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galidar's review
5.0
Shawn Speakman sought the help of friends, both unknown and the kings of the science fiction and fantasy genres, and asked for help. The book was created with the idea of helping with his medical bills. It is an anthology of short stories.
But that is where UNFETTERED gets interesting. See, unlike most short story collections, this book has one major difference - no theme. The authors were free to write what they wanted. The end result couldn't have been better.
Every turn of the page brought something new. Each author contributed greatness, be it stories that led to a series (Terry Brooks), another random short staring their series characters (Michael Sullivan, Naomi Novik, Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson), the first attempts at a story from a talented artist (Todd Lockwood), to completely random shorts that, while odd, flowed incredibly. Every story clocked in around 30 pages or less...but the passion and the skill of each author echoed through the pages. I found myself stopping after each story and thinking about what I had just read.
The stories are all about anything the author desired, and that caused me to slow down my reading. Beautiful as each story was, the next page was going to be something completely different, and that took me out of my normal speed of reading. But that isn't a criticism. These pauses and the length of time I used to read this just made me appreciate it all the more.
UNFETTERED left me happy, sad, angry, and hungry for more, a LOT more, from a lot of authors. It increased the size of my to-read list by a considerable amount, and led to a few books I've already purchased and hope to dive into very soon. It was a book for a great cause, and beyond that, it will stand on my shelf as the book I will loan or recommend to anyone who wants to dip their toe into the world of science fiction and fantasy. This book is a gateway drug, and if I wasn't already an addict, I'd be hooked now.
But that is where UNFETTERED gets interesting. See, unlike most short story collections, this book has one major difference - no theme. The authors were free to write what they wanted. The end result couldn't have been better.
Every turn of the page brought something new. Each author contributed greatness, be it stories that led to a series (Terry Brooks), another random short staring their series characters (Michael Sullivan, Naomi Novik, Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson), the first attempts at a story from a talented artist (Todd Lockwood), to completely random shorts that, while odd, flowed incredibly. Every story clocked in around 30 pages or less...but the passion and the skill of each author echoed through the pages. I found myself stopping after each story and thinking about what I had just read.
The stories are all about anything the author desired, and that caused me to slow down my reading. Beautiful as each story was, the next page was going to be something completely different, and that took me out of my normal speed of reading. But that isn't a criticism. These pauses and the length of time I used to read this just made me appreciate it all the more.
UNFETTERED left me happy, sad, angry, and hungry for more, a LOT more, from a lot of authors. It increased the size of my to-read list by a considerable amount, and led to a few books I've already purchased and hope to dive into very soon. It was a book for a great cause, and beyond that, it will stand on my shelf as the book I will loan or recommend to anyone who wants to dip their toe into the world of science fiction and fantasy. This book is a gateway drug, and if I wasn't already an addict, I'd be hooked now.
pencilled_robin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
lanceschaubert's review
5.0
review forthcoming first of Old Man Holly (which was the reason I bought this), but later for the other stories when I eventually read them as well.
bookjerm's review
3.0
More like 3.5 stars. As with most collections, there were some I really enjoyed, and some I didn't care for at all. I enjoyed this overall, and most of the narrators' voices were easy to listen to. In the end, the first story was my favorite.
benlundns's review
4.0
I'm no stranger to anthologies, but I usually end up with ones that have the same dozen authors contributing to it. Which is fine, I am a fan of certain writers for reasons of enjoyment and I would like to see further into the worlds they have built. It was the main reason I picked up this collection. I read somewhere that there was a Wheel of Time short story in here and I was out to find it. I recently told a friend that if they ever made a Wheel of Time spin off series, I would read that too.
Suprisingly, though that story wasn't the only good story in the bunch. There were quite a few I enjoyed. I read this book over the course of several months. Reading a story here and then moving onto something else, but I discovered a few new authors that I had not heard of, rediscovered some familiar names, and learned some that I'm just not interested in.
The ones that I wasn't a fan of I don't think was the fault of the author. They created their stories for Shawn and the intro to each one gives a bit of reason why they chose their story. Most authors are giving the reader a story from their already existing worlds in many it is a prequel for the main story, which is nice since no existing knowledge of the series is needed to enjoy the story. In some it's just a story they have kicked around for a while and never got published for one reason or another.
