Mark Adams

¿Qué es lo que ocurre cuando un experto en viajes de aventura –que en realidad apenas ha salido de la ciudad– intenta recrear la primera expedición a Machu Picchu? Según la versión oficial de los he

Grognar goes with a platoon of hobgoblins, goblins and gibberlings (just for battle fodder) to prevent a band of heroes from snatching to dungeon core in the local dungeon. Grognar wants it for himself, because its shiny and would look good on his belt buckle. They go through a series of fights with the dungeon creatures and mishaps with traps (for comic relief) before facing off against the heroes and the dungeon boss. Using cunning, smarts, violence and a whole lot of dumb luck they win and get the dungeon cores shiny jewel. Unbeknown to Grognar that he would then be able to build, control and be boss of his own dungeon

The New York Times Bestselling Travel Memoir! The author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu travels the globe in search of the worlds most famous lost city. Adventurous, inquisitive and mirthful, Mark Adams gamely sifts through the eons of rumor, science, and lore to find a place that, in the end, seems startlingly real indeed.Hampton SidesA few years ago, Mark Adams made a strange discovery: Far from alien conspiracy theories and other pop culture myths, everything we know about the legendary lost city of Atlantis comes from the work of one man, the Greek philosopher Plato. Stranger still: Adams learned there is an entire global sub-culture of amateur explorers who are still actively and obsessively searching for this sunken city, based entirely on Platos detailed clues. What Adams didnt realize was that Atlantis is kind of like a virusand hed been exposed. In Meet Me in Atlantis, Adams racks up frequent-flier miles tracking down these Atlantis obsessives, trying to determine why they believe its possible to find the worlds most famous lost cityand whether any of their theories could prove or disprove its existence. The result is a classic quest that takes readers to fascinating locations to meet irresistible characters; and a deep, often humorous look at the human longing to rediscover a lost world.

Norman Reed (Not Reedus) is just a gravedigger. A simple man with a shovel, a crossbow, and absolutely no desire to deal with anyone elses problemsespecially not the ones that crawl out of their graves without asking.But in a world where people dont stay dead for longthanks to a corrupted, bureaucratically bloated respawn systembeing a gravedigger is not just pointless its practically suspicious. Corpses return. Dungeons overflow. And somewhere deep beneath the earth, something monstrous is waking up.Norman doesnt care. Or at least, he tries not to.That is, until the system breaks in his own backyard. Suddenly, Norman finds himself the accidental recipient of an increasingly passive-aggressive quest, a talking progress bar, and a sidekicka glitchy undead mess named Gary-7 who respawns wrong every time, and thinks Norman is his dad, his best friend, or possibly a sandwich.Now, with a Ministry auditor breathing down his neck, an ancient proto-core whispering in his skull, and the fate of the respawn grid unraveling like cheap toilet paper, Norman must do what no one else is willing to:Put things in the ground, and make sure they stay there.But this isnt a heros journey. Norman isnt chosen. He isnt brave. He isnt even particularly nice. Hes just the last person left who remembers how to bury something properly.And hes very, very tired.Norman Reed (Not Reedus) is a darkly comic mashup of grim fantasy, broken magic-tech, and bureaucratic horror. Expect: Improperly filed undead Graveyard sarcasm Corrupted dungeons with flesh walls Highly illegal use of a shovel Mild to moderate existential dread This is Book One of the Norman Reed (not Reedus) series.It begins with a gravedigger.It ends with something else.

Grognar 3: Grognar and the Accountancy of Doom is a hilariously bureaucratic descent into dungeon madnessan adventure where the sharpest blades are spreadsheets, and the deadliest traps come with glitter warnings.Grognar, once a brutish Goregoblin with dreams of dungeon domination, has finally claimed his lair. But The Whispering Labyrinth is no ordinary death trapits now a health-and-safety nightmare of mimics, motivational skulls, and sparkle-based fatalities. With his minions loyal (ish), his assistant D.A.V.E. snarky as ever, and his traps wildly unsafe, Grognar should be thriving.But then... the envelope arrives.A hiss. A twitch. A signature required in blood.A tax audit.Thus begins a new kind of terrorone of forms, fines, and fiscal doom. Grognar and his oddball crew are forced to journey to the infernal realms to recruit Louise, a tiefling accountant so composed she can frighten demons into compliance and cook pakoras during a raid. With clipboard in hand and a hell hound named Nellie at her side, Louise isnt just efficientshes lethal.Meanwhile, back at the Guild of Heroes, the original adventuring partynow retired, traumatized, and permanently glitteredare forced to relive their ordeal during a terrifying audit session with Bertram the Unwaivable, a gnome so grim his briefcase is a mimic too scared to move. As they recount tales of sparkly bunnies and emotionally scarring boops, it becomes clear: this dungeon isnt just dangerous, its deeply... procedural.As the audit intensifies, Grognar must expand his dungeon or risk reclassification as a "haunted closet with ambition." That means new traps, more paperwork, and even more glitter. Louise leads the charge, Barry the sentient paperwork stack embarks on a romantic quest to win the heart of an elite filing cabinet, and Petunia begins redecorating the trap corridors for "maximum sparkle-based confusion."Between disco-based deathtraps, surprise therapy pole-dancing pixies, and enchanted snack carts, the chaos escalates. With Bertram moving in, kobolds fearing Comic Sans, and a dungeon forced to file in triplicateonly one thing is certain: compliance has never been this catastrophic.Grognar 3 is a tale of fire, filing, and fierce financial footnotes. If youve ever wondered what happens when a goblin gets audited, when love blossoms between filing systems, or how to survive a glitter bunny with teeththis is your book.

