Unfettered Tales By Masters of Fantasy - audiobook

Listening Length: 20 hours and 16 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Audible.com Release Date: January 21, 2014
Language: English
ASIN: B00HJCAGR4

You define life or it defines you. In Shawn Speakman's case, it was both. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011, Shawn quickly accrued a massive medical debt that he did not have the ability to pay. That's when New York Times best-selling author Terry Brooks offered to donate a short story that Shawn could sell to help alleviate those bills - and suggested he ask the same of his other writer friends. Unfettered is the result: An anthology built in order to relieve that debt, featuring short stories by some of the best fantasy writers in the genre.

Twenty-three tales comprise this incredible collection, and as the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished. Kevin Hearne's new story Chapel Perilous is included in this collection (It should be noted that the narrator isn't the normal one and thus isn't as good). Here is the table of contents:

1. Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
   
2. Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered
   
3. Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
   
4. How Old Holly Came to Be by Patrick Rothfuss
   
5. The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
   
6. Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
   
7. The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey
   
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. Dogs by Daniel Abraham
    
14. The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne
    
15. Select Mode by Mark Lawrence
    
16. All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
    
17. Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth
    
18. Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick
    
19. Unbowed by Eldon Thompson
    
20. In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik
    
21. River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
    
22. The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan
    
23. The Duel by Lev Grossman
    
24. Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks
    
25. The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman
    

With the help of stalwart friends and these wonderful short stories, Shawn has taken the gravest of life’s hardships and created something magical. Unfettered is not only a fantastic anthology in its own right, but it’s a testament to the generosity found in the science fiction and fantasy community—proof that humanity can give beyond itself when the need arises.

After all, isn’t that the driving narrative in fantasy literature?