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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.
Life can kick us when we are down. In Shawn Speakman's case, he is fighting back. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011, Speakman beat the disease as well as the massive medical debt he amassed from its treatment. He did this by publishing Unfettered, an anthology featuring short stories donated by some of the best science fiction and fantasy writers working today. Speakman has again collaborated with celebrated genre authors to publish Unfettered II.
Not bound as a book. Free. Like Unfettered before it, the contributing writers of Unbound were allowed to submit the tales they wished fans of genre to hear - without the constraints of a shackling theme. The result is magical. Twenty-three all-original stories are sure to captivate you - some will move you to tears while others will keep you listening long into the night. The power of Unbound lies in its variety of tales and the voices behind them. If you are a fan of discovering new writers or hearing the works of beloved authors, Unbound is for you.
Control dinosaurs. Tame women. Rule the world. Victor Shelby and his tribe of beautiful alien women have built a fortress to keep themselves safe, but when they encounter another tribe of survivors, Victor must leverage his dinosaur-taming abilities to negotiate either peace or violence. And violence is what Dinosaurland is all about.
Would you be prepared to work for free? How would you like to bust your hump for a large corporation 60-plus hours a week without a wage or a single day off for the vague promise of some mysterious perks in the distant future? You'd refuse point blank, wouldn't you? But what if the job in question was playing a state-of-the-art fantasy MMORPG game? And what if this was the only thing you're really good at? Especially considering that your in-game partner is someone really special to you - and this person already lives a virtual life?
In the latter half of the 21st century, Alexander and his guild mates play Io Online for fun and to earn a living. Given the chance to test a new experimental immersion system, the veteran players must give up their high-level characters and begin again at level one. As they work through the noob zone quests, they discover that the new immersion system allows them to play in ways that hadn't been possible before. They quickly run afoul of a party of player killers and become the targets of an entire PK guild bent on spawn-camping them until they leave the game. War has been declared.
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.
Life can kick us when we are down. In Shawn Speakman's case, he is fighting back. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011, Speakman beat the disease as well as the massive medical debt he amassed from its treatment. He did this by publishing Unfettered, an anthology featuring short stories donated by some of the best science fiction and fantasy writers working today. Speakman has again collaborated with celebrated genre authors to publish Unfettered II.
Not bound as a book. Free. Like Unfettered before it, the contributing writers of Unbound were allowed to submit the tales they wished fans of genre to hear - without the constraints of a shackling theme. The result is magical. Twenty-three all-original stories are sure to captivate you - some will move you to tears while others will keep you listening long into the night. The power of Unbound lies in its variety of tales and the voices behind them. If you are a fan of discovering new writers or hearing the works of beloved authors, Unbound is for you.
Control dinosaurs. Tame women. Rule the world. Victor Shelby and his tribe of beautiful alien women have built a fortress to keep themselves safe, but when they encounter another tribe of survivors, Victor must leverage his dinosaur-taming abilities to negotiate either peace or violence. And violence is what Dinosaurland is all about.
Would you be prepared to work for free? How would you like to bust your hump for a large corporation 60-plus hours a week without a wage or a single day off for the vague promise of some mysterious perks in the distant future? You'd refuse point blank, wouldn't you? But what if the job in question was playing a state-of-the-art fantasy MMORPG game? And what if this was the only thing you're really good at? Especially considering that your in-game partner is someone really special to you - and this person already lives a virtual life?
In the latter half of the 21st century, Alexander and his guild mates play Io Online for fun and to earn a living. Given the chance to test a new experimental immersion system, the veteran players must give up their high-level characters and begin again at level one. As they work through the noob zone quests, they discover that the new immersion system allows them to play in ways that hadn't been possible before. They quickly run afoul of a party of player killers and become the targets of an entire PK guild bent on spawn-camping them until they leave the game. War has been declared.
When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over. After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil - and he is now its newest recruit. The island once belonged to the Amazons, but Jacob’s arrival has awakened the old gods and disturbed the seal holding the ravaging darkness at bay.
An all-new Dresden Files story headlines this urban fantasy short story collection starring the Windy City's favorite wizard. The world of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is rife with intrigue--and creatures of all supernatural stripes. And you'll make their intimate acquaintance as Harry delves into the dark side of truth, justice, and the American way in this must-have short story collection. From the Wild West to the bleachers at Wrigley Field, humans, zombies, incubi, and even fey royalty appear, ready to blur the line between friend and foe. In the never-before-published "Zoo Day," Harry treads new ground as a dad, while fan-favorite characters Molly Carpenter, his onetime apprentice, White Council Warden Anastasia Luccio, and even Bigfoot stalk through the pages of more classic tales.
