Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : Tor, c2010.
Description
George R. R. Martin, from his introduction to Warriors "People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. "Our contributors make up an all-star line-up of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing--a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they're best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat." Every story in this volume appears here for the first time. Included are: a long novella from the world of his Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, a new tale of "Lord John" by Diana Gabaldon, an "Emberverse" story by S. M. Stirling, a "Forever Peace" story by Joe Haldeman, and a long tale of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original stories by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams. Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable listening.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member saltypepper
Warriors is an anthology of new short fiction. Don't be fooled by the sword on the cover, there is an extremely wide variety of genres represented here, from crime fiction to fantasy to military SF. There are historical, contemporary, and future battles depicted. The definition of warriors is broad
The quality of the stories is remarkable in how consistently high it is. Usually in an anthology there is at least one clunker, and often more. Especially in a volume of this size. While there were stories here that were not to my taste (I do not love hard SF, especially military SF), I found even those enjoyable. A collection of entertaining tales, well-told.
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too: there are soldiers, superheroes, aliens, and animals in this book. It kept thing interesting to see how each author would interpret the theme.The quality of the stories is remarkable in how consistently high it is. Usually in an anthology there is at least one clunker, and often more. Especially in a volume of this size. While there were stories here that were not to my taste (I do not love hard SF, especially military SF), I found even those enjoyable. A collection of entertaining tales, well-told.
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LibraryThing member GraemeW
I was impressed by the range of stories in this anthology -- despite the title, it's much more than just Military SF. There are many wonderful stories in the book (and it's a big book!).
LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
I always feel pretty safe in the editorial hands of Gardner Dozois, and Warriors justified that feeling. It's a solid, cross-genre collection of stories (some ranging towards novella length) by notable authors working to their own strengths. The "warrior" theme, while stretched a bit in places, is
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flexible enough to encompass quite a range of themes, and they ranged in my opinion from sturdy to really excellent. Nice to see some non-dragon-related work by Naomi Novik, a bit of hard scifi from Tad Williams, a fun steppes adventure from S.M. Stirling, and of course a welcome Dunk and Egg tale from Mr. Martin himself. Good stuff all the way around. Show Less
LibraryThing member shabacus
It's rare for me to finish an anthology and be unable to decide which is my favorite, unable to point out the handful of weak stories. This collection was so strong that I don't think any of the twenty stories fell into the latter category, and I would be hard pressed to choose one for the former.
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enjoyed how many different types of warriors the collection presented, likely and unlikely, stereotypical and anything-but. My biggest criticism is that many of the stories left me wanting more, longing for the next part of the story of that extra bit of depth. But like a meal with twenty small courses, I soon found my attention distracted by the next morsel. Saving the novella-length GRRM story for the end was a wise move, because that tale satisfied my appetite and left me content. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is one of the better short story collections I've read lately. It does not measure up to Legends or Legends 2, despite the long list of accomplished contributors. Unfortunately, the editors took liberties with the subject of 'Warriors', and judging from the introduction, they did so
Some highlights and lowlights:
"The King of Norway" by Cecilia Holland - a realistic historical fiction story about Viking warriors. A great way to kick off the anthology.
"Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman - its hard to go wrong with a Haldeman story, and this isn't an exception.
"Clean Slate" by Lawrence Block - this one I didn't think belonged at all. A female serial killer story?
"Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle - not really a warrior story, more of a comic book hero type story with a twist, but excellent.
"The Eagle and the Rabbit" by Steven Saylor - not really a warrior story, and the 2nd story about Carthage in the collection (??), but good.
"The Pit" by James Rollins - pit fighting dogs. Completely unnecessary.
'Out of the Dark" by David Weber - humans kick alien butt, with a twist. Great stuff.
The last 5 stories are all excellent. "The Mystery Knight" by Martin is maybe the best. I think fans of historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy will find this collection good to excellent.
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deliberately. However, that leaves a collection that is only loosely associated with the title and purpose of the anthology, so what exactly is the purpose? I understand the idea that this was intended to be cross-genre and it accomplished that, but I would have preferred if it was more on topic. I am not usually a big fan of random collections of short stories, though I will admit this is for the most part, a good one.Some highlights and lowlights:
"The King of Norway" by Cecilia Holland - a realistic historical fiction story about Viking warriors. A great way to kick off the anthology.
"Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman - its hard to go wrong with a Haldeman story, and this isn't an exception.
