Unfettered (anthology)


Unfettered is a fantasy anthology edited by Shawn Speakman, featuring 23 short stories contributed by various best-selling authors in the fantasy genre. The book was released on 21 June 2013 by Grim Oak Press. The artwork for the book was done by Todd Lockwood.
On 4 May 2015, Speakman announced the release of Unfettered II with short stories from at least 15 best-selling fantasy and science-fiction authors. The proceeds from this book would go towards alleviating the medical debts of other authors and artists.
Unfettered III was released on 19 March 2019.

Contents

  1. "Imaginary Friends" by Terry Brooks
  2. "How Old Holly Came To Be" by Patrick Rothfuss
  3. "River of Souls" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
  4. "The Old Scale Game" by Tad Williams
  5. "Game of Chance" by Carrie Vaughn
  6. "Martyr of the Roses" by Jacqueline Carey
  7. "Dogs" by Daniel Abraham
  8. "Mudboy" by Peter V. Brett
  9. "The Sound of Broken Absolutes" by Peter Orullian
  10. "The Coach With Big Teeth" by R.A. Salvatore
  11. "Keeper of Memory" by Todd Lockwood
  12. "Heaven in a Wild Flower" by Blake Charlton
  13. "The Chapel Perilous" by Kevin Hearne
  14. "Select Mode" by Mark Lawrence
  15. "All the Girls Love Michael Stein" by David Anthony Durham
  16. "Strange Rain" by Jennifer Bosworth
  17. "Nocturne" by Robert V. S. Redick
  18. "Unbowed" by Eldon Thompson
  19. "In Favour With Their Stars" by Naomi Novik
  20. "The Jester" by Michael J. Sullivan
  21. "The Duel" by Lev Grossman
  22. "Walker and the Shade of Allanon" by Terry Brooks
  23. "The Unfettered Knight" by Shawn Speakman
  24. "The Twilight Dragon" by Shawn Speakman

    Background

The book is an effort to alleviate the editor, Shawn Speakman's medical bills. Speakman was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011 and the resulting chemotherapy left him $200,000 in debt. On the suggestion of Shannara author Terry Brooks, Speakman reached out to several authors for short stories which are published in the book.
The proceeds from the sales of the advanced reading copy of the book would go towards author Dave Wolverton, whose son recently became comatose in a longboarding accident.

Publication history

The book was initially published in five editions by Speakman's own publisher, Grim Oak Press. The hardcover books included an advanced reader edition, a limited leather-bound and slip-cased hardcover edition, a limited cloth hardcover edition and a trade hardcover edition. An ebook edition of the book was also released on Kindle, Nook and Kobo.
The book was digitally published in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other territories by Orbit Books on 20 February 2014. It included an extra tale, The Twilight Dragon, specially written by Shawn Speakman for the UK edition. The rights to the audiobook edition were bought by Audible.
A single page excerpt of each story in the book was released on Tor's website on 1 July 2013. A five-story sampler of the anthology was also available to those at the 2013 Phoenix Comicon.
Peter Orullian and Primo Pulanco released a power metal single, also named Unfettered, based on the stories in the anthology under the 'Lour Nail' label.