Scan barcode
karionie's review against another edition
3.0
Hard-boiled detective stories, with a supernatural twist. Who knew there were so many variations on that theme? I bought this because I enjoy Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, but the other stories in this collection are solid. I enjoy Kat Richardson's contribution so much that I sought out the Greywalker series immediately. It was a new one for me, so that was a good find. Over all, an enjoyable read.
jennygagne's review against another edition
5.0
Four fantastic narrators and four really interesting stories. I was already familiar with Harry Dresden, but not the rest of the characters, so I was pleasantly surprised that not being familiar with the other three didn't hurt my enjoyment of the other stories! I don't want to spoil anything, but these PIs took me to some really interesting places!
bioniclib's review against another edition
5.0
I only read The Warrior, the Dresden Files story.
It features Michael, which I love. He's a great steady character. Unshakable faith and confidence...except when a father from the group of priests that are also fighters kidnaps one of his kids. It takes Harry's prompting to stop Michael from doing something he'll regret.
I loved the theme of small things making a big difference and how horribly wrong actions born from good intentions can go.
It features Michael, which I love. He's a great steady character. Unshakable faith and confidence...except when a father from the group of priests that are also fighters kidnaps one of his kids. It takes Harry's prompting to stop Michael from doing something he'll regret.
I loved the theme of small things making a big difference and how horribly wrong actions born from good intentions can go.
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
An anthology of four short stories in four series of urban fantasy.
Series:
"The Warrior" (Dresden Files, 10.5)
"Difference a Day Makes" (Nightside, 9.5)
"Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" (Greywalker, 5.5)
"Noah's Orphans" (Remy Chandler, 1.5)
The Stories
Jim Butcher's "The Warrior" is a part of the Dresden Files urban fantasy series and occurs after Michael has retired leaving custody of two swords with Harry. A situation profoundly despised by someone who must be a part of the Catholic Church as whom else could possibly know of his/her existence. That someone is trying very hard to get Harry's attention as they keep sending Harry photos which appear to be stalking Michael's family. Michael, of course, believes that he's protected. A belief that is shattered when one of his daughters is kidnapped. A very typical Harry Dresden story.
Simon R. Green's "Difference a Day Makes" is part of the Nightside urban fantasy series with its overtones of Sam Spade. It provides an in-depth look at the weirdness of the Nightside as John Taylor takes on the case of a woman who has lost the past 24 hours of her life and has never heard of the Nightside. A fascinating story with a hint of kink at the end.
Kat Richardson's "Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" is part of the Greywalker urban fantasy series and explores the spiritual nature of the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities. This is the first of the series that I've read and I'm of two minds as to exploring it further: Richardson has not written Harper Blaine's character in such a way that it intrigues me to learn more of her life (death??) and yet she has written this short story with such an interesting twist that I'm curious as to how she treats a full-length story.
Thomas E. Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans" is good; part of the Remy Chandler urban fantasy series. This short story intrigues with Noah (from Noah's ark fame) in modern day feeling guilty for having abandoned a species when he was loading his ark. Having rediscovered the species, Noah fully intends to make it up to them in direct contradiction to how the Grigori feel about it.
Series:
"The Warrior" (Dresden Files, 10.5)
"Difference a Day Makes" (Nightside, 9.5)
"Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" (Greywalker, 5.5)
"Noah's Orphans" (Remy Chandler, 1.5)
The Stories
Jim Butcher's "The Warrior" is a part of the Dresden Files urban fantasy series and occurs after Michael has retired leaving custody of two swords with Harry. A situation profoundly despised by someone who must be a part of the Catholic Church as whom else could possibly know of his/her existence. That someone is trying very hard to get Harry's attention as they keep sending Harry photos which appear to be stalking Michael's family. Michael, of course, believes that he's protected. A belief that is shattered when one of his daughters is kidnapped. A very typical Harry Dresden story.
Simon R. Green's "Difference a Day Makes" is part of the Nightside urban fantasy series with its overtones of Sam Spade. It provides an in-depth look at the weirdness of the Nightside as John Taylor takes on the case of a woman who has lost the past 24 hours of her life and has never heard of the Nightside. A fascinating story with a hint of kink at the end.
Kat Richardson's "Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" is part of the Greywalker urban fantasy series and explores the spiritual nature of the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities. This is the first of the series that I've read and I'm of two minds as to exploring it further: Richardson has not written Harper Blaine's character in such a way that it intrigues me to learn more of her life (death??) and yet she has written this short story with such an interesting twist that I'm curious as to how she treats a full-length story.
