The award-winning anthology, in trade paperback for the first time, featuring two-dozen SF&F short stories, including one of the last published works within Robert Jordan's bestselling Wheel of Time series!

If you enjoy SF&F written by some of the best storytellers working today, this first Unfettered collection from series editor Shawn Speakman is for you. Enter worlds beyond your wildest imagination, journey through a vast array of themes, and explore the complexities of humanity and the wonders of the universe in these enthralling stories that will leave you spellbound.

Terry Brooks offered the seed that grew into his Word/Void trilogy. Patrick Rothfuss wrote a lyrical Four Corners story about Naming. Jacqueline Carey shared the beautiful tale that ultimately inspired Kushiel's Dart. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson delivered one of the last Wheel of Time stories to ever be published. Naomi Novik explored the Temeraire universe in the stars. These stories and more comprise this incredible anthology for which, as the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished.

The complete contents:

  • Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
  • Introduction: The Ten Years That Have Been
  • The Unlocked Tome by Shawn Speakman
  • 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

Now celebrating its tenth anniversary with this paperback release, Unfettered is a fantastic compilation that is perfect for fans of these authors already and for anyone wishing to discover new ones!

Jennifer Bosworth

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Peter V. Brett

Peter V. Brett is the international bestselling author of THE PAINTED MAN and THE DESERT SPEAR. Raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels, comic books and Dungeons & Dragons, Brett has been writing fantasy stories for as long as he can remember. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and art history from the University at Buffalo in 1995, and then spent more than a decade in pharmaceutical publishing before returning to his bliss. He lives in New York City.

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Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Kushiel’s Legacy series of historical fantasy novels. Recent novels include the Shakespearean adaptation Miranda and Caliban and the epic fantasy standalone Starless. Carey enjoys doing research on a wide variety of arcane topics, and an affinity for travel has taken her from Iceland to China to date. She currently lives in West Michigan.

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Blake Charlton

Severe dyslexia kept Blake Charlton from reading fluently until he was twelve. Because of this, everyone – including Blake – believed that he would never attend college. Ten years later he graduated summa cum laude from Yale University. Blake is currently studying at Stanford Medical School. Spellwright is his first novel.

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Kevin Hearne

Kevin Hearne is a high school teacher with a passion for world religion and mythology. His primary agent, Evan Goldfried at Grinberg Literary Management, pulled HOUNDED out of the slush pile and sold it to Del Rey in the US. Del Rey are publishing in May, June, July 2011.

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Robert Jordan

ROBERT JORDAN (1948-2007) is best known for his internationally bestselling epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time®, which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide and is currently being adapted for the screen. A native of Charleston, Jordan graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army and received multiple decorations for his service.

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Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. His bestsellers have sold 50 million copies worldwide and include the Mistborn saga; the Stormlight Archive novels; and other novels, including Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Rithmatist, Steelheart, and Skyward. He won a Hugo Award for The Emperor's Soul, a novella set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he completed Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time®. Visit his website for behind-the-scenes information on all his books.

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Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.

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Todd Lockwood

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Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik was born in New York in 1973, a first-generation American, and raised on Polish fairy tales, Baba Yaga, and Tolkien. She studied English Literature at Brown University and Computer Science at Columbia University before leaving to work in the games industry. She soon realized she preferred the writing to the programming, and decided to try her hand at novels. Temeraire was her first.
Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers.

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Peter Orullian

Peter Orullian works in marketing at Xbox, including leading the Music and Entertainment marketing strategy for Xbox LIVE, and has toured as a featured vocalist internationally at major music festivals. He has published several short stories. He is the author of The Unremembered and Trial of Intentions. He lives in Seattle.

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Robert V S Redick

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Patrick Rothfuss

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R. A. Salvatore

Over three decades ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, the Crimson Shadow, the DemonWars Saga, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty-five million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. He considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him! R.A. lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their dog, Pikel. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWars: Reformation RPG and Dungeons & Dragons 5e games. 

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Shawn Speakman

Shawn Speakman currently lives in Seattle, WA. After attending the University of Washington, he befriended New York Times best-selling fantasy author Terry Brooks and became his webmaster, leading to an enchanted life surrounded by words. Shawn was a manager at one of the largest Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the US for many years and now owns the online bookstore The Signed Page, manages the websites for several authors and is a freelance writer.

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Michael J Sullivan

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Michael J. Sullivan has lived in Vermont, North Carolina and Virginia. He worked as a commercial artist and illustrator, founding his own advertising agency in 1996, which he closed in 2005 to pursue writing full time. He currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and three children.

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Eldon Thompson

After washing out as a college quarterback, Eldon Thompson returned to his first love, writing. Unfortunately, he's found wrestling plots and characters to be every bit as rough--though with less physical bruising. The author of The Crimson Sword and The Obsidian Key, he splits his time between the Oregon coast and Southern California.

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Carrie Vaughn

Carrie Vaughn survived her air force brat childhood and managed to put down roots in Colorado. Her first book, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, launched a popular series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk-radio advice show. She is also the author of Voices of Dragons, her debut novel for teen readers. Ms. Vaughn lives in Colorado.

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Tad Williams

Tad Williams is a former singer, shoe-seller, radio show host, and taught both grade school and college classes. He is cofounder of an interactive television company, and is currently writing comic books as well as film and television scripts. He lives with his family in London and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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