Blackguards

Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues

De: Lian Hearn, Anthony Ryan, Mark Lawrence, Paul S. Kemp, Richard Lee Byers

Narrado por: Michael Page, Nick Podehl, Steven Brand, Scott Aiello, Lauren Fortgang, Tim Gerard Reynolds

Rogues. Assassins. Mercenaries.

Whether by coin or by blood...you will pay.

A fantasy anthology featuring the deadly, the worldly, and the sneaky. Blackguards consists mainly of stories in established series, and the authors range from wildly successful indie authors to New York Times best sellers. If you enjoy roguish tales of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells, this one's for you.

Contents:

• Foreword by Glen Cook (Black Company)
• Richard Lee Byers, "Troll Trouble"
• David Dalglish, "Take You Home"
• James Enge, "Thieves at the Gate"
• John Gwynne, "Better to Live than to Die"
• Lian Hearn, "His Kikuta Hands"
• Snorri Kristjansson, "A Kingdom and a Horse"
• Joseph Lallo, "Seeking the Shadow"
• Mark Lawrence, "The Secret"
• Tim Marquitz, "A Taste of Agony"
• Peter Orullian, "A Length of Cherrywood"
• Cat Rambo, "The Subtler Art"
• Laura Resnick, "Friendship"
• Mark Smylie, "Manhunt"
• Kenny Soward, "Jancy's Justice"
• Shawn Speakman, "The White Rose Thief"
• Jon Sprunk, "Sun and Steel"
• Anton Strout, "Scream"
• Django Wexler, "The First Kill"
• Paul S. Kemp, "A Better Man"
• James A. Moore, "What Gods Demand"
• Jean Rabe, "Mainon"
• Bradley P. Beaulieu, "Irindai"
• S. R. Cambridge, "The Magus and the Betyar"
• Clay Sanger, "The Long Kiss"

Please note: "The Lord Collector" by Anthony Ryan, which appears in the print edition of Blackguards, is not included in this audio edition.

Full cast of narrators includes: Richard Poe, Gabra Zackman, Karyn O'Bryant, Macleod Andrews, Ray Porter, Tim Gerard Reynolds, John Keating, Kevin T. Collins, David DeVries, Elijah Alexander, Allyson Johnson, Oliver Wyman, and Victor Bevine.

©2015 Bradley P. Beaulieu; Carol Berg; Richard Lee Byers; S.R. Cambridge; David Dalglish; James Enge; John Gwynne; Lian Hearn; Paul S. Kemp; Snorri Kristjansson; Joseph R. Lallo; Mark Lawrence; Tim Marquitz; James A. Moore; Peter Orullian; Jean Rabe; Cat Rambo; Laura Resnick; Clay Sanger; Mark Smylie; Kenny Soward; Shawn Speakman; Jon Sprunk; Anton Strout; Michael J. Sullivan; Django Wexler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This story collection truly has something for everyone who loves the fantasy genre, especially as enhanced by some of the best voices in the business.... The uniform voice of Victor Bevine introduces each of the stories - sounding every bit the rogue with his gravelly timbre and tying together the wide range of worlds and narrators in this lengthy production." ( AudioFile)

Adequate for casual filler between books or series

Some good, some not so much, some quite good, none excellent. Most too short and devoid of sufficient context detail. Look to Aurthur Conan Doyle and the like for truly good shorts. Ok while looking for the next good read.

a bunch of teases

a series of a bunch of short stories that really get you wanting to know more and not giving you enough information to find more

Some awesome, some meh.

It's an anthology, and ultimately the editor makes the call for what goes in and what stays in the cutting floor. Best just to say the editor and I were not in perfect agreement.

Some worthy tales in the mix, but not many.

All the stories in this collection are set in a historical fantasy realm. It is advertised as being about villains. In the best cases, this means that the story is set in some old-style place where magic may or may not exist and there is a person of questionable morals that is trying to do the right thing or maybe just survive. In the boring cases, this means some poor attempt at a GoT imitation or some cliche about the tough lady playing a damsel in distress. In the terrible cases, this means some story contrived to describe throat slashing in detail with some child molestation thrown in.

