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Forged in Blood (Freehold Book 8) by [Michael Z. Williamson]

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Michael Z. Williamson

Jason Cordova

Forged in Blood (Freehold Book 8) Kindle Edition

by Michael Z. Williamson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

193 ratings

Book 6 of 8: Freehold

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NEW STORIES SET IN MICHAEL Z. WILLIAMSON'S FREEHOLD SERIES

WARRIORS AND SOLDIERS TIED TOGETHER THROUGHOUT TIME AND SPACE.

From the distant past to the far future, those who carry the sword rack up commendations for bravery. They are men and women who, like the swords they carry, have been forged in blood. These are their stories.

In medieval Japan, a surly ronin is called upon to defend a village against a thieving tax collector who soon finds out it's not wise to anger an old, tired man. In the ugliest fighting in the Pacific Theater, an American sergeant and a Japanese lieutenant must face each other, and themselves. A former US Marine chooses sides with outnumbered Indonesian refugees against an invading army from Java. When her lover is stolen by death, a sergeant fighting on a far-flung world vows vengeance that will become legendary. And, when a planet fragments in violent chaos, seven Freeholders volunteer to help protect another nation's embassy against a horde.

Featuring all-new stories by Michael Z. Williamson, Larry Correia, Tom Kratman, Tony Daniel, Micahel Massa, Peter Grant, John F. Holmes, and many more.

Contributors:
Zachary Hill
Larry Correia
Michael Massa
John F. Holmes
Rob Reed
Dale Flowers
Tom Kratman
Leo Champion
Peter Grant
Christopher L. Smith
Jason Cordova
Tony Daniel
Kacey Ezell
Michael Z. Williamson

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

About Michael Z. Williamson:
“A fast-paced, compulsive read . . . will appeal to fans of John Ringo, David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, and David Weber.”—Kliatt

“Williamson's military expertise is impressive.”—SF Reviews

Novels of Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold Universe:

Freehold series
Freehold
The Weapon
The Rogue
Contact with Chaos
Angeleyes
Freehold: Forged in Blood

Ripple Creek series
Better to Beg Forgiveness . . .
Do Unto Others . . .
When Diplomacy Fails . . .

Standalone
A Long Time Until Now

Michael Z. Williamson is retired military, having served twenty-five years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Fox. Williamson is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions and is Editor-at-Large for Survivalblog, with 300,000 weekly readers. In addition, Williamson tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. Williamson’s books set in his Freehold Universe include Freehold, The Weapon, The Rogue, Better to Beg Forgiveness . . ., Do Unto Others . . ., and When Diplomacy Fails . . .. He is also the author of time travel novel A Long Time Until Now, as well as The Hero—the latter written in collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo. Williamson was born in England, raised in Liverpool and Toronto, Canada, and now resides in Indianapolis with his children.

Print length

433 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 5, 2017
File size

1847 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Z. Williamson is retired military, having served twenty-five years in the US Army and the US Air Force. He is editor-at-large for Survivalblog, with 300,000 weekly readers. He is the author of the Freehold series, as well as the novels A Long Time Until Now and The Hero.

Eric Jason Martin is a producer, director, and voice performer based in Los Angeles. He is the AudioFile Earphones and Audie Award-winning narrator of over 200 audiobooks, including works by Kurt Vonnegut, David Foster Wallace, Karin Slaughter, and Lee Child. Eric's recent productions include the Audible Original Stinker Lets Loose!, a New York Times Monthly Bestseller also starring Jon Hamm and Rhea Seehorn, and he is the director of Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne's musical comedy series Heads Will Roll for Broadway Video and Audible. --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B074Q1VF1S
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baen Books; 1st edition (September 5, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 5, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1847 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 433 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #223,951 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #440 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store)
- #678 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Books)
- #3,513 in Military Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
193 ratings

