Shawn SpeakmanReviews

WOOF.

Ok, so, I read the original short "The King-Killing Queen" (which is part 1 of this novel) in an anthology that I Kickstarted and read last year. At that time, this was one of my favorite entries and I remember saying I wished it was a full novel. Lo and behold, shortly after that, a Kickstarter was announced for a novel-length version! I backed it, and with shipping from the UK, this book cost me about $65.

I say all this because the cost of the novel does play into my disappointment with it. It's probably one of, if not the most, expensive books I own and damnit, I'm MAD about it.

Almost as soon as I started reading this book, I wondered what I liked about it the first time. Suddenly, the writing felt overly simplistic and painfully repetitive. After I'd finished part 1, I grabbed my copy of the anthology to compare the two. I thought maybe the initial short story had been (poorly) reworked as part of the novelization. I was wrong. I spot-checked quite a bit of part 1 and the original short, and they appear to be, word-for-word, the same.

How could I have liked it so much 6 months ago, and now feel both bored and frustrated by it?! I don't know, but that's what happened.

I didn't like any of the characters, the dialogue is painful, the plot is slow-moving and predictable, and the writing is so frustrating! I felt like I was being talked down to, or that maybe this was written for children (in a way that didn't feel compelling, because actually I love a lot of children's books and this is not a diss on the genre), except that people sometimes say "fuck" or try to kill each other. Normally, I would have DNF'd this at the halfway point, but I'd spent too much money for that and plodded on.

ONLY TO FIND OUT IT'S THE FIRST IN A SERIES.

I should have known. But I was taken by surprise and didn't even get any closure in terms of the plot. I don't know if I'll read the rest of the books - I certainly won't be backing any more Kickstarters; if they're traditionally published and eventually make their way into my library system, maybe I'll give them a read...but maybe not.

I would still be annoyed with this book if it had cost me a more typical amount of money, so I realize that some of my anger is tied to how much I spent and that's 100% not on the author. But damn, I really wanted to love this and I really didn't.

I liked it. It was interesting, and involved the Fey, which is a theme I really love reading about. I'm not usually a fan of real world/fantasy crossovers that link our world with another. That being said, Terry Brooks' [b:Faerie Tale|43919|Faerie Tale|Raymond E. Feist|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333533404s/43919.jpg|1285020]remains one of my all time favourites.

Shawn Speakman's story kept me coming back, the characters were interesting...I'll definitely look for his next book when it comes out.

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
Content warnings for each story:

‘Imperial Court’ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson – Violence, gun violence, blood, death, poisoning by insect bites, and betrayal. As a result of betrayal and poisoning, a victim becomes disabled, losing bodily function and putting them at the mercy of an abusive family member. Discussion of off page scenes of death, bombing, death by fire, loss of a family member, poisoning, and assassinations.

‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian – Religious tyranny.

‘The Shadhavar’ by Saara El-Arifi – Poaching, hunting, blood, violence, death, and branding.

‘Gladys and the Whale’ by Kevin Hearne – Deforestation, and animal death.

‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross – Slavery, death, blood, violence, betrayal, murder of women (off page), war, massacre of families and children (off page).

‘The True Adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’ by Dyrk Ashton – Violence, captivity, and adult humour.

‘Samantha vs. the Shadows in the Basement of the Captain Riddle House’ by Kristen Britain – Blood, jump scares.

‘Last of the Red Riders’ by Django Wexler – War, blood, violence, gun violence, death, and knife violence.

‘Heart-Eater’ by Anna Stephens – Prejudice, ignorance, unwanted sexual attention, and reference to children sold into servitude.

‘Sandra and Me’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky – While this story does not contain abusive or controlling relationships, some aspects of it may be triggering.

‘Shadow’s Daughter’ by Jon Sprunk – Violence.

‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ by Tamora Pierce – Violence, attempted murder, misogyny, physical assault, attempted sexual assault, reference to animal abuse off page, drug use, knife violence and verbal abuse.

‘Solomon’ by Mark Lawrence – Violence, threats to a baby’s life, death, blood,

‘A Knight Was Once Sent on a Quest by Her Master’ by Anna Smith Spark – Violence, blood, and animal death.

‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by Shawn Speakman – Grief, reference to death of a loved one (off page), death of a loved one, reference to war and the death of children (off page), PTSD, and suicide attempt.


With stories from a wonderful selection of SFF writers, Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy also offers a short story by editor Shawn Speakman in memory of his father. Out of the seventeen authors, I had only previously read work from five of them, although I was familiar with quite a few of them by name. This anthology was a great chance for me to finally read some of their work.

Despite featuring so many well known SFF authors, Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy was only a three-star read for me. That isn’t to say that the stories were not good quality, just that this anthology includes such a wide variety of genres, content and styles. While some of them were interesting, others just did not catch my attention at all.

The ones that stood out above the rest for me are:

The second story, ‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian, is a dense read due to the scientific jargon, but it is one that is worth sticking with for the clever conclusion. I tipped my hat to Orullian when I finished this one, very well done. It’s followed by an equally clever tale by Saara El-Arifi, an author whose name I’m familiar, although I’ve yet to read any of her books yet. If ‘The Shadhavar’ is anything to go by, I need to remedy that pronto. El-Arifi’s story is a slick, enticing tale of hunters trying to find a legendary beast.

Kevin Hearne’s story was one of my most anticipated, as it promised to tell the origin story of the mysterious Gladys, a character from his Ink and Sigil series. While this story can be read alone, it is one that readers of that series will enjoy infinitely more. The story did not disappoint, and is Hearne at his absolute best. It’s a must-read for anyone who is reading the Ink and Sigil series.

‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross is a gorgeously gothic fantasy story filled with dark magic. I loved everything about this and would love to see this world explored further in a book. Anna Stephens also delivers an incredible and heart-warming story in ‘Heart-Eater’. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Tamora Pierce that I’ve never loved, and the ‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ is no different. It was particularly interesting to see her write urban fantasy instead of fantasy, and I hope she writes more in the future!

The final story of the anthology is ‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by editor Shawn Speakman and is a beautiful tribute to his father that reflects his father’s struggle with PTSD. It’s linked to a previous story Speakman wrote in Unfettered II to commemorate his mother. I loved that he wrote the first story for his son to learn about his grandmother through his eyes, and reading this story with that in mind just makes it even more beautiful. It is also a brilliant fantasy short story in its own right, and I’m very excited to read Speakman’s upcoming novel, The King-Killing Queen.

The full list of stories in Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy is:

‘Imperial Court’ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian
‘The Shadhavar’ by Saara El-Arifi
‘Gladys and the Whale’ by Kevin Hearne
‘Business in Great Waters’ by Ken Scholes
‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross
‘The True Adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’ by Dyrk Ashton
‘Samantha vs. the Shadows in the Basement of the Captain Riddle House’ by Kristen Britain
‘Last of the Red Riders’ by Django Wexler
‘Heart-Eater’ by Anna Stephens
‘Sandra and Me’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky
‘Shadow’s Daughter’ by Jon Sprunk
‘Homecoming’ by Patrick Swenson
‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ by Tamora Pierce
‘Solomon’ by Mark Lawrence
‘A Knight Was Once Sent on a Quest by Her Master’ by Anna Smith Spark
‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by Shawn Speakman

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The Dark Thorn is an urban fantasy story with a profound basis in Arthurian legend, Celtic mythology, and the Catholic church. While I had a few quibbles, it's a fine start to what I hope will be a series of the Yn Saith knights.
Richard McAllister is the knight guarding the Seattle portal to the land of Annwn, where the fairie world was forced by humans centuries ago. A wide variety of characters, both Seelie and Unseelie, live there. Philip Plantagenet, son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine is also there, sent by his father in a Crusade to conquer the land. However, he now has plans for further conquests aided by a vast army of halfbreeds and Templar knights. Bran is a young homeless man who crosses paths with Richard and accompanies him to Annwn to meet with the forces opposing Philip. Meanwhile, the Vatican is also making moves, wanting to keep Annwn secret from the rest of the world.
Mr. Speakman does a fine job interweaving Arthurian and Celtic tales, and I very much enjoyed those book sections. His history wasn't quite as successful; I'd argue that Henry II had a tempestuous relationship with the Church and only gave Crusader vows as reparation for the murder of Thomas Becket. And a son, Philip, comes from one doubtful source and probably died young if he existed. These are quibbles; this is a fantasy, after all.
Also, I wouldn't say I liked the character of Deidre. She seemed too modern for a woman in a fantasy/medieval-ish world, and the love triangle didn't work for me.
As I said previously, I'd like to see the series continued. Annwn is an exciting world, and I could see revisiting it.

