The Book of Swords

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

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

Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

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 best-selling 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 16 all-new stories:

• "The Best Man Wins" by K. J. Parker
• "Her Father's Sword" by Robin Hobb
• "The Hidden Girl" by Ken Liu
• "The Sword of Destiny" by Matthew Hughes
• "'I Am a Handsome Man,' Said Apollo Crow" by Kate Elliott
• "The Triumph of Virtue" by Walter Jon Williams
• "The Mocking Tower" by Daniel Abraham
• "Hrunting" by C. J. Cherryh
• "A Long, Cold Trail" by Garth Nix
• "When I Was a Highwayman" by Ellen Kushner
• "The Smoke of Gold Is Glory" by Scott Lynch
• "The Colgrid Conundrum" by Rich Larson
• "The King's Evil" by Elizabeth Bear
• "Waterfalling" by Lavie Tidhar
• "The Sword Tyraste" by Cecelia Holland
• "The Sons of the Dragon" by George R. R. Martin

And an introduction by Gardner Dozois

Readers: Arthur Morey, Julia Whelan, Mark Deakins, Ralph Lister, Kirby Heyborne, Nicholas Guy Smith, Richard Brewer, Steve West, Elliott Hill, Kim Mai Guest, Katherine Mc Ewan, and John Lee

©2017 George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, and Garth Nix (P)2017 Random House Audio

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.

while all the stories are good...

...one alone makes this whole book worth it.

The Smoke of Gold is Glory is truly the best of the bunch. It played out like a movie in my head.

Too Much Fantasy

I am a true fan of the medieval so I was initially excited by the titles and the prospects for a good read. That quickly changed and I had to stop listening when it became apparent that this was a work truly dedicated to pure fantasy, much of which just baffled me and my thinking.

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.

not worth it. some stories extremely inappropriate

not worth it. some stories extremely inappropriate
only the last one on here is related to the game of thrones series. many of the others are overly vulgar and with too much explicit sexual content for comfort. and with unnecessary vulgarities too.

A Perfect Sampler

This is a great collection of short stories. They feature an assortment of authors with excellent performers telling the tales from many worlds. It is an excellent way to try several authors and find new books to read next. They include typical fantasy, adventure, steampunk, cyberpunk and epic stories all including great swords.

I expected a book, not a lot pieces of stories.

I was disappointed as I was expecting a book a whole story not little pieces of stories. I feel like I wasted a book token.