The Sword and the Chain (Book Two of The Guardians of the Flame‪)‬

Having passed through the Gate back to Earth, Karl Cullinane, Walter Slovotsky and other surviving fellow fantasy gamers now return to the Other Side, a place of mystery, magic, dragons -- and slavery.


The gamers build their own town, using engineering skills learned on Earth.  But their fight against slavery continues.  Karl and a small band of followers set out to raid wagons before slavers and their captives can reach the slave markets – and, on this latest trip, to deliver a freed slave child back to her family.  They face attacks not only from slavers--the Wizards’ Guild, in alliance with the Slavers’ Guild, had set out to destroy them.  Courage, ingenuity, and sharp fighting skills are required as these former college gamers make this wondrous but dangerous land their new home.  


The second novel in Joel Rosenberg’s bestselling Guardians of the Flame series:


GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME

The Sleeping Dragon (#1)

The Sword and The Chain (#2)

The Silver Crown (#3)

The Heir Apparent (#4)

The Warrior Lives (#5)

Road to Ehvenor (#6)

The Road Home (#7)

Not Exactly the Three Musketeers (#8)

Not Quite Scaramouche (#9)

Not Really the Prisoner of Zenda (#10)


“A major star in the fantasy firmament” 

- Mike Resnick, author of STALKING THE UNICORN


“One of the few writers I deliberately seek out . . . His splendid stories are intricate and fast-paced and exciting.”

- Dennis L. McKiernan, author of VOYAGE OF THE FOX RIDER


“If I see a book with Joel Rosenberg’s name on it, I buy it . . . His plots are fast-moving, meticulously crafted . . . his works are page-turners from first to last.”

- S.M. Stirling, author of MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA


“One of the leading lights in fantasy.”

- William R. Forstchen


“Joel Rosenberg writes fantasy rich with intelligent humor and gritty, well-researched detail.”

- Janny Wurts


Joel Rosenberg (1954-2011) grew up reading Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Gordon R. Dickson and Rafael Sabatini, and found himself becoming a writer pretty much as a natural outcome of such early influences. 


He is best known as the author of the Guardians of the Flame fantasy series, although his other science fiction and fantasy -- particularly the Mordred's Heirs series, published by Baen Books -- has been drawing him new fans. 


Outside of science fiction and fantasy, he was known as a terrific amateur cook, a particularly good firearms instructor and remarkably bad bridge player. He lived in Minneapolis MN, with his wife Felicia Herman and two daughters, five cats, and the most useless dog ever born.