Nineteen-year-old Ryuk Matsuzaki and his best friend Tamana decide to start over with new avatars. When Tamana is suddenly killed right in front of him in a Tokyo subway, Ryuk knows there is only one place he can search for answers -- Tritania, the world's most popular online fantasy world. Standing in his way are a mysterious guild known as the Shinigami, and his older brother, a Yakuza crime lord hell-bent on squashing his dreams.
Raised and trained in seclusion at a secret fortress on the edge of the northern wilds of the Kingdom of Ashai, a young warrior called Rezkin is unexpectedly thrust into the outworld when a terrible battle destroys all that he knows. With no understanding of his life’s purpose and armed with masterful weapons mysteriously bestowed upon him by a dead king, Rezkin must travel across Ashai to find the one man who may hold the clues to his very existence.
Five years ago Corin Cadence's brother entered the Serpent Spire - a colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who survive the spire's trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire's goddess. He never returned. Now it's Corin's turn. He's headed to the top floor, on a mission to meet the goddess.
Tricked into a world of banished gods, demons, goblins, sprites and magic, Richter must learn to meet the perils of The Land and begin to forge his own kingdom. Actions have consequences across The Land, with powerful creatures and factions now hell-bent on Richter's destruction. Can Richter forge allegiances to survive this harsh and unforgiving world or will he fall to the dark denizens of this ancient and unforgiving realm? A tale to shake "The Land" itself, measuring 10/10 on the Richter scale, how will Richter's choices shape the future of The Land and all who reside in it? Can he grow his power to meet the deadliest of beings of the land? When choices are often a shade of grey, how will Richter ensure he does not become what he seeks to destroy?
Villains have all the fun - everyone knows that - and this anthology takes you on a wild ride through the dark side! The top villains from 16 urban fantasy series get their own stories - including the baddies of New York Times best-selling authors Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, and Jonathan Maberry. For every hero trying to save the world, there's a villain trying to tear it all down.
With this stunning series opener, Django Wexler leaps to the upper echelon of today’s best fantasy authors. The Thousand Names opens his Shadow Campaigns series with a tale of bloody rebellion that will reshape an empire -- and a world. Captain Marcus d’Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass see their fortunes rise under the command of military genius Janus bet Vhalnich. But Janus’ obsession with the supernatural portends a dire fate for the realm.
It has been 20 years since the end of the war. The dictatorial Augurs, once thought of almost as gods, were overthrown and wiped out during the conflict, their much-feared powers mysteriously failing them. Those who had ruled under them, men and women with a lesser ability known as the Gift, avoided the Augurs' fate only by submitting themselves to the rebellion's Four Tenets.
Audie Award, Fantasy, 2016. As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don't cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.
A fantasy anthology featuring the deadly, the worldly, and the sneaky. Blackguards consists mainly of stories in established series, and the authors range from wildly successful indie authors to New York Times best sellers. If you enjoy roguish tales of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells, this one's for you.
Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever, and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.
Beneath the streets of Seattle, a long-forgotten war is about to be renewed...Richard McAllister, a spiritually destitute homeless man and Knight of the Yn Saith, protects one of seven portals linking his world to that of Annwn, where the fey Tuatha de Dannan of antiquity have been relegated by a long-running religious war. Unknown to Richard though, powerful forces are aligning against him and all he stands to keep safe.
In the wilds of a discarded world, Philip Plantagenet, son of Henry II, moves to claim a birthright nine centuries in the making, one that drives him to eliminate the Tuatha de Dannan - at any cost to both worlds. In the halls of Vatican City, Cardinal Vicar Cormac Pell O'Connor schemes to control the Heliwr - the Unfettered Knight - one who possesses the great power known as the Dark Thorn.
The three men are on a collision course with history - and their futures. For in the wilds of Annwn, death comes as easily as magic. Haunted by a past he can't forget and a knightly responsibility he can't shun, Richard is drawn into levels of machinations - and two worlds - far darker than any he has prepared for.
I so enjoyed the short story by Mr. Speakman in the Unfettered anthology that I decided to listen to this novel too. I was not disappointed.
Any fan of the Merlin television series should love this book, though this story is set in modern day.
The reader portrays each character well and helps you see that movie in your head (always a goal of mine).
Richard McCallister protects the secret Seattle portal between our world and Annwn--the world to which all of the fey creatures (fairies, leprechauns, centaurs, and the like) had long ago been transported to protect them from extinction. The Knights protecting the portals use magical items but so do the forces of evil on both sides of the portal. Without giving anything away, some of those magical items are ones that you are probably familiar with. 'Nuf said.
