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This is our short story anthology discussion topic for:


Unfettered edited by Shawn Speakman

This is the list of stories from the table of content of my e-book edition:

Content

"Imaginary Friends" by Terry Brooks (a precursor to the Word/Void trilogy)
"How Old Holly Came To Be" by Patrick Rothfuss (a Four Corners tale)
"The Old Scale Game" by Tad Williams
"Game of Chance" by Carrie Vaughn ()
"Martyr of the Roses" by Jacqueline Carey (a precursor to the Kushiel series)
"Mudboy" by Peter V. Brett (a Demon Cycle tale)
"The Sound of Broken Absolutes" by Peter Orullian (a Vault of Heaven tale)
"The Coach with Big Teeth" by R.A. Salvatore
"Keeper of Memory" by Todd Lockwood (a Summer Dragon tale)
"Heaven in a Wildflower" by Blake Charlton
"Dogs" by Daniel Abraham
"The Chapel Perilous" by Kevin Hearne (an Iron Druid tale)
"Select Mode" by Mark Lawrence (a Broken Empire tale)
"All the Girls Love Michael Stein" by David Anthony Durham
"Strange Rain" by Jennifer Bosworth (a Struck epilogue tale)
"Nocturne" by Robert V. S. Redick
"Unbowed" by Eldon Thompson (a Legend of Asahiel tale)
"In Favour with Their Stars" by Naomi Novik (a Temeraire tale)
"River of Souls" by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (a Wheel of Time tale)
"The Jester" by Michael J. Sullivan (a Riyria Chronicles tale) (Free in US ).
"The Duel" by Lev Grossman (a Magicians tale)
"Walker and the Shade of Allanon" by Terry Brooks (a Shannara tale)
"The Unfettered Knight" by Shawn Speakman (an Annwn Cycle tale)
& artist Todd Lockwood

I started reading this a while ago & it isn't bad, but I was listening to another short story collection which had afterwords for its stories & liked that better. This one has forewords. Either one can be mucked up of course, but forewords are really limited or else they're spoilers. I don't appreciate afterwords where the author feels they need to tell me what they already said via the story, but that format does give them more freedom to point out where specific elements came from & why they used them.

A word of caution for people who have not read Wheel of Time and plan to do so in the future: River of Souls contains a huge spoiler for something revealed in the last book. Beware.

The stories are donations to the editor Shawn Speakman who was confronted with high bills for his cancer treatments. This alone is a curiosity for my cultural background. Here in Germany, everyone has health insurance, no one would have to face those dangers. I don't know if Mr Speakman's solution to the problem is very common in U.S. (or people go bankrupt). But I simply don't find myself into this donation system.

But what I understand completely is the cancer background of several of those stories: My father had cancer for over a year, and he passed away last September.

So, there is some part that I do understand und some part of the context that I don't.

What I'll do, is to disregard the charity effect. Meaning: If I think that a story doesn't work for me, I won't give it more stars only because it was donated for a good cause. Does that sound fair?

I've read half of the book (up to "Dogs" by Daniel Abraham). So far, my favourite (4 stars) where The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian and Rothfuß' Foreword (very amusing!).
Zero or 1 star where
- The Coach With Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore
- Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
- How Old Holly Came to Be by Patrick Rothfuss
- Dogs by Daniel Abraham

Summing up half of the book: It was a frustrating read and didn't live up to expectations at all.

� for Imaginary Friends � (1991) � novelette by Terry Brooks
Precursor to Brooks' Woid and Void series, blending reality and fantasy. A heartwarming story about overcoming cancer and the inner battle for survival.
Predictable, dull plot, shallow characters, pretty dated fantasy, a waste of time.

� for How Old Holly Came To Be � shortstory by Patrick Rothfuss

A kind of love poem between a holly tree and a lady. Even as a poem, it doesn't work for me. Reads like written in an hour or so (and he says that is how he did it). Couldn't be worse.

★★ for The Old Scale Game � shortstory by Tad Williams

10th century English retired knight and dragon hatch a scheme to fake a fight, con is expanding.
Nothing new - plotline stolen from Dragonheart movie from the 90s.
Lighthearted, shallow read.

★★1/2 for Game of Chance � (2013) � shortfiction by Carrie Vaughn

Magician gang tries to change history to create a better world. Main protagonist stumbles into their ranks but doesn't share their vision. She concentrates on small things instead. Was ok, I nearly liked it.

