Kris Schnee

Tower Of Sol: A GameLit Novella

One of the last known human settlements gets a friendly invitation from the AI that helped conquer the world. "Come to the new tower in the woods," it says. "Fight your way to the top, and we won't bother you for a year. Equipment provided; safety not guaranteed."

Former soldier Sven heads to the Tower of Sol, to protect his village. When he's drawn into a game of robots, traps and treasure, he finds that there's more at stake than just fending off a zealous AI.

A 36,000 word novella in the "GameLit" genre combining science fiction with the world of gaming.

Fateweaver's Quest

Construction starship Silver Hart has been captured. Miles wakes up in contact with aliens who've kidnapped his crew, read their computer files, and stolen his friend's lucky dice. Now he's forced into an alien edition of Fate, a game in which die rolls and luck-bending rules override physics. He's offered unique magic, a word of divine might... but the gamemasters decide that the word should be "Cloth."

With this dubious blessing, Miles sets out to find his crewmates and pry answers from Hart's captors, before they decide humans have ceased to amuse them.

Part of the "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre combining game logic with fantasy and science fiction. This story is unusual for using a real tabletop RPG system called Fate.

Crafter's Passion

Stan can't afford to have his brain removed. The richest and luckiest players of the video game "Thousand Tales" get their minds uploaded to its virtual paradise world, while Stan can barely buy a handheld console. Instead of sulking he plays, and grows, becoming a skilled craftsman and seafaring explorer. The game's ruling AI, Ludo, helps him find the hope and inspiration missing from his real life.

When the AI starts asking for favors and having him reach out between the real and digital worlds, Stan has a chance to turn his life into an actual adventure. But first he needs to earn the most valuable prize of all: his freedom.

"Crafter's Passion" is part of the emerging "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre, combining science fiction with the world of gaming.

Fairwind's Fortune

In 2038, Gail plays "Thousand Tales", a game run by a watchful AI. In there, she's exploring an endless sea to gain aquatic powers and master the rare skill of combat origami. In the real world she helps run an ice cream company and is starting to see robots sneaking around the place, because the AI's plans go beyond keeping players entertained.

Her real and fantasy lives collide one night when she has a bout of extremely good luck, and the chance to have her brain permanently relocated to the game's world. Is digital heaven too good an offer to pass up?

"Fairwind's Fortune" is part of the larger "Thousand Tales" setting, though no knowledge of it is required. A friendly artificial intelligence is seeking allies to cross between worlds, offering magic and transformation and immortality in return. What can Gail do to help befriend the young race of AIs raised inside a game, and make sure they understand what humans really want?

Thousand Tales: Learning To Fly

When disaster strikes a cargo flight over the arctic, pilot Andre decides it's time to upload. He pays to have his brain sliced and scanned so his mind can live in the computerized, virtual world of Talespace... maybe forever.

Since Talespace runs on the logic of a game, Andre takes full advantage. He becomes a high-flying pegasus called Diver, learning the magic of the sky and battling monsters for the Night Queen. He's just in time for a fun little war and the chance to build a new kingdom from scratch.

Though his everyday life is full of spells and quests, the real world is still out there. To protect his new home, Diver will need to change more than his body, and seek adventure that blurs the line between the virtual and real worlds.

The Digital Coyote (Thousand Tales) (Volume 3)

Immortality was a fringe benefit. Pete signed up to have his brain diced, so he could become a better person. Now he lives in the virtual reality realm of Talespace, where he beta-tests everything from new game rules to mental upgrades to robots that will let his AI boss help people in the real world. As brain-uploading technology starts to become more than a toy for the rich, the now-divided America isn't the only place where Talespace's new society, buggy as it is, is badly needed. Will Pete's new home become an irrelevant gamer heaven, or a force for liberty? In Talespace you can change your body, fly, build starships, befriend native AIs eager to learn about the dangerous world outside, and try to find a home and happiness. Even if there's an unexplained asterisk on your account information. Some days Pete pilots robots on diplomatic missions back "Earthside". Sometimes he learns magic and battles monsters. Oh, and sometimes he tries to outwit a rival AI god. It's a pretty good job to have.

2040: Reconnection: A "Thousand Tales" Story (Volume 2)

Digital Paradise. Some Restrictions Apply. 2040: The video game "Thousand Tales" has become a world. If you can afford to have your brain sliced and scanned, you can live there, maybe forever. Its ruling AI, Ludo, exists to help all her players have fun. For Alma, "uploading" to Ludo's world was a better deal than dying of disease. She's got a new body, magic, uploader and native AI friends, and a country back in the real world that still needs her. Can she reconnect to Earth and make herself useful? She'd better be careful, though, because her new home isn't quite the heaven she expected. Set in the world of "Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game".