For the first time, these three stand-alone SideQuest adventures, set in the alternate history world of the popular Foreworld Saga, are collected in a single volume The Beast of Calatrava, by Mark Teppo, is an intriguing alternate history tale in which both a battle-scarred former knight with a blood-soaked history and a monk with a mysterious past face the encroaching Templar crusade and the war coming to Iberia. In The Shield-Maiden, by Michael "Tinker" Pearce and Linda Pearce, a headstrong and skilled young Viking woman struggles through the stigmas of her time to claim her spot among the fiercest of fighters. The Lion in Chains, by Angus Trim and Mark Teppo, is a visionary adventure in which the legendary Robin Hood joins forces with a clandestine order of warrior monks to rescue the kidnapped King Richard the Lionheart.

本書は、歴史の隙間に潜む「もしも」を鮮烈に描くオルタネイト・ヒストリーの傑作です。十字軍やヴァイキングの時代を舞台に、史実を超えた生々しい個の意志を浮き彫りにします。運命に抗う英雄たちの姿には、歴史の重層的な奥行きと文学的な格調が備わっています。 特に、規範に縛られた魂が己の居場所を勝ち取る精神の力強さは圧巻です。ロビン・フッド等の象徴的存在が謎めいた騎士団と交錯する展開は、読者の冒険心を激しく揺さぶります。冷徹な空気感と熱き情熱が融合した、深遠な人間ドラマをぜひ堪能してください。