Unfettered

Tales By Masters of Fantasy

By: Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss, Robert Jordan, Jacqueline Carey, R.A. Salvatore, Naomi Novik, Shawn Speakman - editor, Peter V. Brett

Narrated by: Peter Ganim, Marc Vietor, Bronson Pinchot, Jay Snyder

Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

You define life or it defines you. In Shawn Speakman’s case, it was both. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011, Shawn quickly accrued a massive medical debt that he did not have the ability to pay. That’s when New York Times best-selling author Terry Brooks offered to donate a short story that Shawn could sell to help alleviate those bills - and suggested he ask the same of his other writer friends. Unfettered is the result: An anthology built in order to relieve that debt, featuring short stories by some of the best fantasy writers in the genre.

Twenty-three tales comprise this incredible collection, and as the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished. Here is the table of contents:

• Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
• Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered
• Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
• How Old Holly Came to Be by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
• Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
• The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey
• Mudboy by Peter V. Brett
• The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian
• The Coach with Big Teeth by R. A. Salvatore
• Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood
• Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton
• Dogs by Daniel Abraham
• The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne
• Select Mode by Mark Lawrence
• All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
• Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth
• Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick
• Unbowed by Eldon Thompson
• In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik
• River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
• The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan
• The Duel by Lev Grossman
• Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks
• The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman

  With the help of stalwart friends and these wonderful short stories, Shawn has taken the gravest of life’s hardships and created something magical. Unfettered is not only a fantastic anthology in its own right, but it’s a testament to the generosity found in the science fiction and fantasy community—proof that humanity can give beyond itself when the need arises. After all, isn’t that the driving narrative in fantasy literature?

©2013 Shawn Speakman (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Great Crash Course on Fantasy Writers

I thoroughly enjoyed Shawn's assembly of writers and as an added benefit I hope I was able to assist him in beating his illness. My best buddy is recovering from Leukemia and I know the challenge - GodSpeed!

Glenno's review was very helpful as well. and for efficiency, I will use his as a reference. I am a huge Rothfuss fan, but he is correct - what the??? I will read it again but I don't think it will help. I generally agree with Glenno except for Orullian. I see his point as I am not a band geek either, but the musical references add a unique perspective to the story, are easy to understand and add a fresh creative touch to the struggles(for me). I want to highlight these other writers` outstanding material:
- Tad Williams - Quaint, quirky and fun
- Todd Lockwood - Simple story made into an enticing journey of a young loyal disciple.
- Eldon Thompson - My favorite but he has nothing on audible to follow up with.
- Michael J Sullivan - I love the moral choice dilemna and will be looking for more thoughtful stories.
- Speakman - Amazingly creative story that held me the entire 2 hrs.
Lastly, on a negative note, I could not finish Michael Stein`s inane story of a dead cat - maybe I am a dog person, but this one stretched my patience - others seem to like it though so it is a matter of perspective.

As far as the the narration, they were all amazing, but again Bronson Pinchot blew my socks off. His variety of voices was impressive as usual!

Great Job Shawn - I will look for your next book!

A Mixed Bag-Some great, some I could do without.

Overall: 4*
Great Narration, most of the stories were good. A few I didn’t like. It's only fair to mention each story on its own. I've tried hard not to give any spoilers.


Imaginary Friends (by Terry Brooks)
5* Great opening for this anthology. Appropriate theme, and lots of fun.

How Old Holly Came to Be (by Patrick Rothfuss)
5* Maybe my favorite submission for this anthology. Beautiful free-from poetry. I loved it so much I had my family listen to it once I was done.

The Old Scale Game (by Tad Williams)
5* Another great addition to the series. I also had my kids listen to this. It was lots of fun.

Game of Chance (by Carrie Vaughn)
3* The story was creative. I loved the concept, and the characters had great potential. However, I felt like some of the plot lines were rushed and I just felt unsatisfied.

The Martyr of the Roses (by Jacqueline Carey)
2* I believe this is a short story from a bigger work. If I’d already known the main characters, perhaps I would have enjoyed it more, but not knowing them, I didn’t connect. I was mostly bored until the climax. Though that was intriguing, it wasn’t enough to give more than 3*.

Mudboy (by Peter V. Brett)
4* I also believe that this is part of a bigger story, but very captivating. I looked up to see if I wanted to read more of this world. The only drawback was the overly repeated worry of peeing in pants.

The Sound of Broken Absolutes (by Peter Orullian)
4.5* It took me a little to follow what was happening. I was thrown off by the jumping between characters at first. Once I figured out what was happening, I enjoyed the story. I especially loved how it was all brought together at the end.

The Coach with Big Teeth (by R.A. Salvatore)
0* The story just bothered me. When I came back to relisten to the series years later, it’s the only one I skipped remembering my distaste for it.

Keeper of Memory (by Todd Lockwood)
5* Absolutely beautiful. Another short story I suspected was part of something bigger. I have added the first of the main series to my wish list.

Heaven in a Wild Flower (by Blake Charlton)
3* I wanted to like it. I loved the beauty of the narration, and the concept. It just kept throwing in little things here and there that didn’t sit well with me.

Dogs (by Daniel Abraham)
2* I actually was engaged and following the story. The lower rating is due to the ending, or rather the lack. I understand leaving some things to the imagination of the reader, but there were just too many loose threads.

The Chapel Perilous (by Kevin Hearne)
3* I felt the ending was rushed. I enjoyed the character and the narration, but felt it was abrupt and jumped from scene to scene to end.

