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Poker Boy book cover 1
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Poker Boy
Series · 18
books · 2011-2025

Books in series

The Slots of Saturn book cover
#1

The Slots of Saturn

A Poker Boy Novel

2014

USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith brings you his first full-length novel featuring the origin story of his most popular character, the superhero Poker Boy. The year: 2004, the last year the World Series of Poker takes place at Binions Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Poker Boy meets the love of his life and forms the team of superheroes and gods that will save the world many times over in the coming years. But first, he and his new team must save all of gambling, and more than fifty lives, from the evil ghost slots. And not get killed in the process. The Slots of Saturn introduces the captivating and clever Gambling Universe, where Lady Luck actually exists, the gods employ superheroes, and high-stakes humor often saves the day. “\[The Poker Boy\] series is unlike anything else out there. It’s quirky and a lot of fun.” —Amazing Stories
Gods Aren’t Funny book cover
#4

Gods Aren’t Funny

2016

Poker Boy, still a freshly minted superhero just learning the ropes at the time of this story, runs smack into the charms of someone who knows his secret name, knows who he is. And won’t let him use his superpowers. As a red-blooded young man with needs and hormones, Poker Boy must face those challenges in an epic battle of perfect skin, stunning looks, and a hormone-clouded mind.
Gambling Hell book cover
#5

Gambling Hell

A Poker Boy story

2013

A beautiful woman sits down at a poker table and Poker Boy knows instantly everything feels wrong. She seems beautiful, but her appearance hides something far more sinister. Poker Boy, in a fair hand of cards, finds himself in a fight to save an entire table of innocent card players from ending up playing a very, very long and losing game in the poker room in hell.
The Smoke That Doesn't Bark book cover
#8

The Smoke That Doesn't Bark

A Poker Boy Story

2011

Gambling universe superhero Poker Boys loves saving dogs, even though that's not part of his duty in the gambling universe. He sometimes thinks he saves more dogs than he does people. Now he and his team must use every skill they have to save not just one dog, but all dogs from a force that can't be stopped. Or can it?
The War of Poker book cover
#9

The War of Poker

A Poker Boy story

2011

Poker Boy somehow finds himself facing an imitation of his girlfriend, Patty Ledgerwood. Within a fraction of a second he somehow saves himself and maybe the world from another war. Or maybe he helps set up a new war.
Nonexistent No More book cover
#11

Nonexistent No More

A Poker Boy story

2011

When the wife of one the guardians of humanity, herself one of the most powerful beings in the universe, comes looking for help, what's a superhero to do? Poker Boy and his sidekick and girlfriend, Front Desk Girl, face that very problem with no idea why.
Pink Shoes and Hot Chocolate book cover
#13

Pink Shoes and Hot Chocolate

A Poker Boy story

2011

When you're a superhero, you don't often notice pink tennis shoes. Poker Boy is usually far too busy saving the world from evil, saving dogs from sure death, or playing professional poker, his day job that pays the bills of being a superhero. But when Poker Boy sees the pink shoes at the entrance to the Silicon Suckers city, he knows Super Keno is in deep trouble. He just hopes he's not too late.
Shootout in the Okey-Doke Casino book cover
#14

Shootout in the Okey-Doke Casino

A Poker Boy story

2011

Poker Boy and his team must stop a possible war between fairies and trolls, a war guaranteed to start at a poker table in the hidden Okey-Doke Casino.
Living Time book cover
#17

Living Time

A Poker Boy story

2011

In a casino in Oregon, Poker Boy beats a man fair-and-square at the poker table while a stranger watches, a stranger who knows too much about Poker Boy and his job. It turns out that much of Poker Boy’s future rested on that one hand of cards. A classic Poker Boy story with true heart.
Not Saleable for Sale book cover
#18

Not Saleable for Sale

A Poker Boy story

2011

Lenny the Leprechaun’s wife went missing and now he wants Poker Boy to find her. Not known for finding people, Poker Boy only rescues people and dogs and the world in the process. Mrs. Lenny’s vanishing act seems to have no connection to Poker Boy. Until Poker Boy looks deeper. Then Poker Boy knows he might be able to save her, if she still lives. Which he doubts.
Just Shoot Me Now! book cover
#19

Just Shoot Me Now!