About the authors

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Michael Z. Williamson
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Michael Z. Williamson is retired military, having served twenty-five years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Fox. Williamson is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions and is Editor-at-Large for Survivalblog, with 300K weekly readers. In addition to these activities, Williamson tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. Williamson’s books set in his Freehold Universe include Freehold, Better to Beg Forgiveness, and Do Unto Others. His novel The Hero – written in collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo–has reached modern classic status. Williamson was born in England, raised in Liverpool and Toronto, Canada, and now resides in Indianapolis with his wife and children.
See more on the author's page
Jason Cordova
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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
A 2019 Dragon Award finalist and 2015 John W. Campbell Award finalist, Jason Córdova has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and the world. The author of the Kin Wars Universe and over 40 novels and short stories published, he is a US Navy veteran, a former teacher, and avid videogamer. He currently resides in North Carolina.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		81%
4 star		13%
3 star		3%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Rich S.

Superb anthology

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2017

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This is one of the finest anthologies I have read. Indeed, it is one of the finest military novels I have read in years.

The concept of an object, a sword in this case, as a subject to hang a series of short stories from is not new, but the coherence and quality of this work makes the theme work beautifully. It can be read as a novel, and that is quite remarkable.

The quality of the authors represented here is hard to touch, and they deliver. Each story is interesting, many are genuinely wrenching, and all are superbly written.

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jamie Ibson

Come for the laughter, stay for the slaughter!

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2017

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Forged In Blood kicked down the door, took no prisoners, pillaged and burned the competition, crushed its enemies, saw them driven before it, then released a bad*%$ mixtape of their women's lamentations (Now available on iTunes)*.

Oh right, the review. When was the last time you read a story that spanned two thousand years starring the same character? Never? I hadn't either. Why not try something new, and epic, and fantastic? Pick this one up and give it a whirl.
Find out exactly who Sergeant Lisa Riggs was and how she died. (Hint, she's in The Weapon too, but we didn't know it at the time).
Find out exactly how Rowan Moran, student of Iaido, won a peerless honor for the Freehold by rescuing the Caledonian Royalty armed "only" with his "ceremonial" sword.
Find out which well-known Baen author managed to slip a Monty Python shout-out into his story,
Find out what happens when you get two Chinrans, a Pacelli and a handful of other operatives into a fortified position and unlimited targets...
I laughed, I cried, (no exaggeration). I loved the whole thing from cover to cover.

* Mixtape not actually available on iTunes. Yet.

18 people found this helpful

Helpful

Travis G. Beck

The Riddle of Steel

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2017

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"And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan, you must learn its discipline. For no one, no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts... This you can trust." [points to his sword] - Conan of Cimmeria's Father

"Steel isn't strong, boy; flesh is stronger...What is the sword compared to the hand that wields it?" - Thulsa Doom

The flesh is ephemeral, but the steel endures. Yet without the flesh the steel is useless. Down through the centuries, the sword has passed from hand to hand. The War Bride, she has been called. She exists for battle, to become one with a worthy owner and seek glory in strife. She has been broken many times. And reforged anew. These are some of her stories.

Michael Z Williamson is a subject matter expert on the making, use, and history of edged weapons. He combines his knowledge and writing talents with a host of other talented authors to tell the stories of the War Bride and her wielders. Whether, young or old, brave or cowardly they all are changed by their time with the sword. Some will not survive that time.

Mike and the other authors bring use comedy and tragedy, nobility and perfidy to offer us a glimpse into the ethos of the soldier and what it means to stand in the breach to serve and protect the ones they love.

13 people found this helpful

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Colonel 7.62

5/7, Would Read Again

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

A triumph of the moral and intellectual superiority of the authors. Particularly, Michael Z. Williamson again shows himself capable of crafting a quality story that is not perverted by identity politics and the groveling demands of social justice driven sci fi.

22 people found this helpful

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Brian Lee Gnad (The Bubba Man)

The Story of a Sword.... A Truly Awesome Sword....