True Value

With any anthology, there will be some stories that appeal to some and not others. This book has the majority in the good category (according to me ;-)), but it's a true value regardless, as you get a large number of stories for a low price...
AND the proceeds go to a good cause, so why wouldn't you?

A must have

A LOT of good fantasy stories in here. And for very cheap, AND the proceeds go to charity. Try it, you can't regret it!
This, the 3rd volume, did not get a five star, because fewer of the stories really grabbed me compared to the first two volumes of Unfettered.

A bit of a cheat here, as I only read the Kevin Hearne story, which I liked very much

What a great read! I really enjoyed Antiquity Grey, but this was a fast enjoyable read. Love the back story and hoping there will be more in this line!

A strange little book that could stand a better editing. It is a face paced tale that is plot driven as the characters are way two dimensional. A quilty pleasure type of story. It is unfortunately the first book in a trilogy and I will not be reading the second book in the series.

Jury Duty ⭐⭐⭐

The dedication speaks to a lot of us:
For those with cancer and those who stand by them
Who battle together and show no quarter

I'm finished, it took 3 months. I read the book on my phone kindle so it was slow going.

These were my favorites of the 23 stories:
-- Mudboy by Peter V. Brett 5* fantasy/horror
-- The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan 4.5* fantasy/quest - fun
-- Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton 4* fantasy/reincarnation - so unique
-- All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham 4* fantasy/wouldn't it be great if it were true
-- Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth 4* fantasy/origin story
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~Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks (The author says in foreword that it is the earliest version of what becomes a trilogy. Like a draft.) 2* MG fantasy

-How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss 2* fantasy Not really a story. Idk what to call it so here is an example "In the beginning, there was the wood. It was strong wood, and old. ... The was warm sun, which was good. There were climbing vines, which were bad. There was wind, which was neither. ... There was also the lady. She was neither." The whole "story" is like that which is bad. :P "This contains "How Old Holly Came to Be", my first published short story, set in Temerant."

- The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams 3* fantasy

- Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn DNF UF

- The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey DNF (author intro says, in the 90s she had a dream that haunted her & she incorporated it into this short story. It sketched out the rough beginning of a complex theology and map of the world that she went on to explore in detail in Kushiel's Legacy.) I couldn't finish because I felt dropped into an unfamiliar world. The characters knew each other and what their traditions were but I had a hard time following along. Look forward to reading the true series some day.

- Mudboy by Peter V. Brett 5* fantasy/horror. I hear good and bad things about the series. Especially with the female characters. Not sure if I will check them out but I did really enjoy this short story.

- The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian DNF If you love, love, music. Like you are serious about your love then maybe this short story would work for you. From the intro "It's no accident that the central song of power in my music magic system is known as The Song of Suffering. And I'll tell you that music in this story sometimes soothes, sometimes moves inanimate things. It has to do with numbers (more of that in Book Two of my series). And it has to do with the notion of absolute sound." For me, not a good fit but I am interested in this author and still hope to find something of his to enjoy besides only this - Peter Orullian performs "Authorial Rhapsody" - Worldbuilders 2015 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmtDJTlmDVU

- The Coach with Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore About baseball. shall see. yeah I quit after a page. realistic fiction about baseball I believe. not my interest.

- Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood 2* fantasy. A bit to ambiguous for me.

- Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton wow!!! unique. enjoying. Went to check out his profile and found a free short story. score. Ended up being 4* I really liked how the reincarnated people presented themselves but the story needs to be polished (IMO) and there is some ambiguity that I didn't enjoy. (deciphering ambiguity is not a strength of mine) It made me remember this book (not reminded me of, like they are not similar) which I consider fiction but the premise is nice to ponder: Return From Heaven: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family

- Dogs by Daniel Abraham - 3* I'm scared there is going to be animal cruelty. *reading with one eye closed*. Finished. No animal cruelty. I guess the story was an analogy to trying to cope/return to normal post-rape or could be any serious life altering incident that has the potential to repeat. Actually author in intro says "It was sparked by a couple conversations I was following online and a particularly grim study about sexual violence on college campuses."

- The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne DNF too witty-i'm-awesome-masculine for me. Not in the mood.

- Select Mode by Mark Lawrence (book 1.5 The Broken Empire series) 3* I haven't read anything else in this world but he did enough for me to be able to follow along. I'm fond of this author but have yet to read a full length novel. I plan to start with Red Sister on audiobook before too much longer. ETA: started but was struggling without being able to go back and re-read things. Santa gave me the book for Christmas :)

- All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham 4* Sweet short story from a father to a daughter. Aaah to have a dad as an author A cat, now in ghost form sees his human mourning and it's too much. He wants to help her stop crying. [The author/dad see his daughter mourning the loss of another cat and he wants to help her stop crying]

- Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth 4* an origin story for characters in her Struck series. The characters are in HS. Very readable and a good short story but I won't be seeking out the series. This is an origin story of characters from her series.

- Nocturne by Robert V.S. Redick DNF I liked his author notes and looked forward to the story but I couldn't get into it. I found it confusing at start and it's rather long so decided to quit.

- Unbowed by Eldon Thompson Not going to even try. Author note says: "My personal hope is that it will shed a measure of light on Kylac's attitudes and actions, and maybe even tide readers over while I strive to finish answering that persistent question "But what happened to Kylac? "

- In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik (short story in the Temeraire series. I have book 1 on my want to read/inbox shelf & I now removed it) DNF It just didn't grab me. And unknown intellect wakes up trapped in a glass covered coffin. Starts freaking out but then I think remembers what's up but doesn't share that with us. Lands somewhere and starts giving someone shit right away.... I don't want to figure out what is going on until the end of the story.

- River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson Skipped. the intro says "This is a deleted sequence from the fourteenth and final Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light. As such, it contains some minor interior spoilers for that book-and it might not make a ton of sense to you if you haven't read the Wheel of Time." Haven't read it and at this point it looks daunting.

- The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan 4.5* It's free on audible, 99 cents at other places or he will send you a free copy if you'd like. It was great. We get to watch the characters do a quest and it's a bit like choose your own adventure. This can be a standalone, you do not need to be familiar with his world or characters. Author's comment: "I essentially wrote this short as if it were the end of longer work. The climax, if you will, of a longer story. In it, I reference prior events for context which allowed me to take what COULD have been a novel and made it into a short story."

- The Duel by Lev Grossman 2* Getting weary, I've been reading this anthology for 3 months. I don't plan on reading The Magicians and I'm not so good with humor in my stories. I looked through reviews and could not find anything to make me skip it :P so I will try. One person even said "any Strong Belwas tribute is a must read in my mind.". So there we go, I'll read it.
Done. *sigh, yuck* The most clever, witty, magical King stopped an invasion. All told from his POV.

- Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks I can't wait to get to this one! Got to it finally. 3* super short. A interaction that was cut from the books. If I hadn't seen the TV show I'm not sure I would have liked this. As it is, I have a serious crush on Allanon or more so, the actor that played him. He did such a good job. He is in this interaction so I could just picture him the whole time and I can appreciate the story.

- The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman - DNF - Vampires, Vatican, special person... just not in the mood.

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This has been high up on my want to read shelf for a while. The physical book is out of my price range and not available through my libraries. I am so happy I got over avoiding reading books on my phone and came to realize the book was only $3.00. That I can do.

