable discharge is the grave. But what events led up to his reluctant enlistment? What spawned York's almost fanatic loyalty to his friends - and his doubts regarding the imperial uniform he once wore with such pride? York rarely recalls his childhood, which began with a mystery and ended at age 11 when he was given a harsh choice: Join the navy or face certain death on a prison asteroid. The navy has its own code of justice, but a youngster with curiosity and grit is able to rise in the ranks...if he's given a fair shot. A few rigorous years later, as a newly commissioned ensign, York is assigned to the hunter-killer ship The Fourth Horseman. But when an unexpected foe kills his superior officer and leaves the crew stranded in enemy territory, the young ensign must do whatever he can to save the ship - even if it means he'll be court-martialed for treason. Of Treasons Born is a novel of the Treasons Cycle; the series was written so that it can be listened to in any order.
©2016 J. L. Doty; published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
A Choice of Treasons
Summary
Gripping, fast-moving military science fiction starring the hero of Of Treasons Born. As a lifer in the Imperial Navy, fighting in a war that has lasted generations, Lieutenant York Ballin's only hope for an honorable discharge is the grave. Neither the Empire nor the Directorate seems to care that millions have died or that millions more are doomed as hostilities continue. Ballin's only option is to hunker down, keep his crewmen and women in top condition, and try not to get them all killed. But matters take a turn for the worse when he's forced to hijack the cruiser Cinesstar in order to evacuate the empress, her daughter, and the imperial embassy just before the planet Dumark falls to the enemy. Now, deep behind enemy lines, aboard a ship without a trained crew and commanded by an incompetent nobleman, it becomes clear to Ballin that the empress has a dangerous agenda - so dangerous it threatens the power structures of both the Empire and the Directorate. Now even their comrades in the Empire are hell-bent on turning Cinesstar into a cloud of radioactive vapor. It falls to Lieutenant Ballin to save them all, but every option leads to a quandary - and he finds himself faced with a choice of treasons. A Choice of Treasons is part of J. L. Doty's Treasons Cycle, which also includes Of Treasons Born, the story of York Ballin's reluctant enlistment in the Imperial Navy, his loyalty to his friends, and his doubts regarding the imperial uniform he once wore with great pride.
©2016 J.L. Doty; Published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
The Name of the Sword
Summary
Morgin is trapped in the Kingdom of Dreams, the realm of the Unnamed King. He knows he must somehow get back to the Mortal Plane to save France and Rhianne, and he's frustrated that he doesn't know the way. He decides to find the Unnamed King, for surely His Majesty could show him the way, and maybe even tell him his true name. Rhianne is held captive in Durin by Valso, and while he treats her well, he's trying to seduce her, to make her a slave to his whims with powerful compulsion spells. When she sleeps, she finds herself in the Kingdom of Dreams, seeing Morgin through Rhiannead's eyes, and they're strongly attracted to one another. Valso can sense that the sword is no longer on the Mortal Plane, so he concludes it must be in the Kingdom of Dreams. He calls upon ancient enemies from a far distant past and sends them to the Kingdom of Dreams to assault the realm of the Unnamed King. In her dreams Rhianne warns Morgin, and they both must help defend Sabian, the castle, and seat of power, of the Unnamed King. Back on the Mortal Plane, the Lesser Clans are on the verge of all-out war, which will only weaken them, and leave them fodder for attack by Valso and the Greater Clans. Is Olivia really that foolish? Will Morgin find his true name, for without it he cannot defeat the Dark God, and all the Mortal Plane will suffer for eternity?
©2014 J. L. Doty (P)2020 J. L. Doty
The Heart of the Sands
Summary
Now a Benesh'ere slave, every whiteface in the tribe hungers for Morgin's death. But he is Harriok's property, and while Harriok remains in a coma, a victim of the venom of the sand cat's sixth claw, the warriors wait and bide their time. As Morgin accompanies them on the March, an affinity for steel is slowly awakening within him, and he truly fears the truths his growing knowledge may reveal. Rhianne, thinking Morgin is dead, leads a lonely life as a hedge witch in a small village near the Lake of Sorrows. But as she matures, her powers grow far beyond those of a mere village healer. She now has a personal connection to the deadly talismanic sword Morgin brought onto the Mortal Plane, and as she begins to glean its true nature, she fears the fate of all mankind. As summer approaches and the heat of the sands of the Munjarro grows unbearable, the Benesh'ere are in the midst of their annual migration to the Lake of Sorrows. During the two days it takes to cross the Plains of Quam, their column is repeatedly attacked by companies of Kulls, a game of sport for the halfmen. Morgin fights beside the Benesh'ere to protect the column, and he reluctantly develops empathy for the whitefaces and their way of life. Morgin knows he must overcome Jerst and Blesset's hatred of him, and he regrets the heated words he threw at them shortly before the battle at Csairne Glen But his only recourse may be to fight them in individual, mortal combat. And as he tries to find a resolution to that situation, he has no idea that he must again face Salula. For thrice and thrice must a blade be born.
©2013-2020 J. L. Doty (P)2020 J. L. Doty