The Actuator Series by James Wymore, Aiden James, Matthew S. Cox, Dan Willis, Nathan Yocum, Mara Valderran, Patrick Burdine, Whitney Trang, James Pratt, Craig Nybo, Jason Purdy, Jenny Persson, Jay Wilburn, Juhi, Jason A. Anderson, Wilbert Stanton, Sara Wolf, Bob Defendi, Lorna Marie Larson, D.J. Butler, C.M. Spivey

On a secret military base tucked in a remote desert mountain, a dangerous machine lies hidden from the American public. Known as “The Actuator”, this machine is capable of transforming entire communities into alternate realities. In theory, these often terrifying realities are reversible. The scientists in charge of this machine employ operatives called Machine Monks, who attune their minds to manifest single ideas from the realms of fantasy and science fiction... moreOn a secret military base tucked in a remote desert mountain, a dangerous machine lies hidden from the American public. Known as “The Actuator”, this machine is capable of transforming entire communities into alternate realities. In theory, these often terrifying realities are reversible. The scientists in charge of this machine employ operatives called Machine Monks, who attune their minds to manifest single ideas from the realms of fantasy and science fiction. These ideas are then superimposed upon sparsely inhabited areas for testing. For a while, the enigmatic Actuator cooperates with the experiments, using dampeners to limit the affected area. But those in charge of the project eagerly anticipate exploring the full potential of this amazing device. Experiments progress to where they feed more than twenty different genre ideas simultaneously into the Actuator’s database. Meanwhile, an unknown saboteur dismantles the dampeners. The effect is catastrophic. The entire world is plunged into chaos, and familiar landscapes become a deadly patchwork of genre horrors. Overnight, the Actuator becomes the worst menace the earth has ever seen, claiming lives in staggering numbers. Can a few surviving Machine Monks band together to set things right again? It all depends on whether Red McLaren and the Monks can survive their journey through the various realms that separate them from the Actuator, where ever-present orcs, aliens, pirates, and vampires seek to destroy them. They must move quickly, as time is running out to stop the Actuator and the villain who controls it and the earth’s destiny. less

When the Actuator breaks the earth into a patchwork of altered realities, the remaining Machine Monks begin looking for the Keys to put it back. In the meantime, everyone in the world has been transformed without knowing why. This collection tells about some of the people struggling to deal with the change.In “Remembering Emily,” by Sara Wolf, Daniel must rescue his distant girlfriend from danger. Worse, she might forget him... moreWhen the Actuator breaks the earth into a patchwork of altered realities, the remaining Machine Monks begin looking for the Keys to put it back. In the meantime, everyone in the world has been transformed without knowing why. This collection tells about some of the people struggling to deal with the change.In “Remembering Emily,” by Sara Wolf, Daniel must rescue his distant girlfriend from danger. Worse, she might forget him.Matthew Cox explores Cyberpunked China in "Stolen Orchid,” where a man finds his wife has become a ghost. His only hope is to cross the border to an unfamiliar realm.In “The Blackbird’s Tale,” Dan Willis tells of a Machine Monk named David, who works his way through Chicago’s noir scene to find an Actuator Key.Nathan Yocum gives us “The Dream Journal of Oren Smith Wessely,” in steampunk Arizona where his dreams suddenly come to life.Mara Valderran’s “The Austenation” crosses Pride and Prejudice with werewolves so the young heroine is forced to do the unthinkable and take matters into her own hands.In “Escape,” by Patrick Burdine, a group of teenagers are caught in a motherless town where all the fathers have turned into faceless, soul-sucking monsters.“The Ritual,” by Whitney Trang, is a haunted house in Japan where a ghost seeks to sacrifice a young woman’s sister to save his family.“The Gatekeepers of Change” is James Pratt’s chronicle of the awakening of great power in a man preparing to enact terrible plans.“The Ringer” is Craig Nybo’s tale about a detective in New Orleans facing zombies and other undead monsters as he assists a client in taking on her crime lord husband.A Soviet soldier guarding Chernobyl, in Jason Purdy’s “Anna and Lena,” must escape the poisoning by crossing an unknown border.Jenny Persson brings us a teen in Viking Sweden in “Once upon a Frozen North,” who looks to the steampunk airships just across the border as a means for her escape.Jay Wilburn tells of drug addicted Travis, in “Halfway,” who finds the sanctuary of the sanitarium suddenly turns violent.The author Juhi’s “The Search for Punarnav” takes us to India, where a man seeks to become a healer despite the dangerous Hindu mythologies suddenly made real.Jason A. Anderson brings us “15 Seconds of Fame,” in Steampunk London where a detective risks everything to save a child from her mob boss father.In “Forever Young,” Wilbert Stanton explores the fate of an old man who finds himself young again, after paying his life’s savings to gain admission into an exclusive realm.Finally, James Wymore’s tale, “Cult of the Actuation,” continues the story from book 1, as Dragon Star takes on religious zealots, organized in the wake of the Change, who have taken one of the Machine Monks captive. less