"Clean Slate" by Lawrence Block - this one I didn't think belonged at all. A female serial killer story?
"Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle - not really a warrior story, more of a comic book hero type story with a twist, but excellent.
"The Eagle and the Rabbit" by Steven Saylor - not really a warrior story, and the 2nd story about Carthage in the collection (??), but good.
"The Pit" by James Rollins - pit fighting dogs. Completely unnecessary.
'Out of the Dark" by David Weber - humans kick alien butt, with a twist. Great stuff.
The last 5 stories are all excellent. "The Mystery Knight" by Martin is maybe the best. I think fans of historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy will find this collection good to excellent.
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LibraryThing member Cecrow
Pseudo-successor to Robert Silverberg's fantastic "Legends" anthologies; it only rarely visits established worlds, and it's much broader in the genres it covers:
(3/5) The King of Norway (Cecelia Holland): liked the Viking setting but the characters didn't engage me. The action was nothing special
(4/5) Forever Bound (Joe Haldeman): based on the novel "Forever Peace". Glances off the warrior theme, a story centered on passion versus love.
(4/5) The Triumph (Robin Hobb): a tale of the ancient Rome we know, or so it seems until a dragon's tooth is mentioned.
(3.5/5) Clean Slate (Lawrence Block): contemporary setting and a very different definition of warrior. Carried me nicely to the end, but in hindsight I don't find the central character's arc very convincing.
(4/5) And Ministers of Grace (Tad Williams): sci-fi often plays metaphor with our current society. In this tale of a fundamentalist terrorist, that veil is uncomfortably thin. Thoughtful ending.
(5/5) Soldierin' (Joe Lansdale): a Western featuring buffalo soldiers, in which a black man signs up with the U.S. Army to battle the Apaches in 1870; hilarious and well done throughout.
(4/5) Dirae (Peter S. Beagle): it takes a few pages to understand the perspective, but a solid story once you've grasped it.
(3.5/5) The Custom of the Army (Diana Gabaldon): "one for the fans" of her Outlander series I couldn't get past the first entry in, so it's not for me and overlong. But being Canadian and knowing a thing or two about history, I did appreciate the setting.
(5/5) Seven Years from Home (Naomi Novick): sci-fi tale about a galactic confederacy interfering in the civil affairs of planets they want to bring on board. Good morality theme, doesn't take any easy ways out, and the quality of this story is a step up. It's my first encounter with Novick and maybe not my last.
(4/5) The Eagle and the Rabbit (Steven Saylor): adequate Rome vs Carthage tale about men become prisoners and the tough choices set before them.
(3/5) The Pit (James Rollins): a dog story that falls a long way from the Jack London and Richard Adams trees.
(4/5) Out of the Dark (David Weber): the usual story about aliens invading Earth and getting more than they bargained for, with one extra twist. Longer than necessary and heavy on the military jargon, but it goes down fast.
(4/5) The Girl from Avenger (Carrie Vaughn): not much story here, but it sheds welcome light on the WASP program of WW2.
(4/5) Ancient Ways (S.M. Stirling): an updated rescue-the-princess story in the year 2055 of an alternate-history timeline. Thoughtful worldbuilding.
(3.5/5) Ninieslando (Howard Waldrop): preposterous premise with little to say, but possibly what I'd be daydreaming about as a soldier in the trenches of WW1.
(4/5) Recidivist (Gardner Dozois): distant future AI become god-like, with some great throwaway ideas that make this story memorable.
(4/5) My Name is Legion (David Morrell): a story of the French Foreign Legion that sent me to Wikipedia. Feels a bit thin but nothing's wrong with it.
(5/5) Defenders of the Frontier (Robert Silverberg): sparely told tale of frontier soldiers who have served so long that all has become nameless - the enemy, the Empire they serve and where they come from, even themselves. Happy/sad ending. This author's still got what it takes and then some.
(4/5) The Scroll (David Ball): fantastic hook that totally had me engaged and favourably comparing it to short fiction literary classics, but then the story became rushed and the ending is just all wrong. Too bad.
(4/5) The Mystery Knight (George R. R. Martin): the reason I'd expect 90%+ of us bought this anthology, and now you're better served by "A Knight of the Seven Realms" if this is all you wanted. I found it harder to get into than the previous D&E stories, and there's little mystery about where the story is headed.