�1/2 for The Martyr of the Roses � 2013� shortstory by Jacqueline Carey

precursor to Kushiel's series set in an alternate Russia. I don't know anything about Kushiel, so this story imposed only confusion upon me - all those locations. Maybe only something for fans?
Topic is decadent against barbaric civilization: Two friends from different background witness a miracle. Not self-contained.
Too much fluff for too few stuff. And in the end, it doesn't even fit consistently into her universe.

★★�1/2 for Mudboy � shortstory by Peter V. Brett

The world in which Briarpatch is growing up is full of demons. The young boy does not only have to evade those fiends but also his elder brothers and sisters. And he needs to pee all the time but has to hold back.

Good characterization, great setting, dark atmosphere, nice tension arc.

The Warded Man has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while but I'll come back for it now sooner than later.

★★★★ for The Sound of Broken Absolutes � novella by Peter Orullian

Musician student destroys his teacher's instrument and goes to war. Those two POVs confront us with difficult choices - how to use education and rebuild facing the loss of a loved one.

Very good character development, great setting, interesting magic system, lots of music.
It remembered me a bit of Cat Stevens' "Father and Son".

The interleaving of the two stories is emotionally involving with its mourning and grief.
Best story, so far.

� for The Coach With Big Teeth � sports shortstory by R. A. Salvatore
Overbearing coach doesn't accepts young and timid baseballer's failure.

Salvatore introduces and motivates this story very well with his personal background. But my sport is soccer; I know a bit of basketball, boxing, etc. But zero, nada, nothing about baseball. This story throws loads of technical terms at me, that could be Kisuaheli cursing - I simply can't follow. Other sport stories do it better.
Cliche, predictable but horrifying end.

Andreas, good job on mini-reviews. Can you update them with info on whether there are spoilers for the main series in the stories? This was the reason I have not read the whole anthology.

★★� for Keeper of Memory � novelette by Todd Lockwood

Lockwood is widely known as an artist, e.g. his cover illustration for this anthology or for A Natural History of Dragons. I know a couple of additional works from him, but I wouldn't count him to my favourite artists.
He didn't publish much fiction yet - one story besides of this and there is his debut novel "The Summer Dragon" currently edited at DAW books.

The last days of a country under siege, fighting dragons. Only a group of scholars preserve the history of their people. One encounters in a dream-like sequence a maybe-future featuring main protagonist Maia from his debut novel.

Somewhat rough dialogues, but interesting setting. I'll watch for the author's novel, appearing in 2016?

★★� for Heaven in a Wild Flower � SF novelette by Blake Charlton

Men built a technological heaven from where they incarnate or turn back. Natural born children are seldom, baby girls even more. When someone picks up an incarnated baby, his life is bound to the child.

This is a father-daughter story with quite predictable ending. SF background remains mysterious. Plotline is emotionally very involving, but story and action-wise a bit tenacious or even boring. Strong characters. The basic philosophical questions, i.e. difference between natural and reincarnated death, is handled very weakly. I'll come back to this author and will dive a bit into his novel, although the novelette wasn't the best quality. Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

� for Dogs � novelette by Daniel Abraham

I hate horror stories. This one is no exception. A man is attacked by a pack of dogs and has to rebuild his life. But all dogs - even his own - could be time bombs.

Predictable from the third page. Confused, unexplained motivations and setting. But pacing is good.

Andreas wrote: "What I'll do, is to disregard the charity effect. Meaning: If I think that a story doesn't work for me, I won't give it more stars only because it was donated for a good cause. Does that sound fair?..."

Sounds right to me.

I picked this Anthology up back then to read a couple of very specific stories by authors I was already following, and then it sort of got lost on my shelf. So this is a chance for me to get a round tuit.

By the way, I took the table of content from the e-book edition. The story list on the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ edition is in a slightly different order, and has a different title for the Charlton story.

Most of the authors seem to have provided stories that fit in their established universes. Some standalone and some don't. As Evgeny said, "River of Souls" was assembled by Sanderson from material that was edited out of the final Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light. Sanderson and the Jordan estate were planning on publishing it somewhere anyway, and this provided a good cause to get it out there. It's probably only of interest to Wheel of Time fans and certainly is full of spoilers for those who haven't finished the lengthy series.

On the other hand, "The Jester" is set in Sullivan's Riyria universe, but stands perfectly well on its own and is spoiler-free to the Riyria Revelations series.

In terms of facilitating a discussion, would it be reasonable to go through them in order? (I know that's not Ben's style.)

I read from front to back because I don't know which stories might be worth reading. Considering my experience with the Rothfuß story, this seems to be valid.

