stacieh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
sophiarose1816's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
An irresistible anthology loaded with urban fantasy from so many favorite and new to me authors compelled me to pick it up and dive into the riches within.
“Little Things” by Jim Butcher, narrated by James Marstairs
Dresden Files story
Tiny, but brave pixie hero discovers their castle is infiltrated and sets out to save the day when Harry is sad and trying to keep up with new responsibilities. Whimsical and fun-action!
“The Dark Ship” by Anne Bishop, narrated by Alexandra Harris
The Others story
An intuit and Terre Indigene sea tale on the Cel-Romano coast. Loved the tone to the intuit girl's story. She can't help saving others even when her circumstances are dire. Very satisfying!
“Comfort Zone” by Kelley Armstrong, narrated by Cassandra Morris
A Darkest Powers story
A necromancer and her werewolf boyfriend are trying to find a balance between hiding from the danger to them and stepping in to help others in desperate circumstances. Exciting and heartwarming!
“Train to Last Hope” by Annie Bellet, narrated by Maggie Meg Reed
Oh the ache of a parent who lost her child. A hearth witch and her Reaper wife go on one last search to find their missing daughter. Bittersweet, beautiful story.
“Fire Hazard” by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels
Iron Druid story
Atticus takes Oberon and Starbuck to fight the fires in Australia. He is worried there might be a supernatural influence. Oberon learns the difference between sausage and courage. Funny and whimsical adventure.
“Grave Gambles” by RR Virdi, narrated by Travis Baldree
A Grave Report story
Vincent hops dead bodies to solve their murders by monsters and I was intrigued by my first encounter with the series.
“Silverspell” by Chloe Neill, narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman
Heir of Chicagoland story
Alisa and Connor work a case of a werewolf murdered and dark magic in the air. I enjoyed my first dip into the Chicagoland Vampire world and spin off Heirs of Chicagoland.
“Troll Life” by Kerrie L Hughes, narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins
The coolest of worldbuilding- a troll minding a train station for supernaturals, his pet barghest, sentient trains, and a missing gargoyle child adventure. Favorite new to me author story of the book!
“The Return of the Mage” by Charlaine Harris, narrated by Johanna Parker
A world of Sookie Stackhouse story
An adventure for a pair of familiar Britlingen mercs. I liked encountering Batanya and Clovache once again. Sent on a rescue op that goes wrong. Abrupt ending leaving some loose ends.
“The Vampires Karamazov” by Nancy Holder, narrated by Daniel Henning
Alexei, his brothers, and his father are a family of Russian vampires in NYC. Alexei does not embrace vampirism and is very religious. His father is the opposite and no good. A tortured hero story.
“The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic” by Jennifer Brosek, narrated by Nancy Linari
A Karen Wilson Chronicles story
A mysterious artifact arrives at the museum where Maureen works and it takes all of her and Felicia's pragmatic magic skills to deal with the trouble that is unleashed. I was left with a few question, but I want more of the series.
“Dating Terrors” by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham
An Alpha and Omega story
Asil's latest blind date takes him to Seattle for a ghost hunting date where he encounters a fae witch with a big monster problem. Something about Ruby has his wolf feeling whole and like he did before losing his mate. I need more Asil and the whole Alpha and Omega world.
Alas, the stories are through and I reveled in several, was entertained by all, and left with satisfaction at favorite authors' stories and discovery of a few new to me authors' books I need to pursue further. Most of these could be read as standalones and enjoyed as samplings to the authors, but I also appreciated the added pleasure of already being familiar with worlds and characters in the ones I knew. Bonus that regular series narrators were the readers and all did fab. Urban Fantasy fans should consider this a treat to read.
“Little Things” by Jim Butcher, narrated by James Marstairs
Dresden Files story
Tiny, but brave pixie hero discovers their castle is infiltrated and sets out to save the day when Harry is sad and trying to keep up with new responsibilities. Whimsical and fun-action!
“The Dark Ship” by Anne Bishop, narrated by Alexandra Harris
The Others story
An intuit and Terre Indigene sea tale on the Cel-Romano coast. Loved the tone to the intuit girl's story. She can't help saving others even when her circumstances are dire. Very satisfying!
“Comfort Zone” by Kelley Armstrong, narrated by Cassandra Morris
A Darkest Powers story
A necromancer and her werewolf boyfriend are trying to find a balance between hiding from the danger to them and stepping in to help others in desperate circumstances. Exciting and heartwarming!
“Train to Last Hope” by Annie Bellet, narrated by Maggie Meg Reed
Oh the ache of a parent who lost her child. A hearth witch and her Reaper wife go on one last search to find their missing daughter. Bittersweet, beautiful story.
“Fire Hazard” by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels
Iron Druid story
Atticus takes Oberon and Starbuck to fight the fires in Australia. He is worried there might be a supernatural influence. Oberon learns the difference between sausage and courage. Funny and whimsical adventure.
“Grave Gambles” by RR Virdi, narrated by Travis Baldree
A Grave Report story
Vincent hops dead bodies to solve their murders by monsters and I was intrigued by my first encounter with the series.
“Silverspell” by Chloe Neill, narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman
Heir of Chicagoland story
Alisa and Connor work a case of a werewolf murdered and dark magic in the air. I enjoyed my first dip into the Chicagoland Vampire world and spin off Heirs of Chicagoland.