(3/5) The King of Norway (Cecelia Holland): liked the Viking setting but the characters didn't engage me. The action was nothing special
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and the ending was too easy.(4/5) Forever Bound (Joe Haldeman): based on the novel "Forever Peace". Glances off the warrior theme, a story centered on passion versus love.
(4/5) The Triumph (Robin Hobb): a tale of the ancient Rome we know, or so it seems until a dragon's tooth is mentioned.
(3.5/5) Clean Slate (Lawrence Block): contemporary setting and a very different definition of warrior. Carried me nicely to the end, but in hindsight I don't find the central character's arc very convincing.
(4/5) And Ministers of Grace (Tad Williams): sci-fi often plays metaphor with our current society. In this tale of a fundamentalist terrorist, that veil is uncomfortably thin. Thoughtful ending.
(5/5) Soldierin' (Joe Lansdale): a Western featuring buffalo soldiers, in which a black man signs up with the U.S. Army to battle the Apaches in 1870; hilarious and well done throughout.
(4/5) Dirae (Peter S. Beagle): it takes a few pages to understand the perspective, but a solid story once you've grasped it.
(3.5/5) The Custom of the Army (Diana Gabaldon): "one for the fans" of her Outlander series I couldn't get past the first entry in, so it's not for me and overlong. But being Canadian and knowing a thing or two about history, I did appreciate the setting.
(5/5) Seven Years from Home (Naomi Novick): sci-fi tale about a galactic confederacy interfering in the civil affairs of planets they want to bring on board. Good morality theme, doesn't take any easy ways out, and the quality of this story is a step up. It's my first encounter with Novick and maybe not my last.
(4/5) The Eagle and the Rabbit (Steven Saylor): adequate Rome vs Carthage tale about men become prisoners and the tough choices set before them.
(3/5) The Pit (James Rollins): a dog story that falls a long way from the Jack London and Richard Adams trees.
(4/5) Out of the Dark (David Weber): the usual story about aliens invading Earth and getting more than they bargained for, with one extra twist. Longer than necessary and heavy on the military jargon, but it goes down fast.
(4/5) The Girl from Avenger (Carrie Vaughn): not much story here, but it sheds welcome light on the WASP program of WW2.
(4/5) Ancient Ways (S.M. Stirling): an updated rescue-the-princess story in the year 2055 of an alternate-history timeline. Thoughtful worldbuilding.
(3.5/5) Ninieslando (Howard Waldrop): preposterous premise with little to say, but possibly what I'd be daydreaming about as a soldier in the trenches of WW1.
(4/5) Recidivist (Gardner Dozois): distant future AI become god-like, with some great throwaway ideas that make this story memorable.
(4/5) My Name is Legion (David Morrell): a story of the French Foreign Legion that sent me to Wikipedia. Feels a bit thin but nothing's wrong with it.
(5/5) Defenders of the Frontier (Robert Silverberg): sparely told tale of frontier soldiers who have served so long that all has become nameless - the enemy, the Empire they serve and where they come from, even themselves. Happy/sad ending. This author's still got what it takes and then some.
(4/5) The Scroll (David Ball): fantastic hook that totally had me engaged and favourably comparing it to short fiction literary classics, but then the story became rushed and the ending is just all wrong. Too bad.
(4/5) The Mystery Knight (George R. R. Martin): the reason I'd expect 90%+ of us bought this anthology, and now you're better served by "A Knight of the Seven Realms" if this is all you wanted. I found it harder to get into than the previous D&E stories, and there's little mystery about where the story is headed.
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LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2
I thoroughly enjoyed this compendium of stellar short stories! What I really liked was the diversity of ideas, eras and characters. There are many stories which I didn't want to see end.... I am going to have to enlarge my "to read" list considerably! Some faves include: "Ancient Ways" (SM
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Stirling), "Out of the Dark" (David Weber), "Dirae" (Peter S. Beagle), "The Pit" (James Rollins), and "Soldierin'" (Joe R. Lansdale). Show Less
LibraryThing member Belles007
I only read the Lord John story by Diana Gabaldon.
LibraryThing member Andy_DiMartino
Another good Dunk and Egg story in there from George RR Martin
LibraryThing member wanderlustlover
And lastly, read again for George R. R. Martin's "Tales of Egg and Dunk."
