New epic fantasy in the grand tradition—including a never-before-published Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin! Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the page: Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a storytelling sensation, a cornerstone of fantasy fiction—and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own outsize tales of magic and swashbuckling adventure. Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters—many of them set in their authors’ best-loved worlds. Join today’s finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel. FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES: “The Best Man Wins” by K. J. Parker “Her Father’s Sword” by Robin Hobb “The Hidden Girl” by Ken Liu “The Sword of Destiny” by Matthew Hughes “‘I Am a Handsome Man,’ Said Apollo Crow” by Kate Elliott “The Triumph of Virtue” by Walter Jon Williams “The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham “Hrunting” by C. J. Cherryh “A Long, Cold Trail” by Garth Nix “When I Was a Highwayman” by Ellen Kushner “The Smoke of Gold Is Glory” by Scott Lynch “The Colgrid Conundrum” by Rich Larson “The King’s Evil” by Elizabeth Bear “Waterfalling” by Lavie Tidhar “The Sword Tyraste” by Cecelia Holland “The Sons of the Dragon” by George R. R. Martin And an introduction by Gardner Dozois “When fine writer and expert editor [Gardner] Dozois beckons, authors deliver—and this surely will be one of the year’s essential anthologies.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The third and final novel in 'The Book of Swords' trilogy. More stories of the twelve Swords continue with The Lost Swords series. The gods, the creators of the twelve Swords, realize their error in giving powerful Swords to humans. The humans, both good and evil, are ready to fight to the death to acquire and retain the Swords. With the Swords, new ideas and new dreams have entered the world. A change is taking place that threats the gods' very existence.

A multidisciplinary overview of current research into the enduringly fascinating martial artefact which is the sword.

The Historian chances upon Surac, a land where people's destinies are defined by powerful pendants they have from birth, called Stones. Those whose Stones give them useful skills call themselves Creators, and isolate themselves from all others with a wall that splits the entire continent. When Aric, a Creator blacksmith, has a son born with a Stone that marks him for violence and destruction, they find themselves in danger from those they called their friends. When the boy, Sadavir, is ultimately banished, he discovers secrets far darker than the villagers' petty prejudices. On the far side of the wall, he learns the origin of the Stones' magic and a war that dates back centuries. As he uncovers the true power locked in the Stones, he must find a way to unite ancient enemies in order to save his family. To stop a genocide, Sadavir must face his own destiny of violence.

Drawing on information from grave excavations, illustrations of battle scenes, and many classical and medieval literary sources, this book discusses how contemporaries showed swords were used and illustrates not only the beautiful form of the sword, but also its beauty of function.

Vulcan the god has a hard task to perform for his bored and restless colleagues — forge 12 magic Swords, quenched with human blood, and scatter them across the world. Each Sword possesses a different power. With them the gods will play a new, grand, and glorious Game. Mere humans foolishly striving for dominion, wealth and glory, are invited to risk their puny lives by joining in. (Later, the gods realize with horror that something has gone wrong in the forging, and with the Game. The Swords are much too powerful, controlling chance, enhancing fortune, changing destiny. And lethal even to their divine creators.) Jord the Smith, drafted to help Vulcan in his task, loses his right arm in the process (receiving the Sword Townsaver as pay). He is too weak to claim Mala, his bride-to-be, who joins a traditional fertility rite, where her partner might be the enigmatic Emperor, his face hidden by a leather mask. Nine months later, she gives birth to Mark. Thirteen years pass, then Townsaver wipes out a raiding party on orange-furred warbeasts, sent to Mark’s village. It falls to Mark to carry the blade away to hide or destroy it.