Thomas E. Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans" is good; part of the Remy Chandler urban fantasy series. This short story intrigues with Noah (from Noah's ark fame) in modern day feeling guilty for having abandoned a species when he was loading his ark. Having rediscovered the species, Noah fully intends to make it up to them in direct contradiction to how the Grigori feel about it.
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of four novellas, all about supernatural detectives. I quite enjoyed the book. I knew two of the authors before hand, and found two new ones to like. Over all, I gave the book 4 stars, but the work was not completely even across the board.
"The Warrior" by [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg] - 4.5 stars. If Butcher had a more inspired hand with the language itself, this one would be a 5 star story. We got to learn more about the Carpenters in this story, and about the Knights of the Cross. We see parts of Michael Carpenter that have been missing. Dresden himself, though the POV character, is really a secondary character in this story. It works well, and we do get a very good picture of Harry's feelings for the Carpenters, and about the things that happen around him.
"What a Difference a Day Makes" by [a:Simon R. Green|1240|Jack London|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1183236326p2/1240.jpg] - 3 stars. I have only read one John Taylor novel, [b:Something from the Nightside|155421|Something from the Nightside (Nightside, #1)|Simon R. Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172260131s/155421.jpg|150023]. Taylor is like most of Green's characters - a larger than life (anti-)hero in an equally large and dangerous situation. However, the story felt very disjointed, and the noir-esque monologues were poorly handled this time. It did remind me that I need to read another one of those novels, though.
"The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" by [a:Kat Richardson|81017|Kat Richardson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg] - 4 stars. I had never read anything by this author before, and I regret it. :) I liked this story a lot. The characters were engaging and believable. The story was complex without feeling contrived. There was a great deal of cultural information about Los Dias de los Muertos in Mexco. I am definitely getting some Greywalker books.
"Noah's Orphans" by [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|5951|Jeff Smith|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 3.5 stars. I tend to avoid most fiction with heavy Christian themes or symbolisms. It seems that most people writing it have an axe to grind or want to preach. Since I belong to several of the sorts of groups that the second group likes to preach against, and since I don't feel the need for reinforcement of my decision not to believe from the first group, they bore me. Sniegoski does neither. His world-building incorporates Biblical imagery and story, as well as apocryphal folklore, Enochian angel-lore, and a good dose of plain old imagination. His main character, a seraphim, is played for his struggling humanity rather than his angelic badassery. I'm not as excited about finding more Remy Chandler books as I am about Richardson's Harper Blaine, but he's definitely on the list.
"The Warrior" by [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg] - 4.5 stars. If Butcher had a more inspired hand with the language itself, this one would be a 5 star story. We got to learn more about the Carpenters in this story, and about the Knights of the Cross. We see parts of Michael Carpenter that have been missing. Dresden himself, though the POV character, is really a secondary character in this story. It works well, and we do get a very good picture of Harry's feelings for the Carpenters, and about the things that happen around him.
"What a Difference a Day Makes" by [a:Simon R. Green|1240|Jack London|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1183236326p2/1240.jpg] - 3 stars. I have only read one John Taylor novel, [b:Something from the Nightside|155421|Something from the Nightside (Nightside, #1)|Simon R. Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172260131s/155421.jpg|150023]. Taylor is like most of Green's characters - a larger than life (anti-)hero in an equally large and dangerous situation. However, the story felt very disjointed, and the noir-esque monologues were poorly handled this time. It did remind me that I need to read another one of those novels, though.
"The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" by [a:Kat Richardson|81017|Kat Richardson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg] - 4 stars. I had never read anything by this author before, and I regret it. :) I liked this story a lot. The characters were engaging and believable. The story was complex without feeling contrived. There was a great deal of cultural information about Los Dias de los Muertos in Mexco. I am definitely getting some Greywalker books.
"Noah's Orphans" by [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|5951|Jeff Smith|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] - 3.5 stars. I tend to avoid most fiction with heavy Christian themes or symbolisms. It seems that most people writing it have an axe to grind or want to preach. Since I belong to several of the sorts of groups that the second group likes to preach against, and since I don't feel the need for reinforcement of my decision not to believe from the first group, they bore me. Sniegoski does neither. His world-building incorporates Biblical imagery and story, as well as apocryphal folklore, Enochian angel-lore, and a good dose of plain old imagination. His main character, a seraphim, is played for his struggling humanity rather than his angelic badassery. I'm not as excited about finding more Remy Chandler books as I am about Richardson's Harper Blaine, but he's definitely on the list.
charitypink's review against another edition
5.0
I have read Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kat Richardson's Greywalker series, but because of this book, I have two new authors to check out! yay!
misterjay's review against another edition
4.0
This book is what you might call a sampler. There are four original, novella length stories here, each featuring a protagonist who is a private investigator of some kind in a world where magic and magical denizens are real.