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This book was published to help raise money for Shawn Speakman's cancer treatment, and there were only 5000 printed."½

The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey is an exciting read. Antiquity, the young female lead character develops very strongly over the course of the book. Her adventure starts as she uncovers a mechanical giant buried in the drifting sands beyond her home in Solomon Fyre. The mech is a major prize her family can well use. They have been shamed for years since her grandmother died leading a failed attempt to overthrow the Imperium, which holds sway over the people of Erth. Chances of salvaging the mech drop swiftly as she is assaulted on two fronts by others trying to take the mech. On the one hand is Manson Dreadth, a son of the leading family of Solomon Fyre, followed by his cohorts. He has constantly harassed and disparaged Antiquity and her family her whole life. Now he is trying to steal her find. Topping that off, a band of vicious desert scavengers swoop down on the Antiquity and Manson intending to kill them and take the mech. This is the first test of her metal that Antiquity must pass on the road to leading her family out of it’s shamed past and assuming her rightful place on Erth. Lots of good action and plot twists. Book provided for review by Goodreads.

One of the better Fantasy anthologies I have read in awhile, that included many of my personal favorite authors. I had lucked out and was able to get a special Phoenix ComiCon edition of this book that had like 5 of the stories by themselves, three authors of which had signed it. Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories within, though, like in all collections, there seem to be one or two that just don't agree with me. It is great when authors are able and willing to help put a collection together, as this one - which was to help raise funds for medical bills for Speakman.

There are a lot of famous names in this short story collection, with stories from some famous fantasy series. From a name standpoint alone, this is a great, top of the list short story collection. I thought the quality overall was good, with a couple of issues. With two 'Did not finish' (DNF) stories which should have been 'did not read', the quality is actually fairly decent.

In order, here are my thoughts on the stories.
"Imaginary Friends" by Terry Brooks - a very nice story that is the inspiration for the Knight of the Word series, with different characters. Good.
"How Old Holly Came to Be" by Patrick Rothfuss - a story from the perspective of a holly tree. Ok, strange.
"The Old Scale Game" by Tad Williams - not the editor's fault, but I've read this story 2 or 3 times before, it is available in ebook edition as a standalone, is offered free as a Kindle book, etc. I think I enjoyed it the first time.
"Game of Chance" by Carrie Vaughn - ok
"The Martyr of the Roses" by Jacqueline Carey - well written, unique style, good.
"Mudboy" by Peter V. Brett - nice to see a story about Briar, but this really seemed like a repeat origin story. Ok.
"The Sound of Broken Absolutes" by Peter Orullian. The music references went way over my head, but this was still fascinating. Good.
"The Coach With the Big Teeth" by R. A. Salvatore. Weird, but one for everyone who didn't excel at Little League. Ok.
"Keeper of Memory" by Todd Lockwood - good, esp. if you've read any of the novels.
"Heaven in a Wild Flower" by Blake Charlton - I get the premise, just really strange. Ok.
"Dogs" by Daniel Abraham - you may be offended if you are a dog lover.
"The Chapel Perilous" by Kevin Hearne. Atticus does Atticus things way back in the past. Kind of short and lacking.
"Select Mode" by Mark Lawrence - from his Prince of Thorns books. 12 year old killer kid, not my favorite.
"All the Girls Love Michael Stein" by David Anthony Durham - a cat story, so much better than "Dogs". Good.
"Strange Rain" by Jennifer Bosworth - DNF, quit reading after 2 pages.
"Nocturne" by Robert V.S. Redick - another music theme, I kind of wish I hadn't read to the end.
"Unbowed" by Eldon Thompson - a dark origin story from his novels. Good, now I want to read his novels.
"In Favour with Their Stars" by Naomi Novik - Temeraire in space! Good.
"River of Souls" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson - yes, actual Wheel of Time content! This was cut from A Memory of Light and I can see why. Short and kind of lacking, but a Wheel of Time story is good.
"The Jester" by Michael J. Sullivan - Hadrian and Royce go dungeon delving. Good.
"The Duel" by Lev Grossman - short and to the point. Good.
"Walker and the Shade of Allanon" by Terry Brooks. Walker and Allanon, how can you go wrong? But... this read like a scene from one of the Shannara books I'd already read and learned absolutely nothing new.
"The Unfettered Knight" by Shawn Speakman - DNF, wish I hadn't started it, actually offensive. I was excited because it is about vampire hunters and I love those, then it got offensive and I had to stop.

