This BookSense Top 10 Fantasy Pick teams young Sam Hatcher with Rigby Skeet, a wisecracking Royal Guardsman. The two must rescue King Olive, who was betrayed by his odd, worm-loving brother, and is imprisoned in the dungeon of the superhuman Boneman. "Readers will revel in the story's charm, humor, and numerous twists and turns."--"ForeWord."

In 1612, George Sinclair, an illegitimate son of a Caithness laird, became a Norwegian national hero. Along with almost 300 of his followers, Sinclair was killed in an ambush in Norway while marching to join the king of Sweden's army. Sinclair has legendary status in Norway but has been almost totally forgotten at home, just as the memory of thousands of other Scots who served as mercenaries in the armies of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries has faded into obscurity. In this book, James Miller tells how a considerable proportion of the able-bodied male population of Scotland at one time sought service on behalf of almost every dynasty and monarch on the continent. Some were fleeing from justice, others went to seek fame and fortune - and found it.

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)

Who, and where, is Amheris? The question that will dominate the fortunes of Hale - a former soldier turned blade for hire - and could yet decide the entire fate of Ambria. After a bloody fight to protect the Lady de la Faye, Hale is offered a new task by his patron and frequent employer, the Lord Barthelme: to travel to Andrid, and escort two priests on their journey to find their missing contact, known only as 'Amheris'. But despite the priest's assertions that this a routine job for a routine payment, the task quickly turns into a lethal game of cat and mouse, as Hale and his charges find themselves pursued at every turn by a relentless and deadly foe. Magic, muskets, mystery and mayhem are all unleashed in this swashbuckling fantasy thriller.

Selden, a wandering mercenary, sets up shop as a fencing master in Balathex, also known as the Whispering City, partly for the murmur of its many fountains and partly for its penchant for conspiracy and double-dealing. When short of funds, he practices his old trade and lands in situations stranger and deadlier than any he ever encountered in war.