Andreas wrote: "I read from front to back because I don't know which stories might be worth reading."

Between the time I started writing my previous post and the time I finally clicked "post", you seem to have reviewed half the anthology!

For a theme-less collection like this, just as with magazines, I'll often start with favorite authors. In this case, since Wheel of Time had just finished shortly before this came out, I went straight to the "River of Souls", and then hit a few others, and then kind of drifted off...

On occasion I also what to read by length. Shortly before going to bed is no time to start an 80 page novella!

And since I mentioned magazines, something else occurred to me that's unusual about this anthology: a lot of the authors are not regulars on the short story circuit. For a lot of them, 500 pages is just a good start. E.g., "How Old Holly Came To Be" was just Rothfuss's 2nd work that isn't a doorstop novel, the previous being a lengthy novella for Subterranean. (Last year he published The Slow Regard of Silent Things, which is still pretty long, and which I see you like only a little better than his story here.)

G33z3r wrote: "Between the time I started writing my previous post and the time I finally clicked "post", you seem to have reviewed half the anthology!"

I'm continuously writing story reviews for this anthology on my blog. So I just copied them over :)

G33z3r wrote: "Andreas wrote: "I read from front to back because I don't know which stories might be worth reading."

Between the time I started writing my previous post and the time I finally clicked "post", you..."

I was refering to Rothfuß' novella “The Lightning Tree� in Rogues, which was 5 stars for me. Slow Regard of Silent Things was a short novel (maybe an overlong ovella), and I found it ok. The thing in this anthology isn't a story for me - it has more characteristics with a poem but I'd consider it related to Slow Regard which is also somewhat repetitive.

I read the collection a while ago and my memories of it are a little vague although I did right some sort of review of it at the time.

I think it is important that there are introductions to the contributions put them in context. If you are reading an alternate ending, a deleted scene, a self contained story, a story written 20 years ago unpublished and that works as a prequel to the story that became a popular series. When you are reading as opposed to listening to the introductions though it is easier to decide whether to read to them before the contribution, after the contribution or not at all.

I also think that this collection is best not judged as though it were any other. The contributers gave their contributions for free and in many cases this meant deleted scenes, early stories or versions of starts of novels that would otherwise have never been published and in some cases authors trying something they wouldnt usually do.

The results are more like a bonus DVD/ extra DVD or a sampler than a standard collection but this also offers some positives as in many cases these works would have either not been published or possibly made available on the authors blog for free. Not all the contents will be equally interesting for everyone - if you havent read all of Wheel of Time then that entry will neither make full sense nor be spoiler free for anyone. It does though make for something different.

I liked more of the stories than Andreas seems to have done. I did however think the Rothfuss story showed its hasty construction and didnt work for me, the Salvatore and Abraham I just didnt like, and though I quite enjoyed the Brooks and the Williams neither were all that memorable.

For anyone who is keen to read the williams but doesnt have the collection they can do so by either downloading a sample of The Best of Tad Williams or reading it using Amazon.com's look inside feature online.

There are both positives and negatives about the authors involved in the project - most are very successful writers of long fantasy series' used to writing longer works - as such they are often not the "best" writers of short fiction but makes an interesting "sample" for authors who you haven't tried and pleasing bonus content if you have.

Many of the stories are set in the same worlds as their large series' and normally I wouldnt like this but in this case I found it suited me fine as it was a consistent theme of the volume. I got a sampling of series' I haven't tried and got extra insight into ones I had.

Looks like I'm going to agree with Andreas for the first two stories, at least.


Andreas wrote: "Imaginary Friends � (1991) � novelette by Terry Brooks
Precursor to Brooks' World and Void series, blending reality and fantasy. A heartwarming story about overcoming cancer..."

I agree: it's heartwarming & totally predictable. If one views this story as a story for tweens I could maybe rate it higher in that context. Brooks's language here is very simple, and it's hard to tell if it's because he's emulating a fairytale or because he's writing for kids. (The introduction mentions he originally wrote it in 1990's for a collection of "modern fairytales". Brooks has a 2nd story in this anthology, an original Shannara story, later in the collection.)

Also have to concede that the story subject, coping with cancer in a positive and hopeful context, makes it perfect to start this particular anthology, given its purpose.



Andreas wrote: "How Old Holly Came To Be � short story by Patrick Rothfuss
A kind of love poem between a holly tree and a lady. Even as a poem, it doesn't work for me...."

