unfettered-art

Earlier this year, Grim Oak Press announced Neverland’s Shadow, edited by Shawn Speakman and Roger Bellini, a follow-up to the publishers successful first anthology, Unfettered. “All of the stories are told from the point of view of the villain/antagonist,” said Publisher Shawn Speakman of the new anthology. “I’ve always felt like the villain doesn’t get enough time on the page from his/her/its point of view. Well, now we will have an entire book and I simply can’t wait to bring it to you!”

And now, Neverland’s Shadow has a new name: Unveiled.

(Oh the deliciousness of the pun I was able to use in the title of this post.)

“After asking for suggestions from the internet(s),” Speakman says on the Grim Oak Press website, “more than 1300 titles were sent into the website. I culled them down to 10 favorites. Editor Roger Bellini did the same from those 1300.”

“I am tired of heroes winning and writing history the way they choose,” Speakman said. “The stories within Unveiled are told from the point of view of villains and, finally, their stories will be “unveiled” for all to read. No matter what the heroes think!”

“I am tired of heroes winning and writing history the way they choose,” Speakman said.

Honestly, I’m not crazy about the new name. Neverland’s Shadow was punchy and interesting, though it’s difficult to separate the connection to Peter Pan’s youthful island. Unveiled is thematically on point, and pairs nicely with Unfettered, but I can’t help but feel like it loses a bit of the impact, a bit of the mystery. Also, a theatre background just puts images of raising curtains in my head. Because, you know, everyone has the same cognitive patterns and connections as this blogger, right?

Whatever the title, Speakman and Grim Oak Press did a wonderful job with Unfettered, and I’m looking forward to seeing the villainous tales collected in Unveiled. The list of contributing authors was *ahem*… unveiled in July. The anthology features some heavy hitters of the science fiction and fantasy genres:

  • Terry Brooks (introduction)
  • Ann Aguirre
  • Piers Anthony
  • R. Scott Bakker
  • Jim Butcher
  • Glen Cook
  • Tang Fei (Chinese tranlsated work)
  • Mark Lawrence
  • Tanith Lee
  • Ken Liu
  • Scott Lynch
  • John Marco
  • Tim Marquitz
  • Peter Orullian
  • Kat Richardson
  • Anthony Ryan
  • Shawn Speakman
  • Michael J. Sullivan
  • Adrian Tchaikovsky

Unveiled is due for release by Grim Oak Press in February 2015. Preorders begin soon.

What do you think of the lineup for Unveiled? What about the new name?

Discussion
  • Andrew September 5, 2014 at 5:11 am

    Neverland’s Library really ticked me off, and it’s a great example of what not to do with a kickstarted anthology, although they did eventually refund backers.

  • Aidan Moher September 5, 2014 at 7:48 am

    Though they share an editor (Roger Bellini), this anthology is otherwise unconnected with Neverland’s Library from what I can tell. Different publisher, no Kickstarter campaign, etc. (Though now I understand why the title might be changing).

  • Shawn Speakman September 5, 2014 at 11:48 am

    Thanks for the shout out, Aidan! And yes, a small percentage of reason why I wanted to change the name was because of the stigma attached to LIBRARY. That said, I’m happy with the name change. It was the only name that both Roger and me had in common. Otherwise, I’d probably title it MALEFACTIONS. That will probably be the title of the anthology between UNFETTERED II and UNFETTERED III.

    What writers are you guys looking forward to reading in UNVEILED?