Norman Reed (Not Reedus) Book 2: Ashes and OathsThe world is breaking.The Respawn Network, once the miracle that made death temporary, is failing. Heroes vanish into corrupted loops. Dungeons spill nightmares into the open air. The Ministry buries panic beneath paperwork while the Anti-Respawn League scrawls their creed in ash and blood.Into this storm stumbles Norman Reed.He is no heroonly a gravekeeper with a shovel, a crossbow, and a stubborn refusal to die. His knack for unravelling corrupted respawns has made him indispensable, though hed rather be left alone to bury the dead. At his side lurches Gary-7, a glitching zombie sidekick who never respawns the same way twice. Some days philosopher, some days fool, some days best friend. Always trouble.But the fight ahead is larger than graves and echoes.Far above the Shattered Coast, the Celestials stir. Neither gods nor mortals, they watch mankind like absent parents, divided over whether to intervene as the world fractures. When one descends into the mortal plane, the balance shifts.Beneath the Leagues stronghold, the Labyrinth waits. A dungeon twisted with corrupted proto-core logic, its shifting walls devour adventurers whole. Here Solenne and Thalya vanish, the party splintering as monsters bred by hatred stalk the halls. For Norman, the Labyrinth is both prison and mirrorforcing him into choices he despises, binding him with oaths he never wanted to swear.And at the heart of it all lies the Shard. A fragment older than the Network, a splinter of fate itself. The Ministry wants to lock it away, the League wants to shatter the world with it, the Celestials fear its fracture in destiny. Norman only wants it buried. But the Shard whispers when he draws near, promising power that could end respawns foreveror end him.He does not walk alone. The Respawnables follow: Rurik, scarred warrior; Solenne, priestess reborn in faith; Arin, wizard of endless plans; Viin, rogue with a laugh sharp as steel. With them come new recruitsHarrik the immovable shield, Tamsin the firebrand sorcerer, Fenn the bard of ill-timed songs, Morrin the monk of steady resolve. Together, mismatched and battle-worn, they are more than allies. They are proof that even in a failing world, trust can endure.But ashes and oaths cannot be escaped. Norman has inherited the mantle of Gravekeeper Prime, his Final Rest binding him tighter to the worlds unraveling fate. The Labyrinth will test him. The Shard will tempt him. The Celestials will judge him. And the League will break upon himif he lets them.Because if Norman Reed could fight off Death itselfwhat couldnt he fight?Darkly comic, grimly atmospheric, and unflinchingly human, Ashes and Oaths continues the saga of the most reluctant hero ever to wield a shovel. A tale of monsters and men, of broken promises and unbreakable duty, it is the story of a gravedigger dragged into legend against his willarmed only with dirt under his nails, iron in his hands, and the will to bury what others fear to face.

Grognar the Glorious (Sort Of) is the dungeon-crawling, crayon-wielding, chaos-infused comedy fantasy you never knew you needed.Meet Grognar: a Goregoblin with the leadership skills of a confused potato and the subtlety of a flaming battering ram. When High Warlord Skazgak orders him to stop a team of noble adventurers from seizing the dungeon core, Grognar does what any ambitious, barely-qualified middle manager would do assembles a misfit squad of goblins, hobgoblins, and gibberlings (some of whom may be on fire), grabs a Boom Stick labeled in crayon, and sets off to conquer the dungeon one idiotic decision at a time.Because when the goblins take over, everything burns but in the most glorious way possible.

