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. 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 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. 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".