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Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail
The Book of Swords: Part 1
An epic collection of fantasy tales in the grand tradition, including a never-before-published A Song of Ice and Fire story by George R.R. Martin and an introduction by Gardner Dozois.
Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a cornerstone of fantasy fiction, and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own tales of magical adventure.
Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an anthology of sixteen original epic stories by a stellar cast of modern masters, including George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Garth Nix, Ken Liu, Daniel Abraham, Scott Lynch, Cecelia Holland, Ellen Kushner, and more on journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid adventure, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel.
Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a cornerstone of fantasy fiction, and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own tales of magical adventure.
Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an anthology of sixteen original epic stories by a stellar cast of modern masters, including George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Garth Nix, Ken Liu, Daniel Abraham, Scott Lynch, Cecelia Holland, Ellen Kushner, and more on journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid adventure, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2017
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105 people want to read
About the author
Gardner Dozois
645 books361 followersGardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois
http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois
http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 28, 2018
On the day of hearing of Dozois' death I encountered this book in the book store. As an avid sword & sorcery fan, I just had to pick it up. Lot's of well known authors writing traditional action oriented fantasy stories.
Some notes about some of the stories:
K.J. Parker's tale is good, but has a bit too cynical ending. Likewise Robin Hobb's story mostly made me angry and sad about the main protagonist.
Matthew Hughes story is a great Vancian tale. One of the more traditional sword & sorcery tales in this volume.
Kate Elliot's tale set in an alternate Rome is very cool, the main character is pretty awesome.
Daniel Abraham delivers another of the old school sword & sorcery tales, without being derivative. Good stuff.
Some notes about some of the stories:
K.J. Parker's tale is good, but has a bit too cynical ending. Likewise Robin Hobb's story mostly made me angry and sad about the main protagonist.
Matthew Hughes story is a great Vancian tale. One of the more traditional sword & sorcery tales in this volume.
Kate Elliot's tale set in an alternate Rome is very cool, the main character is pretty awesome.
Daniel Abraham delivers another of the old school sword & sorcery tales, without being derivative. Good stuff.
August 1, 2019
3 and a bit stars rounded up.
Like most anthologies, this was a bit of a mixed bag but overall had more stories than good (for me, anyway).
Probably my favourites were the story by K J Parker and the 'sequel' to Beowulf by C J Cherryh.
All in all, a nice, light read in between bigger books.
Like most anthologies, this was a bit of a mixed bag but overall had more stories than good (for me, anyway).
Probably my favourites were the story by K J Parker and the 'sequel' to Beowulf by C J Cherryh.
All in all, a nice, light read in between bigger books.
February 16, 2023
Reading this book made me realise how hard it is to write great fantasy. There’s a leap of faith required of readers - investing in a character or world so potentially strange that you really have to suspend disbelief in order for it to work. Sadly, there’s very little here that’s worth doing that for. Robin Hobb and Garth Nix shine as they always do. There are some flyaway moments of brilliance in the form of Chinese matter-hopping assassins and world-weary blacksmiths. Other stories rely on goodwill they haven’t earned, introducing outrageous plot devices and magical objects that are simultaneously under-explained and overused. A passingly interesting read for fantasy fans. Easily avoided by all others.
May 2, 2018
A solid collection of short stories
November 24, 2019
Loved it
August 12, 2020
A mixed bag of swashbuckling, sorcerous and just plain stabby yarns
Does what it says on the tin
Does what it says on the tin
September 10, 2022
I enjoyed most of this collection but not all. Due to the nature of it being a collection of stories, with writers that have such varying styles across the collection, I think it would be difficult to love every single one. The ones I did love were exceptionally good, and the ones that I did not, struggled to maintain my attention.
October 7, 2023
Each of these stories offered something unexpected, interesting or just pleasing. Very different, but well curated selection of tales involving swords.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews