The Book of Swords

By: Gardner Dozois - editor, George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Garth Nix

Narrated by: John Lee, Katharine Lee McEwan, Kim Mai Guest, Elliot Hill, Richard Brewer, Nicholas Guy Smith, Kirby Heyborne, Julia Whelan, Mark Deakins, Steve West, Ralph Lister

New epic fantasy in the grand tradition—including a never-before-published Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin!

Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the page: 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 storytelling sensation, a cornerstone of fantasy fiction—and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own outsize tales of magic and swashbuckling adventure.

Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters—many of them set in their authors’ best-loved worlds. Join today’s finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do, 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.

FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES:

“The Best Man Wins” by K. J. Parker, read by John Lee
“Her Father’s Sword” by Robin Hobb, read by Katharine McEwan
“The Hidden Girl” by Ken Liu, read by Kim Mai Guest
“The Sword of Destiny” by Matthew Hughes, read by Elliott Hill
“‘I Am a Handsome Man’ Said Apollo Crow,” by Kate Elliott, read by Steve West
“The Triumph of Virtue” by Walter Jon Williams, read by Elliott Hill
“The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham, read by Richard Brewer
“Hrunting” by C. J. Cherryh, read by John Lee
“A Long, Cold Trail” by Garth Nix, read by Nicholas Guy Smith
“When I Was a Highwayman” by Ellen Kushner, read by Kirby Heyborne
“The Smoke of Gold Is Glory” by Scott Lynch, read by Ralph Lister
“The Colgrid Connundrum” by Rich Larson, read by Mark Deakins
“The King’s Evil” by Elizabeth Bear, read by Julia Whelan
“Waterfalling” by Lavie Tidhar, read by Mark Deakins
“The Sword Tyraste” by Cecelia Holland, read by Steve West
“The Sons of the Dragon” by George R. R. Martin, read by Ralph Lister

And an introduction by Gardner Dozois, read by Arthur Morey

Critic reviews

“As you would expect from this editor, each story is different, each a gem. . . . [A] fabulous sampler of writers who know the long and short of epic fantasy.”—Booklist (starred review)

“When fine writer and expert editor [Gardner] Dozois beckons, authors deliver—and this surely will be one of the year’s essential anthologies.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A great collection for any fantasy fan.”—Library Journal

“Entertaining throughout . . . This is one of the anthologies of the year.”—Locus

Solid, but not amazing anthology

One of the things I like about Gardner and GRRM anthologies is that they both tell you about the author and give you a list of their previous Works before presenting their novelas. That is especially useful in the audiobook version of Book of Swords as it's divided into 260 - 5 minute chapters. So if you want to skip ahead to Scott Lynch in the chapter hundred 50-ish range you just keep clicking forward until you hear an author description chapter. it's jarring because of the change of narrator. I have to mention that almost all of the narrator's here are very good. that is rare.

There are a number of very solid stories in this book. Robin Hobb, the aforementioned Scott Lynch. George RR Martin throws a chapter from the Blood of the Dragon series he's been working on forever. it's a fine elaboration on the chapters from the History of Westeros. the Riverside story in this book is an odd one, but apt.

I would say if anything this book suffers from a number of notable absences. There's no Brandon Sanderson or Joe Abercrombie. There's no Patrick Rothfuss or Jim Butcher. I would have liked to have heard the words "Would you like to destroy some evil today?" or have taken a journey with a certain dozen and a certain father of swords with a certain crack nut narrating the tail.

One of the best reasons to pick up an anthology like this is to discover or get into somebody who has a great series that you might not have heard of or have been hesitant to try. So I'm writing this in direct response to anyone who would buy big giant book filled with stories by dozens of authors to only read one and review it based on that one story.. don't publish reviews.

S&S At it's best.

Excellent variety, inventive writing, along with polished voicing, time and imagination flew for the length of the book.

Dozen or so short stories made good breaks and range, my favorite was the ancient story teller about hunting a dragons gold.

awesome.

It's only good because of the Game of thrones short story. lol. jk. some books were pretty good.

a mixed bag

This collection has a lot to offer I'm a big fan of Garth Nix Robin Hobb and GRRM. I'd never heard of some of the authors included but now I'm interested in searching down other novels. some of the stories were so tough to get through and blended together.

Great compilation! Great stories.

Some performances better than others. Almost all the stories were top notch. Great stories by some of the best authors in their genre.