Select Mode (by Mark Lawrence)
3.5* I struggled to follow a little at the beginning, but overall enjoyed it. The magic was interesting, but hard to believe considering the setting. The big reveal was not too surprising.

All the Girls Love Michael Stein (by David Anthony Durham)
5* I loved this story. It is an example of how an ending can leave plenty to the imagination without leaving the reader disappointed. I wish there were follow-up stories, though. I think it left a fun premise.

Strange Rain (by Jennifer Bosworth)
3* I struggled to connect with the characters. Interesting concept, but I just didn’t feel drawn into the story.

Nocturne (by Robert V.S. Redick)
3.5* I wanted to give this story 4 stars because of the artistry of it. I was confused, but I was supposed to be as I followed the confusion of the protagonist. However, the epilogue went on too long. *SLIGHT SPOILER* It took an already grim story, and made it needlessly grimmer, but without the artistry of the main part of the story.

Unbowed (by Eldon Thompson)
5* One of my favorite stories in the collection. I love genesis stories, and I think this one is great. Literally, the most disappointing thing about this story is Audible doesn’t have any books by this author so I can’t find out what happens next.

In Favour with Their Stars (by Naomi Novik)
4* A crossover of Sci-Fi and dragons? Hard to see how it could be done well. This was one way to do so. I enjoyed how the story is both serious, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. I don’t know if I’d want to spend more time in this world, though.

River of Souls (by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson)
4* This may be the first time I’ve ever given anything by Sanderson less than 5 stars. However, this story doesn’t really stand on its own. It works if you are very familiar with The Wheel of Time, but without that context, it’s nearly impossible to follow.

The Jester (by Michael J. Sullivan)
4* Though it works the second or subsequent times through the story, being literally dropped into the middle makes this hard to follow. However, I loved the characters enough after this and another short story with them that I have gone on to read the Rirya Revelations.

The Duel (by Lev Grossman)
2* Violence for violence’s sake. I didn’t really connect with any characters. There were some interesting twists, but I don’t need to read this one again.

Walker and the Shade of Allanon (by Terry Brooks)
3.5* Like River of Souls, this one was a bit hard to follow without the context of the rest of the series.

The Unfettered Knight (by Shawn Speakman)
2.5* Well written, some good surprises, but offensive as a Christian. There are some liberties I can handle, but this one went too far. The writing is good, that’s why it received as many stars as it did. I wish this hadn’t been the last story in the group.

amazing short stories with great readers!

I love that so many renowned authors donated to the cause!
amazing stories, by amazing writers, told by an amazing cast! this is the perfect preview into who your next favorite fantasy writer to read will be and I was very please to recognize the worlds of the magicians, Terre d'ange, Shanarah, wheel of time, and the demon cycle put on display in a snipbit! I will be purchasing my next audio through researching those authors presented here!

Meh

Love love love the authors in this and the anthology's novel cause but the voice acting is cheesy, and some of the stories are heavy handed in their undertone of support for the sick man this was for. Sounds awful of me, I know, but I bought this for the authors instead of the cause behind it.

More good than not

Lots of good stories, here. There's a few that were questionable in compared quality, but short story collections can often be a crapshoot. Either way, I really liked _most_ of this one.

mixed bag. overall pretty good. some standouts.

pretty good book for a good cause. some cool stories. found some authors I would like to read more from.

Mixed feelings

I wanted to love this compilation of short stories. It was written for a pure, altruistic purpose. The contributors included some of my favorite authors, and many more about whom I had been curious for some time. Some of the stories were engaging, but many were not. Many were downright sad and left me not knowing how to feel, what to think, or what the author was even trying to convey with his or her words.

The compilation receives three stars because of those gems hidden inside. I enjoyed Rothfuss' quirky tale. A couple more - one about a viola, another about saving a library from war (I don't recall the authors) - were interesting despite the deep sadness in the tale.

I took away two stars because of the lack of consistency. Maybe I was expecting too much. Maybe it was unfair to expect to be entertained by every story in such an eclectic compilation. But I wasn't expecting entertainment, so much as I was hoping to be inspired, to have my curiosity piqued, or to just hear stories that I could appreciate (at the very least) for their literary value, if not for the tale itself.

I understand the sadness that permeates many (most?) of these short stories. It was moving at times - leaving me shaken and changed - but I also found myself often pausing the book and stepping away because it was just too much.

The narrators are fantastic. They were well-selected for each story and each performs beautifully. I think only one story stood out as "less-well-narrated" - but it was near the end and not significant enough to recall specifically. With so many stories, and so many narrators, that is a job well done in my eyes.

This book is certainly worth the one credit. I'd buy it again, and I'm tempted to buy the hard copy, if only for those special stories tucked amid the less-inspiring.

not for the soft hearted

If you're looking for a pick me up or a joyful book, look elsewhere. These stories, while very well written, are not happy ones.

Great collection of stories.

I got this because of the King Killer Cronicle by Patrick Rothfuss but the other stories were just as good.

The Gathering of Great Writers

What did you love best about Unfettered?

Each writer shares a very interesting story ! From trolls, dragons to baseball + dogs !! Something for everyone !

What did you like best about this story?

From Imaginary Friends to the Unfettered Knight. All well written !!

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Each narrator enlightened every story. I like each narrator, equally !

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Twenty-three stories, at one sitting !

Any additional comments?

Nice if it were whisper sync. So if one felt like reading a bit, too.