I thought this was going for some sort of biblical Genesis parallel, with "In the beginning..." and repetitions of "It was good." It's one of those allegory things that I might've understood if I hadn't spent English class doing my algebra homework.

Let's see, the Lady and then a Man, and then the Man turns into a shrubbery or something and the Lady leaves (not in the same way the shrubbery leaves :), so the Man waits around until his roof caves in. Huh.

G33z3r wrote: "doing my algebra homework"

Either that is a total lie, or you're completely crazy, or that is some kind of allegory that I might've understood if I hadn't spent English class doing my algebra homework.

SCNR :D

Ben wrote: "There are both positives and negatives about the authors involved in the project - most are very successful writers of long fantasy series' used to writing longer works - as such they are often not..."

It surprised me how well most did with a short story given their longer works. I liked the first Brooks story better than the book that came out of it, for instance.

Andreas wrote: "The Old Scale Game � short story by Tad Williams
10th century English retired knight and dragon hatch a scheme to fake a fight, con is expanding. Nothing new - plotline stolen from Dragonheart..."

Now here I think Andreas is a little too critical. I enjoyed this story, at least enough to give it a thumbs-up.

True, it starts with a gag similar to (1996), but then I thought it expanded on it nicely. For that matter, DragonHeart wasn't the first to use the con. Williams says right at the introduction that he stole the story idea (and title) from (1971) in which James Garner goes from town to town turning in Louis Gossett Jr for a bounty, then busting him out and splitting the reward. And a little further back, in (1966), Clint Eastwood is running the same con with Eli Wallach. It probably wasn't original even then.

Williams leavens the tale with some good-natured humor and buddy-story badinage, and I liked the idea that other "monsters" wanted in on the gang. I also rather like the idea that they were all getting too old for monster hunting or monstering and just wanted to find a nice place to settle down and retire. :) Plus the final Disneyland conclusion, "The Merriest Place on Ye Olde Earth", was cute.

So, ★★� from me. Yes, it's lighthearted, shallow if you will, a trifling, one-joke short story. But in that context, I thought it worked okay. Not every story has to unlock the secrets of the universe.

G33z3r wrote: "Not every story has to unlock the secrets of the universe."
That is true. The only question that we differ is: "How much has a remake add to its predecessors to be worth it?"
I didn't refer to the cited Garner/Gossett or similar stories, because DragonHeart was the "nearest" to Williams' version: Fantasy, with old dragon/knight pair, that certain buddy baddinage, and also declaring Skin Game as its predecessor. Yes, you are right, there are additional monsters added - a lousy Ogre, a witch, and that circus travelling.
But that difference wasn't enough for me to feel new. That doesn't mean that a different person can't enjoy this particular story, especially if she didn't read/watch any of those predecessors. But I've been there, done that, and now I only found that boring.
I don't want to leave the impression that I always need knee deep philosophical narrations. After all, I proposed last year's group read The Dog Said Bow-Wow which is full of crazy con-stories. But this one didn't impress me too much as a con-story as well.

Yes, it might be the case that I am a bit too critical - after those two 1-� stories I was quite disappointed and that might have dragged me down.

Jim wrote: "Ben wrote: "I liked the first Brooks story better than the book that came out of it, for instance."

Given that I even didn't like the story, this is a very good indicator that I shouldn't even consider reading the novel :)

I wouldn't recommend it, Andreas. While it's kind of an interesting story overall, his writing isn't very good, IMO. When I first read the book, it wasn't bad. 20 years later I listened to it as an audio book & couldn't skim. It was torturous.

I read his Shannara books and nearly liked them (it was more a biting through at the end, though). But that was early 80s when I was a kid. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole now :)

Andreas wrote: "I read his Shannara books and nearly liked them (it was more a biting through at the end, though). But that was early 80s when I was a kid. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole now :)"

I recently read the original Shannara trilogy for the first time and to my surprise it was not too bad. As a mindless entertainment it works perfectly fine. As to its similarity to LotR, I found it to be not more similar to it than the first book of Covenant Chronicles (the guy had a magical ring: how much more similar can you get?) which a lot of people like.

Evgeny wrote: "Andreas wrote: "As to its similarity to LotR, I found it to be not more similar to it than the first book of Covenant Chronicles (the guy had a magical ring: how much more similar can you get?) which a lot of people like."
True. Both are derivative of Lotr, published in the same year - 1977 additionally had The Silmarillion or Pier Anthony's Xanth. 1976 (just to give it context) Interview with the Vampire, McKillips Riddlemaster, 1978 Moorcock's Gloriana. A couple of those would be considered YA nowadays - Shannara or Riddlemasters especially. But I don't think that a leprous rapist would make that title :)

Andreas wrote: "Evgeny wrote: "Andreas wrote: "As to its similarity to LotR, I found it to be not more similar to it than the first book of Covenant Chronicles (the guy had a magical ring: how much more similar ca..."