A Poker Boy Story

2011

Poker Boy wants nothing more then to be left alone in a good game of poker. But a cherub circles overhead in the poker room wanting to talk. And Poker Boy knows this cherub and knows the little guy represents trouble. Even worse, the question the cherub asks Poker Boy could change a lot of futures. How really, really annoying.
For the Balance of a Heart book cover
#20

For the Balance of a Heart

2012

As a superhero in the gambling universe, Poker Boy works directly for Stan, the God of Poker. Poker Boy's job? To save those who need saving and take money at the poker tables from those who need it taken. But when Lady Luck herself comes calling and asks for a personal favor, Poker Boy and his team must travel far beyond the edges of Las Vegas to find the Queen of Hearts.
The Atlantis Fifty book cover
#22

The Atlantis Fifty

2014

The desire to party often causes all sorts of problems. But Poker Boy never expected one of those problems to be getting frozen in time. But being frozen inside a time bubble seems to be the least of the problems. They don’t play poker in Atlantis. First published in Fiction River: Universe Between.
They're Back book cover
#23

They're Back

2016

USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith brings back the Slots of Saturn in this short novel from the popular series featuring the superhero Poker Boy. Poker Boy and his team destroyed the Slots of Saturn. They know they did. At least, they think they did. But when people begin disappearing—again—poker boy must face what might just prove his greatest foe. Now, Poker Boy and his team must use their ten years of experience to find a way to conquer the evil ghost slots once and for all. And not lose themselves in the process. “\[The Poker Boy\] series is unlike anything else out there. It’s quirky and a lot of fun.” —Amazing Stories
That Lost Riddle book cover
#27

That Lost Riddle

2025

Chicks and Balances book cover
#31

Chicks and Balances

2015

ORIGINAL ANTHOLOGY featuring rollicking, tongue-in-cheek tales of women warrior fighting against the stodgy and in the name of freedom of expression, Chicks in Chainmail style! Continuing a great tradition, Chicks and Balances is not what you might think (or it is what you think, depending on which way your mind runs). What we have here is a bunch of perfectly healthy women who happen to be of the brass-bra-wearing and chain-link bikinis sort. Each is fighting in her own way for the freedom to express herself—often by thrusting sword through a censor's black heart! Be glad, the chicks in chainmail are back, and they will not be oppressed, repressed, or depressed! All new adventures of fearless women warriors by Eric Flint, creator of the Ring of Fire alternate history series; Nebula-winning author Harry Turtledove; Jody Lynn Nye, co-author of the national best seller The Ship Who Won; Campbell Award-winner Wen Spencer, and many more, including the inimitable Esther Friesner herself, as fantasy adventure takes a turn for the lighter side.
The Library of Atlantis book cover
#32

The Library of Atlantis

A Poker Boy Story

2015

Poker Boy specializes in asking stupid questions. But sometimes even stupid questions need answers. To save the fabric of all things from unraveling, whatever that means, Poker Boy must go to the Library of Atlantis and do something that no one ever accomplished before. Poker Boy saves all things. Again! Part of Magical Libraries, an Uncollected Anthology. “\[The Poker Boy\] series is unlike anything else out there. It’s quirky and a lot of fun.” —Amazing Stories
The Rude Improbable Presumptive book cover
#35

The Rude Improbable Presumptive

2025

He calls himself The Presumptive. Poker Boy thinks that might be the most stupid nickname he ever heard at a poker table. So Poker Boy calls him Idiot Boy (but not to his face) because of the name and the guy’s bad play. But in Poker Boy’s world, nothing ever turns out the way they look. Even for Idiot Boy.

Authors

Sarah A. Hoyt
Sarah A. Hoyt
Author · 37 books

Sarah A. Hoyt was born (and raised) in Portugal and now lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, and a variable number of cats, depending on how many show up to beg on the door step. In between lays the sort of resume that used to be de-rigueur for writers. She has never actually wrestled alligators, but she did at one point very briefly tie bows on bags of potpourri for a living. She has also washed dishes and ironed clothes for a living. Worst of all she was, for a long time, a multilingual scientific translator. At some point, though, she got tired of making an honest living and started writing. She has over 30 published novels, in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical mystery, historical fantasy and historical biography. Her short stories have been published in Analog, Asimov's, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, and a number of anthologies from DAW and Baen. Her space-opera novel Darkship Thieves was the 2011 Prometheus Award Winner, and the third novel in the series, A Few Good Men, was a finalist for the honor. She also won the Dragon Award for Uncharted (with Kevin J. Anderson.) a.k.a. Sarah D'Almeida a.k.a. Elise Hyatt a.k.a. Sarah Marqués

Linda L. Donahue
Linda L. Donahue
Author · 1 books
Also credited as Linda Donahue or L.L. Donahue.
Jim C. Hines
Jim C. Hines
Author · 30 books
Jim C. Hines is the author of the Magic ex Libris series, the Princess series of fairy tale retellings, the humorous Goblin Quest trilogy, and the Fable Legends tie-in Blood of Heroes. His latest novel is Terminal Peace, book three in the humorous science fiction Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. He won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Jim lives in mid-Michigan. Online, he can be found at http://www.jimchines.com.
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Author · 40 books
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough was born March 23, 1947, and lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington. Elizabeth won a Nebula Award in 1989 for her novel The Healer's War, and has written more than a dozen other novels. She has collaborated with Anne McCaffrey, best-known for creating the Dragonriders of Pern, to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.
Laura Frankos
Author · 4 books
Laura Frankos writes the Great White Way Wayback Machine column on TalkinBroadway.com and is the author of several books in the fields of mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. Frankos also works as a librarian and lives in Chatsworth, CA, with her husband, author Larry Turtledove."
Kerrie L. Hughes
Author · 2 books
KERRIE L. HUGHES is an artist, writer, editor, and traveler, currently working towards a Master's degree in Community Counseling. She has been editing anthologies since 2005.
Lee Martindale
Lee Martindale
Author · 1 books