God. He truly makes me fall in love with characters. Truly how much I like Dunk may never change, but I can see how much of this story is the shaping of both Dunk and Egg. How much it will shape the history and the kingdom of
I really felt this one though. The way the Eye is. How The Great War of the Two Dragon's literally effects everything, in a way Dunk gets but Egg doesn't yet. The way a great king can be made of a eleven-year-old boy with too much pride, who will be the only person in his family to truly know his people and his land.
I really do hope the rumor that there will be eight or nine stories of these to is true.
I will look forward to this.
God. He truly makes me fall in love with characters. Truly how much I like Dunk may never change, but I can see how much of this story is the shaping of both Dunk and Egg. How much it will shape the history and the kingdom of
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the future from this point (and the past from the time of The Song of Fire & Ice). I really felt this one though. The way the Eye is. How The Great War of the Two Dragon's literally effects everything, in a way Dunk gets but Egg doesn't yet. The way a great king can be made of a eleven-year-old boy with too much pride, who will be the only person in his family to truly know his people and his land.
I really do hope the rumor that there will be eight or nine stories of these to is true.
I will look forward to this.
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LibraryThing member lexilewords
The Warriors anthology, edited by George R.R. Martin and his long-time associate Gardner Dozois, was at first something that most people wouldn’t think to associate with me. Despite my love of fantasy, and anthologies for that matter, Warriors isn’t just that. It would be fair to say that each
Martin’s introduction gave me a much better insight into the type of anthology he wanted to create than the information on the cover. His recollections of finding books as a child at the store on a spinner rack had me grinning; I’m almost forty years younger then he is, but I have fond recollections of going to the flea market or one of the Summer Malls (a collection of stores that set up on the first day of summer in collapsible tents in the area where my grandparents lived) and rooting through the bins of books. I didn’t much care what genre a book was; if the cover interested me and I had the spare change, I bought it. His intro reminded me how fun and enlightening it was just choosing a book because it looked interesting, not because it was something I knew I might like.
The five authors who I had previously read were part of the reason why I chose to read this anthology. S.M. Stirling, who writes the Emberverse (or Change) novels I enjoy, has a short story in here called “Ancient Ways.” The story, which is part of the Emberverse, is separate from the main series and follows the adventures of two different warriors on the same mission–to save a Princess. It sounds cliche, but what works is that the two warriors have a wonderful dynamic. They both acknowledge that the mission is rather ridiculous, but proceed with a humor I appreciated. Their banter is priceless.
“The Eagle and the Rabbit” by Steven Saylor, a historical fiction author, surprised me only in that it wasn’t what I was expecting. I read Saylor’s Roman mystery series (Roma Sub Rosa) and expected a story in that vein. Instead I was given a story about Ancient Carthage, or rather a wrecked Carthage and a vividly horrifying story centered around a group of slaves who have to participate in a game called temptatio. Saylor’s Roma books aren’t happy times, but “The Eagle and the Rabbit” takes things to a new level of unhappy. Its not a story for the faint of heart, but, for historical fiction fans, this short is not to be missed.
“The Girls From Avenger” by Carrie Vaughn was about one WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) pilot’s mission to find out the truth about a friend’s death. WASP-related fiction is hard to come by, at least good WASP related fiction, and I have always had a special interest in the subject. Vaughn, whose urban fantasies I normally read, writes a straight historical mystery fiction story that is respectful, well-researched, and welcoming even if you have no idea who the WASP’s were.
Naomi Novik’s “Seven Years From Home” is not set in her Temeraire universe, but set in space (or, rather, on a different planet). Diplomat Ruth is sent as a negotiator to get the faction to stop opposing the Confederacy and to join with them. Of the twists the story took, I was expecting the very end, and Ruth’s actions, the least. The style was more of a journal entry sort than straight prose, but I found I enjoyed it quite a bit, which was a surprise to me since I’m not a fan of her Temeraire books at all.
The last author I had read previously was Diana Gabaldon. Her story “The Custom of the Army” is set in her Lord John books, which I have not read (I’ve previously read her Outlander books). Unfortunately, since I have no previous knowledge of the series, nor is there much by way of explanation in the story as set-up, I was lost and confused throughout most of this story.
Of the remaining fifteen stories, I think Robin Hobb’s “The Triumph” was the most entertaining (set in Ancient Rome, so it was a weird precursor to Saylor’s story in a way), and Tad Williams’ “And Ministers of Grace” made me want to read his novels the most. Though, as his story was more of a dramatic science fiction story and not epic fantasy, I almost feel like that would be a waste if I were looking for more of what I found here.
