The Book of Swords
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail
by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Matthew Hughes, Kate Elliott, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Cecelia Holland, George R.R. Martin
Why You'll Love This
Seventeen writers who collectively shaped modern fantasy each bring a sword — and not one of them pulls it.
- Great if you want: sword-and-sorcery from writers at the top of their craft
- The experience: varied pacing — some stories grip, others linger and reward patience
- The writing: each author's distinct voice makes the anthology feel genuinely eclectic
- Skip if: anthology unevenness frustrates you — quality shifts noticeably between stories
About This Book
Swords have always carried stories — of ambition, sacrifice, honor twisted into something unrecognizable, and power that costs more than anyone budgets for. This anthology, edited by Gardner Dozois, gathers original tales from some of the sharpest writers working in fantasy today, many of them returning to beloved worlds and characters. The result is less a collection of battle-ready adventure yarns and more an examination of what swords actually mean: who holds them, who suffers for them, and what gets lost when the fighting finally stops.
What makes this volume worth sitting with is the sheer range of voices doing serious, committed work in a shared tradition. K.J. Parker brings sardonic precision; Robin Hobb delivers the emotional weight her readers expect; George R.R. Martin contributes a story that feels genuinely alive in his wider mythology. Dozois curates with a light hand, letting each writer's sensibility breathe rather than forcing a false unity. Readers who think sword-and-sorcery is a thin genre will find that assumption quietly dismantled, story by story, across five hundred pages.