As with most anthologies, this one was a hit and miss, with more misses. Some were unreadable and others were just too inserted in the authors' worlds for me to enjoy. That said, some stories really made me want to know more about the world where they come from.

I wanted to love it, I really did. I just can't get into short stories.

The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne

48 points/100 (2.5 stars/5).

Atticus tells the tale of how he recovered the lost grail.

Technically this tale takes place chronologically after The Eye of Horus though this was written before it came out. This story takes place simply for Hearne to tell us his character is so cool because his main character did cool famous things in the past. If this was just the tale of Atticus recovering a magic instrument from some necromancer, it would still be a decent story, but because it is the grail it is supposed to be somehow better. It doesn't make it any better, it just makes it more annoying.

This is a rather unnecessary short story that overall adds nothing to the story. It is just a side tale of life prior to the series.

This is another short story by Michael which he published separately as part of one of his Kickstarter campaigns.

It’s about Troth, a previously minor Non-Player Character (NPC), who “lives” in a Massively Multi-player Role Playing Game (MMORPG) and suddenly develops sentience.

The premise is interesting and the story well-told (how could it not be, it’s a Sullivan!). It’s just that it’s a bit... short. Given that this is a short story, well, I guess I’ll let it slide... ;-)

Recommended to anyone with 30 minutes to spare.

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This was, as you may know, an anthology. As such, it is hard to rate the book as a whole. Instead, I'll highlight some stories I liked very well.

How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss was a surprise. Rothfuss is my favourite author, but I did not expect such a radical change in his writing style, compared to the Kingkiller Chronicles. I liked it, but I was a bit surprised.

The Sound of broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian was done quite well as well. Music playing a major role is always a plus for me, and it had quite an interesting storyline.

The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne I liked mostly for its humor. It actually convinced me to give the Iron Druid Chronicles a try, which I will probably do now, now that I finished this anthology.

All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham was a slightly weird, but sweet short story. Also, the protagonist is a dead cat, which gives bonus points in any case.

The Duel by Lev Grossman was a funny short story. I can only imagine that it makes more sense if you know the story behind the protagonist, and I do not know if I would want to read anything longer than a short story with this humor, but for a short story, it was pretty funny.

There were some stories I did not like (The Coach with Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore, for example), one I did not read to avoid spoilers for the Wheel of Time Series I am currently listening to (River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson), one I did not read because I dislike horror stories (Dogs by Daniel Abraham), and at least two I aborted because I just could not get into them.

All in all, I do not regret spending the money to get this anthology, and since it goes to a good cause, I would not regret it in any case.

A mixed bag, with a couple of good stories.

I’ve been waiting for my pre-order of Unfettered II to arrive for weeks, so I was pretty excited when it finally got here last week. Unfettered II is an anthology of mostly fantasy stories, with no underlying theme at all. Editor Shawn Speakman created the first Unfettered to help with his medical debt, and I originally bought it because it contained a story that was deleted from the final book of Wheel of Time. Unfettered II was created to help other authors get out of medical debt, and contains stories from many authors that I like – Michael J. Sullivan, Django Wexler, Seanan McGuire, Jim Butcher, and of course, Brandon Sanderson (the impetus for me ordering this collection – a chance to read a little bit of Oathbringer ahead of its release in November.)

Overall, I thought it was a solid collection of stories. There aren’t really any total clunkers, which was surprising, I usually at least dislike two or three stories in any anthology I read. Since there’s no theme, there are a wide variety of tones and themes, and I thought that helped keep the book from getting too repetitive or boring.

Some of my favorite stories:

AND MEN WILL MINE THE MOUNTAINS FOR OUR SOULS by Seanan McGuire: This is a lyrical and tragic story about the last stand of dragons who know they are about to be destroyed by humans and can’t do anything about it. The imagery in this story is just stunning.

DAY ONE by Jim Butcher: A Dresden Files story featuring a side character. I’ve only read the first Dresden Files book, but I’ve read a handful of stories set in the world in various anthologies, and they’re all great and just make me want to read the series. Considering I own the first eight or so books, I should really get around to it. Anyway, back to the story – it’s a nice story about a nerdy medical examiner going on his first mission as a knight and building his confidence, and it was fun and heartwarming.