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017

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I loved this collection. I was impressed with the sword when it showed up in the first Freehold book and they way that the authors have animated its spirit was truly delightful. If you are a lover of steel, if you are a one who believes that honor exists and that it should be strived for, if stories of warriors rising to the supreme challenges of their lives and striving for victory and achieving it, even at the cost of their own lives interests you, then read this book!

If you are a bladesmith, you really need to read this book.

15 people found this helpful

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Joseph F. Collins

Superb Book....

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

I will admit, I own a haunted handgun. I'm a .41 magnum fanatic. At the gun store where I once worked, a police evidence room trade in came in. It was a S&W Model 57 pin barrel. It was beautiful to behold and I couldn't whip out my credit card fast enough. After I finished the paperwork and now owned it, I heard the story behind this stunning handgun. This revolver had been originally bought by a lady who took it home and killed her daughter with it then herself. That explained the odd bluing on the bottom of the barrel as apparently blood isn't good on bluing. But the thing shoots evilly well like it really is haunted. I would carry it every day except it weighs too much, only holds six bullets and I would cry if something happened to damage it.

In my gun collection are some military rifles. Since my grandfather from whom I have my middle name fought in WWI, I tend to stress those types of weapons. I have a Webley revolver which he may have carried, a Lee Enfield he might have used in boot camp and a German Mauser which may have been shot at him. The stories behind those rifles are lost in time unless I make them up which isn't as interesting as that particular .41 magnum I own.

This brings us to "Forged in Blood." It's set in Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold series but that isn't the whole point. It's a collection of stories about a sword, originally forged in ancient Japan and its journeys from the past, present, future and far future. Due to battle damage it is reforged but the soul of the sword remains. Each story is written by authors I've looked up to for years. Heck, if Michael Z. Williamson rewrote the 1922 New York City phone book and was charging $19.99 for the Kindle version of it, I'd be thrilled to buy and download it probably giving it five stars. And I've bought books from many of the other authors who wrote stories. These are the aces of current SF writing no matter how obscure some of their names seem.

I will admit as I read many of the stories in "Forged in Blood," chills ran down my spine. I have studied Kendo and know a little about Japanese swords, how they are used and even have a blade which I don't know very much about but some day would like to have restored in my safe. I also am a student of military history and know of duty, honor and selfless commitment even at the cost of my own life as firefighter as I was not privileged enough to be able to serve in the military--bad eyes and an even worse heart.

Since I purchased it, I've reread it many times and discovered many deeper layers and meanings on some of the things written. It has become a staple when I need inspiration for my own writing.

Usually I complain about the price of Kindle books put out big publishers lamenting that I could have bought at least a couple of other books probably as good, but in this case the price is an exceptional value for a book that will haunt you for years to come.

If you don't buy any other book I've reviewed, please buy this one.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

TimC

Good addition to the freehold canon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

My only problem with this was the slight down-note in the (possible?) death of some characters we have met elsewhere in Freehold. The basic approach of the book is to tell tales of fighting and valour which follow a Japanese samurai sword from battles on Earth through to battles off the planet. It works well and the voice of the sword itself is managed in a reasonably low key manner.

2 people found this helpful

Scott Osmond

Top Notch Storytelling

Reviewed in Australia on June 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

Many anthologies can be hit and miss. I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed all stories in this one. A first class collection of story tellers helped. It's a story spanning 3 thousand years where a sword is present in many pivotal historical events. She is broken, reforged, cared for and neglected in turn but always finds herself used by worthy warriors. Kratman, Correia and Williamson's entries were my favourites. One of the major uniting themes in this book is that no matter how far tech improves events always count on the will, courage and commitment of those people doing the fighting and dying. Despite advances battle can be decided by cold steel in the right hands. Some familiar characters appear from earlier Freehold novels.

Kindle Customer

Brilliant

Reviewed in Australia on March 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

A masterful collection of stories that work so fantastically well together, the different author styles mesh so well! A masterpiece!