The Machine Monks fight to keep control of the Actuator while enemies attack the base. As besiegers wear them down, the rest of the world struggles to adapt to the chaos left in the wake of the great change. Their only choice is to push forward and find the next key and shutdown the fantasy realm surrounding the base. When they do, Xenwyn will die.Haunted by the incalculable death toll all over the earth, Jon accepts the mission to recover the next key... moreThe Machine Monks fight to keep control of the Actuator while enemies attack the base. As besiegers wear them down, the rest of the world struggles to adapt to the chaos left in the wake of the great change. Their only choice is to push forward and find the next key and shutdown the fantasy realm surrounding the base. When they do, Xenwyn will die.Haunted by the incalculable death toll all over the earth, Jon accepts the mission to recover the next key. Despite his injuries and as much as he hates to leave his newfound love, he refuses to let all of humanity suffer if he can fix it.Desperate to keep Xenwyn alive, Red determines to find a magical cure before Jon gets back with the key. Each time he takes her across a border, might be the end.Seeing all his friends in turmoil, Dragon Star sets out to find the saboteur. If the architect of this dark world cannot offer any means of setting things right, he will at least see consequences for the horrors he unleashed.None of them ever imagined the Actuator could still make the world even worse. less

Scattered all across the world, the Machine Monks struggle to deal with the saboteur’s next big move. Isolated in a situation they’ve never experienced before, their mission to collect all the Actuator keys grows desperate.In “Eyes in the Void,” by Dan Willis, Holly Dark must convince David, a hard bitten, Noir PI, to help her rob a high security train so she can pay off an Ogre who is also her late father’s loan shark.An elven ranger finds himself in the Old West after a ritual gone awry... moreScattered all across the world, the Machine Monks struggle to deal with the saboteur’s next big move. Isolated in a situation they’ve never experienced before, their mission to collect all the Actuator keys grows desperate.In “Eyes in the Void,” by Dan Willis, Holly Dark must convince David, a hard bitten, Noir PI, to help her rob a high security train so she can pay off an Ogre who is also her late father’s loan shark.An elven ranger finds himself in the Old West after a ritual gone awry. Having traded in his longbow for six-guns, he accepts a quest from a strange lawman in exchange for help returning to the home he loves. Matthew Cox tells us “The Ruin of Man.”When the world’s most dangerous kaiju marches on manga-inspired Japan, can Isaac Tran defeat it using only his wits and the power of anime? Find out in “Memories of a Kaiju,” by Bob Defendi.A honeymoon “Safari” (by Lorna Marie Larson) goes horribly wrong when rudely interrupted by the chaotic Actuator. Without guns, how do you fight against ancient wildlife with a mind of its own?Harry’s back from out west, but he’s returned as an orc. Now he’s trying to set up a drug deal that will make Butch rich, if it doesn’t get him killed first. “Monsters in Chicago,” by D. J. Butler.“Stranded in Camelot” by her so-called friends, Machine Monk Elizabeth Darling seeks a way home to Steampunk London—and finds an unexpected surprise in the medieval forest. Get medieval with C.M. Spivey.Tina and a group of injured teens stands between a horror and millions of innocent lives. Robert J. Defendi gives us “Big Trouble in Greater Tokyo.”Patrick Burdine gives us the continued story of orphaned teens in “The Bayou King.” While Lennie is traveling to a safe haven with her little brother through the nightmare lands of the Dead South, disaster strikes and she is forced to rely on a woman with a dark secret if she hopes to survive.James Wymore tells the next part of the ongoing saga as Brian and his crew face the saboteur face to face in a high tech war that will alter the fate of the world. less

The Actuator, a machine capable of literally changing reality, was created to make a utopian paradise. Before it happened, a saboteur used it to transform the world into patches of every kind of genre fiction, scattering the keys necessary to put it back across the globe. Everyone alive found their lives radically altered, some living in fantasy realms with real magic and others in incomprehensible horrors. Thrown into chaos, people struggled against aliens, pirates, orcs, and vampires... moreThe Actuator, a machine capable of literally changing reality, was created to make a utopian paradise. Before it happened, a saboteur used it to transform the world into patches of every kind of genre fiction, scattering the keys necessary to put it back across the globe. Everyone alive found their lives radically altered, some living in fantasy realms with real magic and others in incomprehensible horrors. Thrown into chaos, people struggled against aliens, pirates, orcs, and vampires. Many died. Only a handful of people on the planet, called Machine Monks, even knew why it happened or how. Now they have to put it all back before humanity is destroyed.Continuing their quest for the Actuator keys, the Machine Monks realize their cause is becoming hopeless. An army of half-machine men is rapidly spreading over the face of the earth, converting anybody they don’t kill to their cause. With superior numbers and technology, their leader will not stop until every living human is subdued and loyal to him.Keeping the first key with him, preventing anybody from using the Actuator to change the world, the sociopath rampages. Even if they could get all the keys, the small group opposing the tyrant don’t know what to do when they get to the final one—a key they’ve never seen before. If they don’t find the answers fast, the world will be lost. less