Can you handle the truth? Sword & Sorcery has always been about the attitude. Stop seeking elaborate definitions. Cease arguing over semantics and accoutrements. Quit making it more difficult than necessary. Learn the fundamental immutability of the S&S Riddle: Protagonists with nonchalant mercenary motivations & indomitable wills. It’s all in their attitude. The definition of S&S has never been clearer. Sword & Sorcery warriors are very, very dangerous people, considered barbaric, who act according to their own codes of honor in pursuit of their own ends. Brothers (and sisters) to THE WILD BUNCH , comrades of the SEVEN SAMURAI , partners of every MAN IN BLACK, and riders in every WILD HUNT. They don’t just seize the day—they seize Life itself by the throat and squeeze until it begs. They don’t falter in the dark or before the unknown—they spit in the face of Death itself and stomp it into the dirt until it yields. “Life is not breath but action.” ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau “Fear won't stop you from dying, but it can stop you from living.” ~ James Norbury “We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” ~ Charles Bukowski “Laugh or die.” ~ Angélique Kidjo NEITHER BEG NOR YIELD: STORIES WITH S&S ATTITUDE is filled with over 180,000 words in 20 stories! This is THE BOOK OF SWORD & SORCERY that will define the genre for generations. Reading the powerful tales from these storytellers will permanently answer the question: WHAT IS SWORD & SORCERY? It’s always been its attitude! Discover the truth as Eadwine Brown, Adrian Cole, Glen Cook, Steve Dilks, Chuck Dixon, Phil Emery, Steven Erikson, John R. Fultz, Steve Goble, John C. Hocking, Howard Andrew Jones, William King, Joe R. Lansdale, David C. Smith, Jeff Stewart, Keith J. Taylor, Frederick Tor, Eric Turowski, Bill Ward, Lawrence A. Weinstein, and C.L. Werner share it! "[T]his titanic 464-page tome showcases the vigour, the verve, the sheer life-loving vitality that distinguishes this crucial fantasy subgenre. This anthology drips and throbs like a torn-out heart, its stories embracing the dynamism and defiance that has boiled at the core of sword and sorcery since the days of the pulps. Neither Beg Nor Yield is a must-have book at the forefront of the genre's current and much-debated renaissance." ~ Alec Worely, Comics, Fiction, Audio, and Other Stuff "Obviously, I like this book — a lot. Waltz has a fan's eye for what's cool and an editor's eye for what works. He marshaled some of the best writers in S&S and they delivered. There are exciting stories, spooky stories, moody stories, and dark stories. What their characters have in common is an indomitability of will and refusal to just roll over and die." ~ Fletcher Vredenburgh, Black Gate "[A] fantastic, massive anthology... It features a stellar cast of yesterday and today's best S&S authors." ~ Alan, Harbinger of D.O.O.M. "This anthology understands the core of S&S... I would highly recommend this collection of sword & sorcery tales to any fan of the genre..." Cameron Wooten, GUNG-HO GEEKS "From this over-the-top, blood-splash cover featuring an axe headed toward the reader's face to the powerful black & white line art that runs throughout, there's a Savage Sword of Conan -meets- Heavy Metal vibe to the layout that tells you exactly the feel of the prose within." ~ Greg Mele, Black Gate