Overall, I would have trouble recommending the entire set though there are a few good stories thrown in the mix.

fun to pick through for good and bad

fun to pick through searching between good and bad story telling. good and smart writers all, but some awkward story telling at times.

good collection with great stories :)

highly recommended this set of stories. great imagery and well crafted stories. this is an eclectic mix.

mixed bag

Definitely worth a credit. give me a lot of good ideas on future series of books to pay attention to.

fun listen

Mostly I loved it, there were a couple I had trouble finishing but this is a really mixed bag of short stories with the time.

Some great, some good

I liked this anthology and highly recommend. Not every story is enrapturing but that’s what helps give one the feel for which authors you like, and which you don’t.

Looking to sink your teeth in a new series?

Twenty five novellas between 15 and 90 minutes, over half of which connect to series. I found a few series to wishlist and also enjoyed some of the self-contained stories. The content runs the gamut from YA to grimdark, is mostly medieval and some urban fantasy, has the violence and betrayal you’d expect from a series titled Blackguards, and has only an occasional F 💣 and indirectly referenced sex.
Happily, the table of contents labels each novella and, contrary to the summary, even The Collector is included in this, as of 2022. Many of these titles can be bought individually, but if there are 5 of the 25 titles that appeal, you are better off spending the credit on this. I found several 4-5 star listens (🔥) and only a few that didn’t work at all for me (👎🏼).

Random, hopefully helpful thoughts, in book order:
🔥1. Mainon by Jean Rabe- assassin hired to foil an assassin, YA
🔥2. Irendai by Bradley Beaulieu- lyrical mind-trip with Egypt-like trickster gods and pit fights
-series: Song of the Shattered Sands
🔥3. The Subtler Art by Cat Rambo- Mage or assassin- who’s the better artist? short story
4. Jancy’s Justice by Kenny Soward- side character gets her own interlude story
-series: Gnome Saga (not available on Audible)
🔥5. Troll Trouble by Richard Lee Byers- freelance caper helping a troll with an incubus issue
-series: Forgotten Realms
🔥6. A Better Me by Paul Kemp - advertised as Conan meets Indiana Jones and I approve!
-series: Egil and Nix
👎🏼7. The First Kill by Django Wexler- apparently, there’s occult magic but I only heard a spy caper
minus the background story.
-series: Shadow Campaign… I’ll pass, as this promises blah blah military tactics,
but I did enjoy the YA Wells of Sorcery trilogy by this author.
8. Man Hunt by Mark Smylie- tricorn hats and no before/after, just the hunt
9. Better to Live Than to Die by John Gwynne- feels grimdark without the bloody fun bite of First Law
-series: Faithful and the Fallen
10. The Secret by Mark Lawrence- features the ruminations of a killer
-series: trilogies run long and MC is a sociopath
🔥11. Friendship by Laura Resnick- “a man’s friends are always more dangerous than his enemies”
🔥12. The Long Kiss by Clay Sanger- ridden hard and put away bloody… for those on Team Arya of GoT
🔥13. The White Rose Thief by Shawn Speakman- YA fantasy prologue with gargoyles, witches, fairies
14. A length of Cherrywood by Peter Orullain- vicious, trigger warnings for deviant abuse, GoT level
15. A Taste of Agony by Tim Marquitz- Eunuch assassin and ditto on above trigger warnings
👎🏼16. What the Gods Demand by James A Moore-dark and dreary
-series: Seven Forges
🔥17. Take You Home by David Dalglish- YA -assassin turned Robin Hood. Cheesy, but strangely captivating
-series: Shadowdance
18. Seeking the Shadow by Joseph Lallo- weapons maker seeks new master
-series: Book of Deacon
19. Sun and Steel by Jim Sprunk- oh, the dark chains that bind
🔥20. The Betya and The Magus by S.R. Cambridge- the not-so-meet-cute for two partners in crime
-series: why is there no series in Audible?!
21. A Kingdom and a Horse by Snorri Kirstjansson- short, but hey, Ray Porter!
👎🏼22. Thieves and the Gate by Jane Enge- Oyssseus as a pirate (and not the good kind)
23. His Kikuta Hands by Liam Hearn- looks at two folks on the enemy side- a Japan-tinged feudal fantasy. This takes place during the third book and I’m not sure if it plays well without having heard the series
-series: Tales of the Otori (it’s good if you like samurai style stories on the still waters run deep end)
24. The Lord Collector by Anthony Ryan- no honor among thieves… or family
series: Raven’s Shadow
🔥25. Scream by Anton Stout- Rogue with a talent made for crime- noir feeling urban fantasy involving an art heist.
series: Simon Canderous