Agree. I was just saying that also the original Shannara trilogy cannot qualify for high literature title it also cannot be called the only LotR derivative written at that time.

Andreas wrote: "Game of Chance � (2013) � short fiction by Carrie Vaughn
Magician gang tries to change history to create a better world. Main protagonist stumbles into their ranks but doesn't share their vision. She concentrates on small things instead. Was ok, I nearly liked it. ..."

I liked this just a little better than you, Andreas.

Unlike a lot of the authors in this collection, Carrie Vaughn is a regular to the short story circuit. She's one of the authors I turn to early in any SF&F magazine.

The premise in this story is that some people can "step outside of time" and make small changes to the world around them. (I hadn't thought of the term, but I suppose "magicians" is as good a description of them as any.) One member of the group, the leader, wants to change the whole world for the bette (at least as he sees it), and he's willing to engage in blackmail, slander and even assassination to those ends. He's having no real success in doing so, though. (Hari Seldon could explain why. :) Clare prefers small gestures, helping individuals when she can without worrying about the "big picture".

It's a debate about "ends justify the means" morality.

So, ★★� for me, just a bit more than Andreas, but I liked Clare and her kind soul.

By the way, this story was a year ago, one of the few from this anthology that can be accessed freely online, in case any lurkers want to try one out.

★★� for The Chapel Perilous � novelette by Kevin Hearne

Very entertaining retake of 6th century Sir Gawain's quest for the grail - this time with a druid as knight, a necromantic pict laying waste to the Fisher King's empire. In fact, the grail's legend is founded in celtic mythology and this is a loosely derived but excellently told story.

The frame story starts with the same druid in contemporary U.S. telling his intelligent dog and his apprentice this story. This modern, "cool" language gives the epic quest a funny side note which I liked. And there is this sidekick horse AppleJack which is wise in its own way, always holding back the druid's cockiness.

I'll put Hearne's series start Hounded on my tbr shelf - this is Atticus's origin story and how he came to his cold iron amulet and the silver charms on his necklace as well as his inspiration to teach languages to animals (like to his dog Oberon).

★★ for Select Mode � shortstory by Mark Lawrence

Set in the Broken Empire featuring Jorg and The Nuban shortly before the start of Prince of Thorns. Offers nothing in terms of character building, just a small bit of world building.

It is intended for those who want a short introduction to a day in life of Jorg. You won't get out much if you know his series already.
Given that, it was ok. No, I'm not a Lawrence fanboy, sorry about that.

Andreas wrote: "The Martyr of the Roses � 2013 � short story by Jacqueline Carey
Precursor to Kushiel's series set in an alternate Russia. I don't know anything about Kushiel, so this story imposed only confusion upon me - all those locations. Maybe only something for fans? ... Not self-contained.

The problem with the "not self-contained" theory is that Carey says in the introduction she wrote this short story before she wrote the Kushiel novels. So theoretically, it should be self-contained, shouldn't it? But I think I agree with you that the opening exposition - or lack thereof - leaves something to be desired.

I have read (and very much enjoyed) Carey's Kushiel trilogy (her subsequent novels in the universe not so much.) Part of what I really liked about it is how it constructs an alternate version of Europe, complete with politics, history, language and religion, that's almost but not quite entirely unlike reality; almost teasingly so. So I do recognize the places (maybe because the novels come with .)

Even so, I didn't think much of this story. Two Royal siblings from alt-France and alt-Russia meet at college in alt-Rome and visit a religious shrine back in Russia. The story has very little character development, next to nothing for a plot, and while Carey may well have had the elaborate wider world of Kushiel in her head, she hasn't really laid it out so the reader here. Meh.

So, not much here even for a Kushiel fanboy. :)

(I still recommend Kushiel's Dart for its odd alternate world, culture and political intrigues; also a good deal of S&M. Maybe 20 Shades of Phèdre?)

★★� for All the Girls Love Michael Stein � ghost story by David Anthony Durham

When cats die, they don't leave the world. No, they change from selfish creatures to caring ghost felines. Problem is that they can't interact and the living cats simply don't care. Michael Stein is such a dead cat and a girl misses him. Heartwarming, easy read without much depth.