MAGIC BEANS by Django Wexler: This story was originally written for a coffee shop erotica anthology, and so it has lots of sex in a coffee shop. It’s fun and weird and has a ton of heart. I don’t have much else to say about it.

THE HEDGEWITCH by Sarah Beth Durst: I thought the world of this story was really cool – the people live in huge trees and are constantly under threat of attack by sprites. The protagonist, Hanna, has the magic to control the sprites, but is terrified of them after they killed her family, and has to learn to accept her place in the world. There’s nothing better than a well done coming of age story! Based on this story, I think I’m going to read the author’s novel set in the same world (bonus: it also features Hanna in some capacity.)

A DUEL OF EVILS by Anthony Ryan: This is another story that made me want to go out and get the author’s work set in the same world (although in this case, Blood Song has been on my wishlist forever.) It’s written in the form of a historical document, and I love in-universe writing. The author of the document is chronicling the fall of a city, and he’s trying to be objective and academic about an event that clearly had crazy magical stuff happening. That kind of writing can fail horribly, but in this case, it works really well.

THE RAVEN by Erin Lindsey: I love a villain that you can empathize with, and that’s the intent of this story. We follow Tom, a prince who is trying to do the right thing for his kingdom, but is blocked at every turn by the king (his brother), who has the best of intentions. You understand and agree with every single choice he makes, even though you can see why it’s wrong. Apparently Tom is the antagonist of Lindsey’s novel The Bloodbound, and I’m definitely going to seek it out.

THE GUNNIE by Charlaine Harris: I liked this alternate history gritty western type story featuring young mercenary Lizbeth. Lizbeth works as part of a crew that protects traveling families from bandits. When her latest job goes horribly wrong, she has to singlehandedly complete her mission. I liked that this story wasn’t just about Lizbeth being a hero, it also follows what happens to her and how she feels once she’s back home.

I would have expected THE THRILL by Brandon Sanderson to be on my favorites too, but I wasn’t that impressed by it. We don’t learn much about the world or any secrets about Dalinar’s life (unlike Edgedancer, the awesome Stormlight novella that was in Arcanum Unbounded recently.) The bigger disappointment was that I felt like Dalinar’s voice was too generic – he’s young and quippy like a lot of other Sanderson characters, and he didn’t have any of the gravitas that characterizes present day Dalinar. I know part of the point is that Dalinar is very different than he used to be, but he didn’t even seem like the same person. I still enjoyed reading it though, and I have enough faith in Brandon Sanderson that the complete story will make more sense – I just didn’t love the excerpt as its own story.

Collection of stories, generally from preexisting universes. Authors include Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss (more of a prose poem), Tad Williams, Carrie Vaughn, Jacqueline Carey (from her Kushiel series), Daniel Abraham (rape allegory that I guess is more powerful if you haven’t previously consciously thought about being vulnerable to members of a group you encounter on a daily basis), Kevin Hearne, Naomi Novik (awesome Temeraire story that could be read either as the space AU or, by stretching wildly, as some namesakes hundreds of years later), Lev Grossman (quirky combination of Narnia setting and hipster voice), and Terry Brooks. Probably worth checking out if you can’t get enough of one or more of the included authors.

This was one of the highest quality anthologies I've ever read. I bought it for some of the big name authors that I know well (Sanderson/Jordan, Rothfuss, Lev Grossman, Peter. V. Brett, etc.) but stayed for some of the other authors whose work I'd never read.

Most of these stories were based in the ongoing fantasy universes of these authors. What I discovered was that I could get a pretty good sense of whether I'd like to read more based on the selections in this collection. For example, I will be sure to pick up some Michael J. Sullivan in the near future.

Like any collection there were highs and lows, but the lows were higher than some other collections' highs. Recommended for any fans of modern fantasy interested in a tapas-bar reading experience.

Really enjoyed this urban fantasy offering that helps get a glimpse of Shawn Speakman's book, The Dark Thorn. Ill be picking that up soon and expect about the same. Vombies or zampires? You can't go wrong.

Some great stories from authors I'm familiar with, and some great stories from those that I wasn't. A great collection overall.