Forged in Blood is a science-fiction anthology edited by Michael Z. Williamson and published in September 2017 by Baen Books. The book consists of 16 short stories tracing the story of a single sword. The first story takes place in feudal Japan and the book continues in chronological order into the future of Williamson's Freehold universe. Five of the stories are wholly or partly by Williamson and the rest by other authors, including Larry Correia, Tony Daniel and Tom Kratman.
Voters in the Preditors and Editors Readers’ Poll named the book the year's best anthology. [1]
Mark Lardas of the Galveston Daily News praised the authors for creating a coherent anthology while attempting "something original [by] telling a story through an object." He described the result as an "engaging book" that "[f]ans of combat science fiction will find ... irresistible. [2]
The science fiction review magazine Tangent described the work as a celebration of "soldiers and their tools" that is satisfying to those for whom that premise appeals. The review also noted that the "entire anthology consists of stories in which individuals solve problems with violence (or its threat) in a world in which sweet-talking is inadequate to the present threat". [3]
The story "Thicker than Blood" by Kacey Ezell was selected for inclusion in the anthology The Year's Best Military and Adventure SF, Volume 4, published in June 2018. The story went on to win the Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF Readers’ Choice Award announced at Dragoncon on September 1, 2018. [4]
The stories are linked as they trace the history of a single sword, from its forging in Japan in the third century BC through to Williamson's Freehold of Grainne in the 24th century, with each episode related from the sword's perspective and with it as the main character.
The first two stories are set in feudal Japan while the third is set in 1904 at the Battle of Port Arthur. The last nine stories are set in the future.
Baen Books is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. After his death in 2006, he was succeeded as publisher by long-time executive editor Toni Weisskopf.
Damien Francis Broderick is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel The Dreaming Dragons (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine, his The Judas Mandala (1982) contains the first appearance of the term "virtual reality" in science fiction, and his 1997 popular science book The Spike was the first to investigate the technological singularity in detail.
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Locus magazine best seller lists. He is a co-founder and editor of the Baen Free Library.
Michael Diamond Resnick was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards, and a Nebula award. He was the guest of honor at Chicon 7, the executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe and the editor and co-creator of Galaxy's Edge magazine.
Michael Z. Williamson is an American military science fiction and military fiction author best known for his libertarian-themed Freehold series published by Baen Books. Between 2004 and 2016, Williamson published eight Freehold novels, exploring military and political themes as well as first contact with alien beings. This was followed by the Forged in Blood (2017) and Freehold: Resistance (2019) anthologies, consisting of short stories taking place in the Freehold universe, some by Williamson and some by other authors, including Larry Correia, Tony Daniel, Tom Kratman and Brad R. Torgersen.
Jonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986.
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Tideline", and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "Shoggoths in Bloom". She is one of a small number of writers who have gone on to win multiple Hugo Awards for fiction after winning the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Heroes in Hell is a series of shared world fantasy books, within the genre Bangsian fantasy, created and edited by Janet Morris and written by her, Chris Morris, C. J. Cherryh and others. The first 12 books in the series were published by Baen Books between 1986 and 1989, and stories from the series include one Hugo Award winner and Nebula nominee, as well as one other Nebula Award nominee. The series was resurrected in 2011 by Janet Morris with the thirteenth book and eighth anthology in the series, Lawyers in Hell, followed by seven more anthologies and four novels between 2012 and 2021.
The Grantville Gazettes are anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632 that is primarily published as a bi-monthly electronic magazine.
Sarah A. Hoyt is an American science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction writer. She moved to the United States in the early 1980s, married Dan Hoyt in 1985, and became an American citizen in 1988.
Sharon Lee is an American science fiction, fantasy and mystery author who lived in Winslow, Maine from 1988-2018 before moving to nearby Waterville. She is the co-author of the Liaden universe novels and stories, as well as other works, and individually the author of several mystery and fantasy novels.
Thomas P. Kratman is an American military science fiction author and retired United States Army officer whose work is published by Baen Books. Kratman's novels include the Desert Called Peace series which has been praised for its action sequences and attention to philosophy of war. He has also authored three novels with John Ringo in the Legacy of the Aldenata series. Kratman's works often reflect right-wing political perspectives and some have been seen as deliberately crafted to offend left-wing sensibilities. During the Sad Puppies campaign in 2015, Kratman was nominated for a Hugo Award for his novella Big Boys Don't Cry.
Freehold is a military science fiction novel by Michael Z. Williamson, published in 2004 by Baen Books. The book tells the story of Kendra Pacelli, a young soldier who begins the book in the service of a world-dominant, authoritarian United Nations. Accused of a crime she did not commit, she flees Earth for the Freehold of Grainne where she struggles to adapt to the climate and culture of an ultra-libertarian planet. She eventually joins the Freehold military and fights in a war against a UN invasion.
Robert Buettner is an American author of military science fiction novels. He is a former Military Intelligence Officer, National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology and has been published in the field of Natural Resources Law. He has written five volumes of the Jason Wander series, three volumes of the Orphan's Legacy series, the stand-alone novel The Golden Gate, numerous short stories and novellas, and the afterword to an anthology of stories by the late Robert Heinlein. Buettner currently lives in Georgia.
Larry Correia is an American fantasy and science fiction writer, known for his Monster Hunter, Grimnoir Chronicles, and Saga of the Forgotten Warriors series. He has authored or co-authored over 20 novels, has over 50 published short works, and has co-edited two published anthologies.
William Ledbetter is a science fiction writer whose short stories have been published in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog: Science Fiction & Fact, Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future, Escape Pod, and other magazines. His novelette "The Long Fall Up" won the 2016 Nebula Award.
A Long Time Until Now is a military science-fiction novel by Michael Z. Williamson, published in 2015 by Baen Books. It tells the story of US soldiers in Afghanistan who are transported in time to the paleolithic era. The novel was praised for its characters and survival elements.
This is the bibliography of American fantasy and science fiction writer Larry Correia.