★★ for Strange Rain � shortstory by Jennifer Bosworth

Prequel to Struck which is about lightnings that change your life. In this case it is the life of conjoined twins where one suffers from the separation and the other starts to develop a life of his own.

Nice character study, some weirdness, but not too interesting.

� for Nocturne � novelette by Robert V. S. Redick

Fever dreams of a Romanian 19th century male turning into a weird story.
A challenge: non-linear narration, perspective changes, some strong visualizations. I usually like such stories but I couldn't connect to this one - it was a struggle to even understand the setting: It could have been anything starting from fantasy or SF in a different world to a weird fairy tale. In the end, I was too confused to appreciate the effort and the story dragged on and on.

Andreas wrote: "Mudboy � short story by Peter V. Brett
The world in which Briarpatch is growing up is full of demons. The young boy does not only have to evade those fiends but also his elder brothers and sisters....."

Oh, dear, I'm going to have to just agree with Andreas again.

This is an "origin story" for a character, Briar, told while he's just a child. It's set in Brett's established Demon Cycle universe. It's not a great story, but it's an adequate story. It leaves open the future of the character, which perhaps Brett will fill in one day another novel or longer novella. But it does tell a complete an initial arc story for that character.

I was particularly impressed with the exposition, which is slipped in so painlessly you needn't worry about catching up on the Daemon Cycle. Briar is just a kid growing up on a farm, so his world doesn't need much building beyond what he can see from the front porch. It's a world full of demons that come out at night, and that's about all we need to know about it.

And as a Brett sampler, I think this works pretty well, leaving the reader wanting more...

Mudboy is fun although it is very much a sampler/deleted scene rather than something that is complete in itself. Still it was fun and one of the better entries.

I dont really remember the Carrie Vaughn - it might have been a story that I read when foggy but I remember nothing about it except that I neither loved or hated it.

I liked the Carey entry - I want to read the first book in that series but its length puts me off a bit as there are dozens of shorter works I am keener to read so it will be a while before i get to it.

★★★★ for Unbowed � novelette by Eldon Thompson

The owner of a Ninja school is accused of being part of an assassin gang. His son sets out to rescue him. Interesting father-son and romance relation spiced with lots of fighting scenes and Ninja action. At the end, the protagonist from Asahiel series faces some tough morale questions. Page turner, good world building, fine tension arc. I'm going to take a look at Thompson's series.

★★ for In Favour With Their Stars � shortstory by Naomi Novik

Boring remake of Temeraire, this time in space. You'll get nothing new if you read some Temeraire novel; if you didn't you'll be probable confused. Same structure, same characters, same simplicity, only the SF setting is not very convincing.

★★ for River of Souls � shortstory by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

This is a cut scene from the final novel of Wheel of Time, featuring an important man (view spoiler)[Demandred (hide spoiler)] trying to unite Shara. I've read the series but don't think that I missed anything with this story. Hardcore fans might rush to it, you might consider it as a bonus DVD. I'd rather have read a real standalone story by Sanderson.

★★� for The Jester � novelette by Michael J. Sullivan

Riyria protagonists on a treasure hunt with hints from a jester. Reads like a RPG adventure. A bit predictable. Narration structure with its dialogued retrospectives was different than most of the other plain stories in this anthology. If you like this novelette, you might want to read the series.

zero stars (meaning: "I hated it") for The Duel � shortstory by Lev Grossman

a 21st century boy fights magically enhanced a barbarian army's champion, citing Tolkien and Matrix. Scenery could have been taken from a Narnia movie. No tension arc or character insight, sloppy, colloquial language, just a filthy highschool wanking fantasy. Is this a joke or what? I can't believe that I endured it.

� for Walker and the Shade of Allanon � shortstory by Terry Brooks

something from Shannara. Just a dialogue between some druid and a ghost without context, character development or plot.

★★★★ for The Unfettered Knight and The Twilight Dragon � two novelettes by Shawn Speakman

Urban Fantasy set in the Annwn Cycle where two different protagonists - one from the otherworld Annwn and the other a bishop try to resolve conflicts imposed by invading creatures - Lazarus (the one from the Bible) as a vampire, the other a dragon. I really liked the take on Lazarus resurrected and turned to a Vampire searching the secret Vatican archives for a means to end his life, because simple wooden dowels won't do it for him. The world building involving catholic church and its mysteries is very nice. Speakman builds a very good tension arc including enough action, twists, interesting dialogues and a maybe too long epilogue. Nothing new an narrative experiments here, just plain structured story.