Jim Butcher gives us a Harry Dresden story. Harry has to help his friend Michael, who, although recovered from the injuries he received in "White Night" has still retired from carrying a hold sword. Someone is stalking Michael's family, trying to get his sword. A fight ensues, naturally enough and Harry has some thinking to do. Really good and fits into the overall Dresden timeline well. Standard, exciting, page-turning Butcher fare.
Simon R. Green gives us a story of the Nightside, an unseen version of London where anything can and does happen. The hero is John Taylor, a magician and P.I. who has a gift for finding things. A woman finds him in a bar sharing a drink with his friend Dead Boy; she's hysterical and has no memory of the past 24 hours. Taylor and DB set out to help her find her missing memories and they do, but at a hell of a cost.
Kat Richardson tells us a ghost story from Oaxaca, Mexico, featuring scandal, betrayal, surly teenagers, old mystics and a little clay dog. Our heroine is Harper Blaine, called the Greywalker after she died for two minutes and came back being able to see and interact with ghosts, witches, angels, and whatever else may come out of the grey. What I enjoyed most about this story was the attention to detail. Richardson sets the stage with details of Mexican life and celebrations and occasional bits of Spanish dialogue in a way that turns an ordinary investigation story into something much more powerful.
Thomas E. Sniegoski brings us a story of the angel Remiel, who has endeavored to become more like God's chosen creation, more human. His wife has recently died and he is in mourning. Another angel visits him to tell him that Noah (he of the ark and dove) has been killed. The religious mythology is woven into a who dunnit story seemlessly and with a lot of style. Some of the dialogue seemed a little stilted, but the actions and characters more than made up for that.
While I was already a huge Jim Butcher fan, this book achieved its goal in that I have already searched out and ordered the first books featuring the heros and heroine from the other three authors. Good purchase. Worth the money and a great read for any fan of any of the protagonists who is looking for more of the same.
Jim Butcher gives us a Harry Dresden story. Harry has to help his friend Michael, who, although recovered from the injuries he received in "White Night" has still retired from carrying a hold sword. Someone is stalking Michael's family, trying to get his sword. A fight ensues, naturally enough and Harry has some thinking to do. Really good and fits into the overall Dresden timeline well. Standard, exciting, page-turning Butcher fare.
Simon R. Green gives us a story of the Nightside, an unseen version of London where anything can and does happen. The hero is John Taylor, a magician and P.I. who has a gift for finding things. A woman finds him in a bar sharing a drink with his friend Dead Boy; she's hysterical and has no memory of the past 24 hours. Taylor and DB set out to help her find her missing memories and they do, but at a hell of a cost.
Kat Richardson tells us a ghost story from Oaxaca, Mexico, featuring scandal, betrayal, surly teenagers, old mystics and a little clay dog. Our heroine is Harper Blaine, called the Greywalker after she died for two minutes and came back being able to see and interact with ghosts, witches, angels, and whatever else may come out of the grey. What I enjoyed most about this story was the attention to detail. Richardson sets the stage with details of Mexican life and celebrations and occasional bits of Spanish dialogue in a way that turns an ordinary investigation story into something much more powerful.
Thomas E. Sniegoski brings us a story of the angel Remiel, who has endeavored to become more like God's chosen creation, more human. His wife has recently died and he is in mourning. Another angel visits him to tell him that Noah (he of the ark and dove) has been killed. The religious mythology is woven into a who dunnit story seemlessly and with a lot of style. Some of the dialogue seemed a little stilted, but the actions and characters more than made up for that.
While I was already a huge Jim Butcher fan, this book achieved its goal in that I have already searched out and ordered the first books featuring the heros and heroine from the other three authors. Good purchase. Worth the money and a great read for any fan of any of the protagonists who is looking for more of the same.
aliciaking3's review against another edition
4.0
The Butcher one was as good as ever. I'm still on the fence about Green's writing. Kat Richardson made me go find her book, as did Sniegoski. I love love love discovering authors I want to read.