Writer, editor, and activist Lee Martindale has been called “a force of nature” and “Hell on Wheels” for very good reasons. She's edited a groundbreaking anthology (SUCH A PRETTY FACE), released a CD of original filk music (THE LADIES OF TRADE TOWN) and an audiochapbook CD (TO STAND AS WITNESS: THREE ARTHURIAN TALES). Her recent works include PREJUDICE BY THE POUND, a collection of essays and editorials from ten years of Rump Parliament Magazine, and stories in TURN THE OTHER CHICK, CATOPOLIS, WITCH WAY TO THE MALL, WARRIOR WISEWOMAN 2, and FANGS FOR THE MAMMARIES. Lee recently celebrated the release of THE LADIES OF TRADE TOWN, an anthology of genre stories on “the world’s oldest profession” from HarpHaven Publishing. When not slinging fiction, Lee is a Named Bard, Lifetime Active Member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (where’s she’s currently on the Board of Directors), a fencing member of the SFWA Musketeers, and a member of the SCA.

Alex Shvartsman
Alex Shvartsman
Author · 21 books

Alex Shvartsman is a writer, editor, and translator from Brooklyn, NY. He's the author of The Middling Affliction (2022) and Eridani's Crown (2019) fantasy novels. Kakistocracy, a sequel to The Middling Affliction, is forthcoming in 2023. Over 120 of his stories have been published in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a two-time finalist (2015 and 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction. His collection, Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories and his steampunk humor novella H. G. Wells, Secret Agent were published in 2015. His second collection, The Golem of Deneb Seven and Other Stories followed in 2018. Alex is the editor of over a dozen anthologies, including the Unidentified Funny Objects annual anthology series of humorous SF/F.

Elizabeth Vaughan
Elizabeth Vaughan
Author · 11 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. Elizabeth A. Vaughan is the author of the Chronicles of the Warlands, a fantasy romance trilogy from Tor Books: Warprize (her first novel), Warsworn, and Warlord.. She's always loved fantasy and science fiction, and has been a fantasy role-player since 1981. By day, Beth's secret identity is that of a lawyer, practicing in the area of bankruptcy and financial matters, a role she has maintained since 1985. Beth is owned by three cats, and lives in the Northwest Territory, on the outskirts of the Black Swamp, along Mad Anthony's Trail on the banks of the Maumee River.

Wen Spencer
Wen Spencer
Author · 22 books

John W. Campbell Award Winner Wen Spencer resides in paradise in Hilo, Hawaii with two volcanoes overlooking her home. Spencer says that she often wakes up and exclaims "Oh my god, I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific!" This, says Spencer, is a far cry from her twenty years of living in land-locked Pittsburgh. The Elfhome series opener, Tinker, won the 2003 Sapphire Award for Best Science Fiction Romance and was a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Fantasy Novel. Wolf Who Rules, the sequel to Tinker, was chosen as a Top Pick by Romantic Times and given their top rating of four and a half stars. Other Baen books include space opera thriller Endless Blue and Eight Million Gods.

Jean Rabe
Jean Rabe
Author · 36 books

When I am not writing, I toss tennis balls to my cadre of dogs. My house is filled with books and dogs, you can smell both when you walk in the front door. It's a good smell. I have 36 published novels and am currently writing in the mystery genre. My latest mystery, The Dead of Winter, was a finalist for the Claymore Award and is the first in the Piper Blackwell series. I live in a tiny town in the middle of Illinois that has a Dollar General, a pizza place with exceedingly slow service, a veterinarian (good thing, eh?), and train tracks...lots of train tracks.

Laura Resnick
Laura Resnick
Author · 16 books
Laura Resnick is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, the daughter of prolific science fiction author Mike Resnick. She was the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction for 1993. She also writes romance novels under the pseudonym Laura Leone
Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Author · 129 books

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Dean Wesley Smith
Dean Wesley Smith
Author · 115 books

Pen Names Edward Taft Dee W. Schofield D.W. Smith Sandy Schofield Kathryn Wesley Dean Wesley Smith is the bestselling author of over ninety novels under many names and well over 100 published short stories. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has books published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and romance as well as books for television, movies, games, and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghost writer or under house names. With Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he is the coauthor of The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. The following is a list of novels under the Dean Wesley Smith name, plus a number of pen names that are open knowledge. Many ghost and pen name books are not on this list because he is under contractual obligations not to disclose that he wrote them. Many of Dean’s original novels are also under hidden pen names for marketing reasons. Dean has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, and has done scripts for Hollywood. One movie was actually made. Over his career he has also been an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. Currently, he is writing thrillers and mystery novels under another name.

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