The book is full of action and adventure as a small group tries to reunite the fey creatures to battle the forces of evil. Any war in Annwn threatens both worlds. In the meantime, the forces of evil are also after Richard and another character he is trying to protect. Can evil turn these two or bend them and/or their weapons to their nefarious purposes?
Which creatures are on which side (if either)? Can war be averted and, if not, can good triumph? Which men of our world are simply trying to protect the portals and which really have their own agenda? Can the two worlds be saved?
A minor disappointment for me that these knights are supposed to be Knights of the Word here on our side as defined by a certain church (i.e. the Word of God). But when people try to defend their actions in the name of the Word, no one actually uses any of the actual Word to refute them. That would have been fun!
That's a small objection though and it did not prevent me from giving this book 5 stars. I couldn't stop listening and that's one sign of a great book. I look forward to the next one!
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
The main character was nothing short of God Awful!
Would you ever listen to anything by Shawn Speakman again?
Never ever ever ever
Which scene was your favorite?
None. Couldn't make it through it.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Annoyance. The author made all of the characters so distasteful they ruined a pretty fair storyline.
Any additional comments?
Hard to slog through this - I bought it because I love these types of stories and I love Nick Podehl as a reader... but this abomination of a main character... ugh... was there ever a more disrespectful, unpleasant, and utterly unlikable character ever created?
6 of 9 people found this review helpful
This book could have been so much better, the premise for the book is good and is what initially caught my attention, but I feel that the author tried to do too much with the subject and tried to include too many fantasy/historical elements. The writing is not very polished and doesn't flow very well. He tries to be very grandiose with the writing and language and it just comes off as cheap and awkward. There are also several instances in the book where the author will say something on one page and then contradict himself on the next page, sometimes in the next sentence.
The characters are shallow and one dimensional, they have no depth, and they flip flop from being extremely immature and irrational one minute to being very wise and all knowing the next. There is no character development, we don't see them grow at all, they just inexplicably go from selfish children, ignorant of the world around them, to full grown, mature adults, tasked to save the world from impending doom.
The plot has holes all over the place and there is a lot of deus ex machina. He writes the characters into seemingly impossible scenarios with no way out and all of a sudden they emerge victorious and he explains it away with "magic." It's hokey and fake and not believable at all (yes, this is fantasy writing, but there has to be some believable elements, rooted in what we know, to make it engaging and to help the reader buy in to what the author is selling).
It was all I could do to make it to the end of the book. I will not be listening/reading the next two books in the series when they come out, one book was more than enough for me. I would not recommend this book.
9 of 15 people found this review helpful
it wasn't a bad story, but the dialogue was unbelievable and constantly the me out of the story. narrator was awesome though.
The characters were horrible. I didn't like anyone. They all spoke in riddles, got mad if anyone asked what the hell they were talking about, then pouted when they were given the same treatment. Richard is bitter and angry and annoying. He has serious psychological problems, and not the ones that make a character interesting. the story jumps from the church to Seattle and to the fairy world with no warning. One of the guys in the church likes having sex with women. what does that have to do with the review? I dunno, but it was mentioned enough in the story it must be important. Richard's wife was killed, we get it. I gave this 10 hours of my life, and I still don't care about anyone in the whole book. Don't bother.
I liked this story, and it has a lot of promise. It wasn't anything particularly special, but it was an enjoyable read, hence 3 stars. It feels a lot like older fantasy story, where the language is more formal and the interactions feel rigid and constrained by expectation, and I think that is where the book fell flat for me. For some characters, that type of language made sense: the residents of Annwn are from an older time and society when that type of embellished speech would be more popular, but Richard and Bran are from present day America, and Bran even grew up on the streets, but they use the same overly formal language which felt contrived and pulled me out of the story. I believe this is Shawn Speakman's first novel, so I am interested to see how he develops as an author, as the story itself is complex and very promising. Therefore, I found this book perfectly passable, and am interested to see how the series develops.
Unfortunately all I really have to say is that this book is unremarkable and not very memorable. The characters development is poorly done. Although the concepts are very interesting.
Would you try another book from Shawn Speakman and/or Nick Podehl?
Probably not.
What could Shawn Speakman have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
The dialog was right out of a mediocre renaissance festival skit. The young protagonist is supposed to be a street kid - I have never known a street kid who used vocabulary like that.
The main protagonist was whinier than Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. Every time he lamented be 'used' I just heard 'I ws going to Toshi Station'.
I think he needed to have an editor that had a clue about narration and how people talk.
What three words best describe Nick Podehl’s performance?
He was ok.
Excellent Book for a new Author Shawn has great charactor development, wonderful story telling will read his other books he puts out big fan
Great read hard to put down or turn off. Good story full of the unexpected .open there will be a sequil.