The only ones I skipped was Terry Brooks, never enjoyed his writing. I probably could have skipped R.A. Salvatore and Daniel Abraham as well, but... well I got through them. But other then that, 19 stories that were interesting and enjoyable, well my to read list is a little bit longer, I'm a little bit more excited to read some books in my queue. I'm already thinking about buying Shawn's other anthologies (Unfettered 2 and Unbound) in the future to see what they might hold. I would count this book as money well spent.
Suprisingly, though that story wasn't the only good story in the bunch. There were quite a few I enjoyed. I read this book over the course of several months. Reading a story here and then moving onto something else, but I discovered a few new authors that I had not heard of, rediscovered some familiar names, and learned some that I'm just not interested in.
The ones that I wasn't a fan of I don't think was the fault of the author. They created their stories for Shawn and the intro to each one gives a bit of reason why they chose their story. Most authors are giving the reader a story from their already existing worlds in many it is a prequel for the main story, which is nice since no existing knowledge of the series is needed to enjoy the story. In some it's just a story they have kicked around for a while and never got published for one reason or another.
The only ones I skipped was Terry Brooks, never enjoyed his writing. I probably could have skipped R.A. Salvatore and Daniel Abraham as well, but... well I got through them. But other then that, 19 stories that were interesting and enjoyable, well my to read list is a little bit longer, I'm a little bit more excited to read some books in my queue. I'm already thinking about buying Shawn's other anthologies (Unfettered 2 and Unbound) in the future to see what they might hold. I would count this book as money well spent.
mattlefevers's review
4.0
I'm assuredly not the only person who bought this anthology just for the Wheel of Time story, "River of Souls". I've had this release on my calendar ever since Brandon Sanderson revealed that this story would be in it, and having spent fourteen-plus Wheel of Time books wondering about the mysterious country off the edge of the map, it was worth it just for a glimpse of the fabled Shara.
Having satisfied my curiosity by jumping straight to the Wheel of Time entry, I then backtracked and read the entire book start-to-finish. Reading any anthology of different authors front-to-back is a mixed bag, but I'm happy to say there was nothing in here I really disliked, and quite a few that I loved.
Patrick Rothfuss's story was the other main selling point for me, and while it's a bit left of the center, I can't say I was let down. It reads more like a song or a children's rhyme than a narrative, but Rothfuss is a master craftsman of words and always, always worth reading.
Because this is fantasy, nearly all of these stories are tiny offshoots of larger universes, but the fact that I haven't read most of these authors' trilogies or series didn't blunt my enjoyment. There is a range of tone here, from the slightly silly dragon-comedy of "The Old Scale Game" by Tad Williams to Todd Lockwood's very haunting "Keeper of Memory". "Heaven in a Wild Flower" by Blake Charlton feels like magical realism in a beautiful, surreal way, and "The Unfettered Knight" (by the book's own editor, Shawn Speakman) is a clever Dan Brown-esque mashup of Celtic myth, Catholicism, and vampires.
My favorite entry in the entire thing is by an author I have never heard of, Peter Orullian. "The Sound of Broken Absolutes" is a novella about a magic system based on music theory, with notes that can heal a broken body and a song that will tear a man apart. The writing is spectacular, rich with grief and regret, and I was completely absorbed and haunted by it.
I didn't hate any of the stories, but a couple were slightly frustrating. "The Chapel Perilous" had a little too much -- for lack of a better word -- smug-hero-coolness for me, and Lev Grossman's "The Duel" is written so informally and with so much slang that it feels like a high school kid watched a great fantasy movie and then tried to describe it to you. The Naomi Novik story was bewildering because I actually have read some of her Temeraire series, and this dragons-on-Mars sci-fi story apparently has nothing at all to do with it except for sharing character names (odd). Even the weaker stories are worthwhile, though... I didn't get to the end of any of them and wish for my time back or anything.
I would recommend the entire book based solely on the Orullian story, though.
Having satisfied my curiosity by jumping straight to the Wheel of Time entry, I then backtracked and read the entire book start-to-finish. Reading any anthology of different authors front-to-back is a mixed bag, but I'm happy to say there was nothing in here I really disliked, and quite a few that I loved.
Patrick Rothfuss's story was the other main selling point for me, and while it's a bit left of the center, I can't say I was let down. It reads more like a song or a children's rhyme than a narrative, but Rothfuss is a master craftsman of words and always, always worth reading.
Because this is fantasy, nearly all of these stories are tiny offshoots of larger universes, but the fact that I haven't read most of these authors' trilogies or series didn't blunt my enjoyment. There is a range of tone here, from the slightly silly dragon-comedy of "The Old Scale Game" by Tad Williams to Todd Lockwood's very haunting "Keeper of Memory". "Heaven in a Wild Flower" by Blake Charlton feels like magical realism in a beautiful, surreal way, and "The Unfettered Knight" (by the book's own editor, Shawn Speakman) is a clever Dan Brown-esque mashup of Celtic myth, Catholicism, and vampires.
My favorite entry in the entire thing is by an author I have never heard of, Peter Orullian. "The Sound of Broken Absolutes" is a novella about a magic system based on music theory, with notes that can heal a broken body and a song that will tear a man apart. The writing is spectacular, rich with grief and regret, and I was completely absorbed and haunted by it.
I didn't hate any of the stories, but a couple were slightly frustrating. "The Chapel Perilous" had a little too much -- for lack of a better word -- smug-hero-coolness for me, and Lev Grossman's "The Duel" is written so informally and with so much slang that it feels like a high school kid watched a great fantasy movie and then tried to describe it to you. The Naomi Novik story was bewildering because I actually have read some of her Temeraire series, and this dragons-on-Mars sci-fi story apparently has nothing at all to do with it except for sharing character names (odd). Even the weaker stories are worthwhile, though... I didn't get to the end of any of them and wish for my time back or anything.
I would recommend the entire book based solely on the Orullian story, though.
ericbuscemi's review
4.0
All in all, I found the quality of the stories I read to be excellent and would definitely highly recommend this anthology. The stories I read from this collection are:
'Imaginary Friends' by Terry Brooks
This story about a boy defeating a mythical manifestation of his own cancer functions not only as a good opening story, introducing the anthology and hinting at the kind of material it features, but also as a nod to the purpose behind it, as the stories in this anthology were all donated by the authors to aid editor and fellow writer Shawn Speakman in paying off his cancer treatments.
'How Old Holly Came To Be' by Patrick Rothfuss
The most disappointing story of those I read. Fans of his existing work will likely be equally disappointed, as this very brief 1,700 word story adds little, if any, substance to the Four Corners world. It functions more as a nursery rhyme or song, or possibly a chant, with a lot of repetition of "that was good" and "that was bad" and some vague generalities in between these repeated choruses.
'The Old Scale Game' by Tad Williams
A really fun tale that turned on its head the idea of the Knight Errant slaying the evil dragon, and sees them working together to con the local populace instead. A similar tone to Terry Brooks' [b:Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold|15547|Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold (Magic Kingdom of Landover, #1)|Terry Brooks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166673242s/15547.jpg|287715].
'The Sound of Broken Absolutes' by Peter Orullian
A very interesting look at a world where music is literally magical. This was probably the best story in the collection, and that is saying something considering how much I enjoyed almost everything I read. It also surprised me a bit, as it was from an author I was not familiar with, and not one of the authors and/or series I was already a fan of.
'Mudboy' by Peter V. Brett
This is another author I had never previously read, but it definitely makes me interested in reading his Demon Cycle series, which starts with [b:The Warded Man|3428935|The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1)|Peter V. Brett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354571949s/3428935.jpg|6589794]. This story reminded me a lot of Brandon Sanderson's short story 'Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell,' from [b:Dangerous Women|17279560|Dangerous Women|George R.R. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1370759802s/17279560.jpg|19236677].
'The Chapel Perilous' by Kevin Hearne
This was an interesting short story about Atticus's quest for the holy grail in 537 AD, before it was either holy or a grail -- it was "Dagda’s Cauldron, one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, which could feed an army and never empty" in the story -- as told by Atticus around a campfire to Granuaile and Oberon.
'Select Mode' by Mark Lawrence
A third author I had never read before and now want to read more by -- if nothing else, this anthology has certainly helped me find new fantasy authors to read. I really enjoyed how the arch -- a relic of the Builders -- that Jorg and the Nuban are forced to "be judged by" is misunderstood by the Select, and how Lawrence named the story to help clarify that misunderstanding for the reader.