Grognar 2: Now with 75% More Glitter is a darkly absurd, side-splittingly irreverent fantasy romp through the underworld of dungeon management, where the greatest threat to adventurers isnt always the death trapsits the glitter. So much glitter.Grognar, a Goregoblin with delusions of grandeur and a business sense powered by spite and shiny objects, returns in this explosive sequel to Grognar the Glorious (Sort Of). Now crowned (accidentally) as the Dungeon Lord of a subterranean deathtrap, Grognar must navigate bureaucratic hell, malfunctioning traps, sass-laden spectral assistants, and HR crises involving mimics and morale.At his side is a warband of questionable value but unforgettable personality: Sneaky the gibberling rogue with a dangerous addiction to sarcasm, Krug the well-meaning hobgoblin with the strategic instincts of a rock, Blibbit the goblin scholar who really just wanted tenure, and D.A.V.E.an arcane dungeon operating system who provides all the help and encouragement of a passive-aggressive spreadsheet.Meanwhile, the traumatized adventurers from the first bookElric, Vaelith, Tilda, and Nialick their wounds (and glitter) as they contemplate revenge, redemption, and bunny-proof armor. But will they be ready for Grognars newest lineup of weaponized glitter cannons, traps built with questionable understanding of physics, and staff composed of kobolds with hard hats and a suspiciously musical spider union?This book isnt just dungeonpunkits dungeonderanged.Inside these gloriously stained pages, youll find: A dungeon throne that sighs when sat upon Kobold contractors with union cards Sentient cheese-based weaponry A compliance inspector/succubus with legs that rewrite OSHA laws Glitter used as a weapon, deterrent, decor, and possibly sentient infestation Bureaucratic footnotes and performance reviews that could kill (and do) The Dungeon Administrative Voice Entity (D.A.V.E.) who may in fact be writing your yearly bonus review right now Whether youre a fan of sarcastic goblins, failed adventurers, or dungeons held together by sarcasm and fungus, Grognar 2 serves up chaos with comedic timing sharp enough to sever a trap wire. Expect dangerous puns, explosive hugs, eldritch snack breaks, and just enough plot to keep the glitter from mutating.Prepare yourself for traps, tantrums, and terminal sparkle exposure.This is dungeon-building by committee, adventuring by accident, and comedy by design.Grognar 2: Now with 75% More Glitter. Because evil deserves to be fabulous.

**The National Bestseller**From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu, a fascinating, wild, and wonder-filled journey into Alaska, Americas last frontierIn 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a most unusual summer voyage to the wilds of Alaska: He converted a steamship into a luxury "floating university," populated by some of Americas best and brightest scientists and writers, including the anti-capitalist eco-prophet John Muir. Those aboard encountered a land of immeasurable beauty and impending environmental calamity. More than a hundred years later, Alaska is still Americas most sublime wilderness, both the lure that draws one million tourists annually on Inside Passage cruises and as a natural resources larder waiting to be raided. As ever, it remains a magnet for weirdos and dreamers.Armed with Dramamine and an industrial-strength mosquito net, Mark Adams sets out to retrace the 1899 expedition. Traveling town to town by water, Adams ventures three thousand miles north through Wrangell, Juneau, and Glacier Bay, then continues west into the colder and stranger regions of the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle. Along the way, he encounters dozens of unusual characters (and a couple of very hungry bears) and investigates how lessons learned in 1899 might relate to Alaskas current struggles in adapting to the pressures of a changing climate and world.

The world does not end with fire and prophecy.It ends with paperwork, bad decisions, and the lights going out one district at a time.Greybarrow is the kind of town the Ministry forgets until something goes wrong. It has leaning roofs, damp stone, stubborn peopleand a graveyard held together by chalk, wards, and one exhausted man who refuses to let things stay broken.Norman Reed is not a hero. He is a gravekeeper.When the Respawn Network begins to fail and people stop coming back the way theyre supposed to, Norman doesnt charge into battle or deliver speeches. He checks the lattice. He fixes the ground. He buries what needs burying and closes the loops that shouldnt exist. He does the work no one else wants to touch.And this time, the work is personal.The loss of Thalya Vensarbrilliant, infuriating, and stubborn enough to change the worldhas left a hole in Normans life and a dangerous silence in the systems she once held together. As Celestial lights burn on the horizon and the Ministry issues Recall Orders with no instructions attached, Greybarrow becomes a frontline town whether it wants to be or not.Alongside a mismatched group of survivorsshield-bearers with too much guilt, clerics with shaken faith, fire mages learning restraint, and a bard whose best weapon is a humNorman establishes a single rule:No heroics.Maintenance, not miracles. Competence over glory. Survive today so tomorrow can exist.But when Flesh Crawlers infest the chapel walls, crypts begin to hum with the wrong kind of life, and the ground itself starts listening to darker promises, Norman is forced to confront a truth hes been avoiding: some problems cannot be ignored forever.The scythe is waiting.Temptation whispers that one oath, one choice, could end the chaos permanently. No more echoes. No more loops. No more towns pretending theyre fine. But to take that path would mean abandoning the thing Norman values mostthe quiet, stubborn care that keeps people human.The Scythe and the Shovel is a darkly humorous, emotionally grounded fantasy about grief, responsibility, and what it really means to hold the line when the world starts slipping. Its about choosing to fix whats in front of you instead of becoming something frightening in the name of saving everything.Because sometimes the bravest act isnt fighting gods.Its picking up your shovel again tomorrow.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING TRAVEL MEMOIRWhat happens when an unadventurous adventure writer tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu?In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and discovered Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorers perilous path in search of the truthexcept hed written about adventure far more than hed actually lived it. In fact, hed never even slept in a tent.Turn Right at Machu Picchu is Adams fascinating and funny account of his journey through some of the worlds most majestic, historic, and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: Just what was Machu Picchu?