Shattered Shields - eARC

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Swords and Shields. Faith and Magic. Grab yours and get ready, for the enemy is on the move. High fantasy and mighty conflicts go hand-in-hand. In great wars, armies rise to fight evil hordes and heroes struggle to push beyond their imperfections and save the day. These stories include more than just epic landscapes and characters...but also epic battles. Imagine a doctor struggling to identify the spy who has infiltrated his company's ranks and poisoned his colleagues or a boy suspected of murder by a king yet protected by a princess as he helps her father against his own people. Imagine a butcher discovering that he's called to lead an uprising, or a First Born knowing that she must betray her own in order to save humanity. The possibilities are endless, but at the heart they have this in common: soldiers--ordinary and otherwise-struggling against extraordinary odds to survive the day. They must withstand dark magic, dodge enemy blades, and defy the odds to survive SHATTERED SHIELDS. Table of Contents:Ashes and Starlight (Runelords) by David Farland The Fixed Stars (October Daye) by Seanan McGuire The Keeper of Names by Larry Correia The Smaller We Are by John Helfers Invictus by Annie BelletRising Above by Sarah A. Hoyt A Cup of Wisdom by Joseph Zieja Words of Power by Wendy N. Wagner Lightweaver in Shadow by Gray Rinehart Hoofsore and Weary by Cat Rambo Vengeance (Frost) by Robin Wayne Bailey Deadfall by Nancy Fulda Yael of the Strings by John R. Fultz The Gleaners by Dave Gross Bonded Men by James L. Sutter Bone Candy (Black Company) by Glen Cook First Blood (Paksenarrion) by Elizabeth Moon**From the Back Cover"SHATTERED SHIELDS pays homage to one of the major sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy with a truly fine batch of stories by old pros and newcomers alike." - Mike Resnick, Hugo/Nebula Winning author of The Doc and The Dinosaurs "In Shattered Shields, editors Brozek and Schmidt bring together both fresh and seasoned voices in settings both familiar and new to fill up this powerhouse anthology with the noise of battle, the mumbling of spells and the heartache of war. I hope to see more from this editorial team in the near future." - Ken Scholes, Award-winning author of the Psalms of Isaak "An inventive and thought-provoking set of tales that capture the bravery and terrors of battle. Carries the banner of military fantasy proudly." - John Marco, author of The Bronze Knight SeriesAbout the AuthorBryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and editor of adult and children's speculative fiction. His debut science fiction novel was The Worker Prince, followed by sequels The Returning and The Exodus. His childrens' books include 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter--Land Of Legends. Schmidt has edited edited anthologies Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6, Beyond The Sun, Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age and, with Jennifer Brozek, coedited military high fantasy original anthology, Shattered Shields. Schmidt hosts #sffwrtcht (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer's Chat) Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on Twitter. Jennifer Brozek is an award winning editor, game designer, and author. Winner of the Australian Shadows Award for best edited publication, Jennifer has edited ten anthologies. Author of In a Gilded Light, The Lady of Seeking in the City of Waiting, Industry Talk, and the Karen Wilson Chronicles, she has more than fifty published short stories, and is the Creative Director of Apocalypse Ink Productions. Jennifer also is a freelance author for numerous RPG companies. Winner of both the Origins and the ENnie award, her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun, Serenity, Savage Worlds, and White Wolf SAS. Jennifer is also the author of the YA Battletech novel, The Nellus Academy Incident. When she is not writing her heart out, she is gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest in its wonderfully mercurial weather.