As a mixed-genre anthology, I think this collection worked fantastically. Not only did it present quite a few authors outside of their native genres (Carrie Vaughn and Tad Williams, especially), but it also proved that Martin’s “spinner rack theory” has some basis of truth. When given the opportunity to read in genres that were outside my norm, I found that I enjoyed them and wanted to read more of them.
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genre is represented at least once and that the talent pool is a heady mix of known names and relatively unknowns. Of the twenty authors who contributed, I knew twelve names but had only read five of those. Anyone who reads anthologies on a regular basis understands that even if you got nothing but best-sellers for your contributor list, that doesn’t guarantee a strong collection as a whole. Anthologies are often regarded as the sum of their parts, instead.Martin’s introduction gave me a much better insight into the type of anthology he wanted to create than the information on the cover. His recollections of finding books as a child at the store on a spinner rack had me grinning; I’m almost forty years younger then he is, but I have fond recollections of going to the flea market or one of the Summer Malls (a collection of stores that set up on the first day of summer in collapsible tents in the area where my grandparents lived) and rooting through the bins of books. I didn’t much care what genre a book was; if the cover interested me and I had the spare change, I bought it. His intro reminded me how fun and enlightening it was just choosing a book because it looked interesting, not because it was something I knew I might like.
The five authors who I had previously read were part of the reason why I chose to read this anthology. S.M. Stirling, who writes the Emberverse (or Change) novels I enjoy, has a short story in here called “Ancient Ways.” The story, which is part of the Emberverse, is separate from the main series and follows the adventures of two different warriors on the same mission–to save a Princess. It sounds cliche, but what works is that the two warriors have a wonderful dynamic. They both acknowledge that the mission is rather ridiculous, but proceed with a humor I appreciated. Their banter is priceless.
“The Eagle and the Rabbit” by Steven Saylor, a historical fiction author, surprised me only in that it wasn’t what I was expecting. I read Saylor’s Roman mystery series (Roma Sub Rosa) and expected a story in that vein. Instead I was given a story about Ancient Carthage, or rather a wrecked Carthage and a vividly horrifying story centered around a group of slaves who have to participate in a game called temptatio. Saylor’s Roma books aren’t happy times, but “The Eagle and the Rabbit” takes things to a new level of unhappy. Its not a story for the faint of heart, but, for historical fiction fans, this short is not to be missed.
“The Girls From Avenger” by Carrie Vaughn was about one WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) pilot’s mission to find out the truth about a friend’s death. WASP-related fiction is hard to come by, at least good WASP related fiction, and I have always had a special interest in the subject. Vaughn, whose urban fantasies I normally read, writes a straight historical mystery fiction story that is respectful, well-researched, and welcoming even if you have no idea who the WASP’s were.
Naomi Novik’s “Seven Years From Home” is not set in her Temeraire universe, but set in space (or, rather, on a different planet). Diplomat Ruth is sent as a negotiator to get the faction to stop opposing the Confederacy and to join with them. Of the twists the story took, I was expecting the very end, and Ruth’s actions, the least. The style was more of a journal entry sort than straight prose, but I found I enjoyed it quite a bit, which was a surprise to me since I’m not a fan of her Temeraire books at all.
The last author I had read previously was Diana Gabaldon. Her story “The Custom of the Army” is set in her Lord John books, which I have not read (I’ve previously read her Outlander books). Unfortunately, since I have no previous knowledge of the series, nor is there much by way of explanation in the story as set-up, I was lost and confused throughout most of this story.
Of the remaining fifteen stories, I think Robin Hobb’s “The Triumph” was the most entertaining (set in Ancient Rome, so it was a weird precursor to Saylor’s story in a way), and Tad Williams’ “And Ministers of Grace” made me want to read his novels the most. Though, as his story was more of a dramatic science fiction story and not epic fantasy, I almost feel like that would be a waste if I were looking for more of what I found here.
As a mixed-genre anthology, I think this collection worked fantastically. Not only did it present quite a few authors outside of their native genres (Carrie Vaughn and Tad Williams, especially), but it also proved that Martin’s “spinner rack theory” has some basis of truth. When given the opportunity to read in genres that were outside my norm, I found that I enjoyed them and wanted to read more of them.
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Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Anthology — 2011)
Language
Original publication date
2010-03-16
Physical description
118 p.; 25 inches
ISBN
0765320487 / 9780765320483