Unfettered

Unfettered

You define life or it defines you. <br /> <br />In Shawn Speakman's case, it was both. <br /> <br />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 tohelp alleviate those bills-and suggested he ask the same of his other writer friends. <br /> <br />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. <br /> <br />Twenty-three tales comprise this incredible collection, and as the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished. <br /> <br />Here is the table of contents: <br /> <br /> - Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss <br /> - Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered <br /> - Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks <br /> - How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss <br /> - The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams <br /> - Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn <br /> - The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey <br /> - Mudboy by Peter V. Brett <br /> - The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian <br /> - The Coach with Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore <br /> - Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood <br /> - Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton <br /> - Dogs by Daniel Abraham <br /> - The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne <br /> - Select Mode by Mark Lawrence <br /> - All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham <br /> - Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth <br /> - Nocturne by Robert V.S. Redick <br /> - Unbowed by Eldon Thompson <br /> - In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik <br /> - River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson <br /> - The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan <br /> - The Duel by Lev Grossman <br /> - Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks <br /> - The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman <br /> <br />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. <br /> <br />After all, isn't that the driving narrative in fantasy literature?