'The Duel' by Lev Grossman
I liked this short story, about Eliot, King of Fillory, fending off an invasion by challenging their champion to a duel, although some of Grossman's language choices -- "scary looking mofo" or "for the lulz" -- seemed too colloquial and very out of place for a story set in the magical realm of Fillory.
'The Unfettered Knight' by Shawn Speakman
I couldn't very well read this anthology without reading the author for whom it was intended to help. Fortunately, his story, an urban fantasy about a modern day knight roaming the Vatican's catacombs in search of a dangerous vampire, was on par with the quality of the other stories. It is yet another story that leads me to want to read further about his world, in this case that would start with the Annwn Cycle's first book, [b:The Dark Thorn|13489349|The Dark Thorn|Shawn Speakman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329507313s/13489349.jpg|19027915].
'Imaginary Friends' by Terry Brooks
This story about a boy defeating a mythical manifestation of his own cancer functions not only as a good opening story, introducing the anthology and hinting at the kind of material it features, but also as a nod to the purpose behind it, as the stories in this anthology were all donated by the authors to aid editor and fellow writer Shawn Speakman in paying off his cancer treatments.
'How Old Holly Came To Be' by Patrick Rothfuss
The most disappointing story of those I read. Fans of his existing work will likely be equally disappointed, as this very brief 1,700 word story adds little, if any, substance to the Four Corners world. It functions more as a nursery rhyme or song, or possibly a chant, with a lot of repetition of "that was good" and "that was bad" and some vague generalities in between these repeated choruses.
'The Old Scale Game' by Tad Williams
A really fun tale that turned on its head the idea of the Knight Errant slaying the evil dragon, and sees them working together to con the local populace instead. A similar tone to Terry Brooks' [b:Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold|15547|Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold (Magic Kingdom of Landover, #1)|Terry Brooks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166673242s/15547.jpg|287715].
'The Sound of Broken Absolutes' by Peter Orullian
A very interesting look at a world where music is literally magical. This was probably the best story in the collection, and that is saying something considering how much I enjoyed almost everything I read. It also surprised me a bit, as it was from an author I was not familiar with, and not one of the authors and/or series I was already a fan of.
'Mudboy' by Peter V. Brett
This is another author I had never previously read, but it definitely makes me interested in reading his Demon Cycle series, which starts with [b:The Warded Man|3428935|The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1)|Peter V. Brett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354571949s/3428935.jpg|6589794]. This story reminded me a lot of Brandon Sanderson's short story 'Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell,' from [b:Dangerous Women|17279560|Dangerous Women|George R.R. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1370759802s/17279560.jpg|19236677].
'The Chapel Perilous' by Kevin Hearne
This was an interesting short story about Atticus's quest for the holy grail in 537 AD, before it was either holy or a grail -- it was "Dagda’s Cauldron, one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, which could feed an army and never empty" in the story -- as told by Atticus around a campfire to Granuaile and Oberon.
'Select Mode' by Mark Lawrence
A third author I had never read before and now want to read more by -- if nothing else, this anthology has certainly helped me find new fantasy authors to read. I really enjoyed how the arch -- a relic of the Builders -- that Jorg and the Nuban are forced to "be judged by" is misunderstood by the Select, and how Lawrence named the story to help clarify that misunderstanding for the reader.
'The Duel' by Lev Grossman
I liked this short story, about Eliot, King of Fillory, fending off an invasion by challenging their champion to a duel, although some of Grossman's language choices -- "scary looking mofo" or "for the lulz" -- seemed too colloquial and very out of place for a story set in the magical realm of Fillory.
'The Unfettered Knight' by Shawn Speakman
I couldn't very well read this anthology without reading the author for whom it was intended to help. Fortunately, his story, an urban fantasy about a modern day knight roaming the Vatican's catacombs in search of a dangerous vampire, was on par with the quality of the other stories. It is yet another story that leads me to want to read further about his world, in this case that would start with the Annwn Cycle's first book, [b:The Dark Thorn|13489349|The Dark Thorn|Shawn Speakman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329507313s/13489349.jpg|19027915].