Michael Z. Williamson

The stories are linked as they trace the history of a single sword, from its forging in Japan in the third century BC through to Williamson's Freehold of Grainne in the 24th century.

Mark Lardas praised the authors for creating a coherent anthology while attempting "something original [by] telling a story through an object."

He described the result as an "engaging book".

The science fiction review magazine Tangent described the work as a celebration of "soldiers and their tools" that is satisfying to those for whom that premise appeals.

Michael Z. Williamson (born 1967) is an American military science fiction and military fiction author best known for his libertarian-themed Freehold series published by Baen Books.

Williamson was born in 1967 in Birkenhead, England.

His family moved to Canada, then to Newark, Ohio, where he graduated from Newark High School in 1985.

After high school, he joined the military and served in a support role in the Air Force for 5 years, then in the Air and Army National Guard, for a total of 22 years.

Williamson's military career included service with the US Air Force in deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Williamson has three children and is married.

Between 2004 and 2016, Williamson published eight Freehold novels, exploring military and political themes as well as first contact with alien beings.

Work outside the Freehold universe includes The Hero (2004), written with John Ringo, and the time travel story A Long Time Until Now (2014).

Short fiction by Williamson includes the story "Soft Casualty", an exploration of psychological warfare which won a readers' choice award organized by Baen Books.

Williamson's first book, Freehold, was released in January 2004 and made #3 on the April 2004 Locus Bestsellers list for science-fiction and fantasy paperbacks.

Freehold tells the story of Kendra Pacelli, a young soldier who begins the book in the service of a world-dominant, authoritarian United Nations.

Accused of a crime she did not commit, she flees Earth for the Freehold of Grainne where she struggles to adapt to the climate and culture of an ultra-libertarian planet.

She eventually joins the Freehold military and fights in a war against a UN invasion.

Williamson has remarked that the main character is partially based on himself and his experience immigrating from the UK to Canada and the United States.

Don D'Ammassa criticized Freehold as a political tract with an oversimplified and unrealistic view of humanity calling it a "very long but frankly not very entertaining diatribe".

Michael M. Jones of SF Site conversely called Williamson's portrayal of a libertarian society "sound and believable" and described the book as "a satisfactory debut".

Ginger Armstrong of Kliatt called Freehold a "highly readable SF adventure" with "a strong female protagonist".

Carolyn Cushman of Locus noted heavy emphasis on the exposition of Libertarian ideology with plotting and pacing taking a back seat but described the novel as "amazingly entertaining".

Many of Williamson's other works are set in the universe established in Freehold.

Among works not set in the Freehold universe is Williamson's second novel, The Hero (2004), which was written with John Ringo and made the Locus Bestseller list in February 2006.

The book is a part of the Legacy of the Aldenata series.

It appeared in German as Invasion – Heldentaten and in Russian as Герой.

Williamson has also written the Target: Terror (2004–2005) military fiction series which is set in the world of the Target: Terror arcade game.

Other novels set in the Freehold universe include Better to Beg Forgiveness... (2007) which Mark Lardas of the Galveston Daily News praised as an "exciting and violent adventure" and Rogue (2011) which he described as Williamson setting "a new, higher standard for himself".

One is Contact with Chaos (2009) where humanity has first contact with alien beings.

This becomes a further source of conflict between the United Nations and the Freeholders.

In a review of the book, Joseph T. Major praised Williamson for refraining from heavy-handed political messages and instead creating "a diverse, varied human interplanetary society ... trying to understand an exotic, alternative nonhuman society".

The novel Do Unto Others (2010) made the Wall Street Journal best-seller list in hardcover science fiction and Angeleyes (2016) sold in more than 100,000 copies.

His stand-alone novels include the time-travel story A Long Time Until Now (2014) which was praised for its characterization and survivalist elements.

Williamson's Wisdom From My Internet, a collection of witticisms and political polemic from the Internet, was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Related Work in 2015, as part of the Sad Puppies campaign.

As of 2016, Williamson's books had sold half a million copies.

This was followed by the Forged in Blood (2017) and Freehold: Resistance (2019) anthologies, consisting of short stories taking place in the Freehold universe, some by Williamson and some by other authors, including Larry Correia, Tony Daniel, Tom Kratman and Brad R. Torgersen.

Williamson was the editor of Forged in Blood, which was released in September 2017.

The book is set in Williamson's Freehold universe and he also wrote or co-wrote five of its 16 stories; other contributors included Larry Correia, Tony Daniel, and Tom Kratman.

A further anthology, Freehold: Resistance, was released in December 2019.

Reviewers praised the tight braiding together of the different contributions to form "a mosaic novel masquerading as an anthology".