The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
AUTHORS: Janet Morris and Chris Morris
BOOK: The Sacred Band
SERIES: The Sacred Band of Stepsons
GENRE: Science Fiction & Fantasy
[This story can be read as a stand alone book outside of the series.]
SYNOPSIS
When The Sacred Band begins, all mercy is lost in the fog of war as Tempus' Stepsons risk everything on a strange battlefield, infuriating gods and Fates:
In 338 BCE, during the Battle of Chaeronea that results in the massacre of the Sacred Band of Thebes, Tempus and his Stepson cavalry rescue twenty three pairs of Theban Sacred Banders, paired brothers and lovers, to fight on other days. These forty-six Thebans, whose bones will never lie in the mass grave that holds their two hundred and fifty-four brothers, join with the immortalized Tempus and his Sacred Band of Stepsons, consummate ancient cavalry fighters, to make new lives in a faraway land and fight the battle of their dreams where gods walk the earth, ghosts take the field, and the angry Fates demand their due.
Note: The audio book version of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris, released August, 2014, is read by co-author Chris Morris.
MEET THE AUTHORS
Janet and Chris Morris have been called "fantasy's power couple" and when you look at their bibliography, both individually and as a couple you can see why. Recently topping the "Top 20" Black Gate list in both the number one and number two spot. I am pleased to provide a short introduction for them.
Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. She has contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series Thieves World, in which she created the Sacred Band of Stepsons, a mythical unit of ancient fighters modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes.
She created, orchestrated, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell, writing stories for the series as well as co-writing the related novel, The Little Helliad, with Chris Morris. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.
Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.
Chris Morris began writing music in 1966, fiction in 1984, and nonfiction in 1989. Much of his fiction and nonfiction literary work, including all of his book-length science fiction and fantasy, has been written in collaboration with his wife Janet Morris, including two novels under the joint pseudonym of Daniel Stryker and one novel under the pseudonym of Casey Prescott. He has contributed stories to the shared universe series Thieves' World, Heroes in Hell, and Merovingen Nights and co-authored with Janet Morris five titles in The Sacred Band of Stepsons series.
Chris Morris also writes song lyrics and melodies, and is chief songwriter, singer, and leader of the "Christopher Morris Band", formed in 1976, whose first members were Chris Morris, Janet Morris, Leslie Kuipers and Vince Colaiuta. The "Christoper Morris Band" album, (MCA 2282) produced by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat and Tears fame and featuring the Tower of Power horn section, was released by MCA Records in 1977. The album's nine songs, all sung by Morris, included eight songs written or co-written by him. The "Christopher Morris Band" album was reviewed by Ken Tucker in Rolling Stone Magazine and in GIG Magazine; it was one of Billboard Magazine's "Top Album Picks" (7/16/77) and listed by WBCN Boston as among WBCN's "52 Heaviest Records for 1977." The "Christopher Morris Band" album was also reviewed in Record World, July 23, 1977. The Christopher Morris Band was reviewed after their first major live performance as a headliner in The Boston Globe by Tom Long. Chris Morris was the band leader, and the original Christopher Morris Band was the core back-up band, for Al Kooper's 1976-1977 "Act Like Nothing's Wrong" national tour.
In nonfiction, Chris Morris has authored books and articles on military and defense matters in collaboration with Janet Morris and others. Chris Morris was Research Director and Senior Fellow (1989-1994) at the United States Global Strategy Council, as well as Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (1993-1995). At USGSC, Morris co-authored the nonlethal weapons concept and the seminal paper, Nonlethality: A Global Strategy, and co-led the USGSC's Nonlethality Policy Review Group. Morris' seminal work in nonlethal weapons is chronicled in Chapter 15 of War and Anti-War, by Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler, (Little, Brown, 1993). In 1998-1999, Chris Morris was made a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Technologies and his views are reflected in the associated report, Nonlethal Technologies: Progress and Prospects, Council on Foreign Relations,1999. He subsequently served in 2003-2004 as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Weapons, which produced the report Nonlethal Weapons and Capabilities in 2004.
Here a presentation on literature and Chris Morris narrate:
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