“Troll Life” by Kerrie L Hughes, narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins
The coolest of worldbuilding- a troll minding a train station for supernaturals, his pet barghest, sentient trains, and a missing gargoyle child adventure. Favorite new to me author story of the book!
“The Return of the Mage” by Charlaine Harris, narrated by Johanna Parker
A world of Sookie Stackhouse story
An adventure for a pair of familiar Britlingen mercs. I liked encountering Batanya and Clovache once again. Sent on a rescue op that goes wrong. Abrupt ending leaving some loose ends.
“The Vampires Karamazov” by Nancy Holder, narrated by Daniel Henning
Alexei, his brothers, and his father are a family of Russian vampires in NYC. Alexei does not embrace vampirism and is very religious. His father is the opposite and no good. A tortured hero story.
“The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic” by Jennifer Brosek, narrated by Nancy Linari
A Karen Wilson Chronicles story
A mysterious artifact arrives at the museum where Maureen works and it takes all of her and Felicia's pragmatic magic skills to deal with the trouble that is unleashed. I was left with a few question, but I want more of the series.
“Dating Terrors” by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham
An Alpha and Omega story
Asil's latest blind date takes him to Seattle for a ghost hunting date where he encounters a fae witch with a big monster problem. Something about Ruby has his wolf feeling whole and like he did before losing his mate. I need more Asil and the whole Alpha and Omega world.
Alas, the stories are through and I reveled in several, was entertained by all, and left with satisfaction at favorite authors' stories and discovery of a few new to me authors' books I need to pursue further. Most of these could be read as standalones and enjoyed as samplings to the authors, but I also appreciated the added pleasure of already being familiar with worlds and characters in the ones I knew. Bonus that regular series narrators were the readers and all did fab. Urban Fantasy fans should consider this a treat to read.
myfrogmonster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Not a bad collection of short stories. I found at least 2 authors I would like to read further and a couple that I can skip. Or at least skip the audiobook as the narrator(s) were not the best.
I was pleasantly surprised by a story from Patricia Briggs - a side story about one of the supporting characters in Bran's pack. I didn't remember her contributing a story so it was fun to hear that one.
All in all an entertaining audiobook for a long road trip.
I was pleasantly surprised by a story from Patricia Briggs - a side story about one of the supporting characters in Bran's pack. I didn't remember her contributing a story so it was fun to hear that one.
All in all an entertaining audiobook for a long road trip.
read_to_write's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
A fun anthology of short stories by some of the biggest names in Fantasy today. Highly enjoyable.
a_ab's review
adventurous
medium-paced
2.0
Usually most multi-author short story collections amount to about 3*s for me, but I found this one even more uneven than I would expect and with the overall balance skewed towards less enjoyable than I would hope. Not in an aggressively upsetting or offensive way, mostly just steadfastly 'meh'.
Little Things by Jim Butcher — 1.5*s.
Not awful, but I know Butcher can write better short stories — I had read some of them. So this was disappointing.
The Dark Ship by Anne Bishop — 3*s.
I cannot say that I enjoyed this story, but it was intriguing enough to pique my curiosity about the world the story is set in and the non-human creatures mentioned in it. But probably not enough to go read full books about them.
Comfort Zone by Kelly Armstrong — 3*s.
I liked the main characters of this story, and their relationship, and how it was described and shown, but the plot of the story left me completely uninterested.
Train to Last Hope by Annie Bellet — 1*.
I did not enjoy this story at all — the writing style didn't work for me, and I didn't care for the plot. The only thing that appealed to me in the story was the same-sex parents setup, which was a breath of fresh air in this otherwise very heteronormative collection, but the poor handling of that representation almost made the whole situation worse, not better.
Fire Hazard by Kevin Hearne — 1*.
Even the cute animal perspective couldn't save this one for me. Again, not offensively awful, — just nothing I could find likable or interesting.
Grave Gambles by R.R. Virdi — 1.5*s.
Interesting concept, but in all other aspects the story and storytelling failed for me here.
Silverspell by Chloe Neill — 1*.
Perhaps, if I had read the series, I would have liked this story, but the story convinced me that I wouldn't have liked the series — not even a little bit. Sloppy writing and even sloppier characterizations and exposition.
Troll Life by Kerrie L. Hughes — 4*s.
This was one of the most pleasant surprises of the collection. I liked the main character (and the fact that in such a short story there was enough of the character to like) and, surprisingly, the unapologetically simplistic storytelling. This is another story that made me curious about its world, even though my mind wasn't quite buying the idea of sentient telepathic trains.
Return of the Mage by Charlaine Harris — 0.5*s.
One of the worst 2 stories in the collection (I was surprised to find more than 1 story competing for that dubious 'honor'). The writing and expression/characterizations didn't work at all. Either this is set in a series and the author expected all readers to be very familiar with the world and these particular characters (in which case I am not the right audience here), or this was a massive storytelling failure. But if this is the first scenario, the story must be nothing but fan service, because nothing about it made me even remotely curious to know more about any of it.
The Vampires Karamazov by Nancy Holder — 0.5*s.
This is the second contender for the place at bottom of the barrel. But in this case I am actually familiar with the Dostoyevsky's book it's 'inspired' by. That didn't help, however.
The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic by Jennifer Brozek — 2.5*s.
This story had strong cozy mystery wibes, but with witches and magic. Not special, but pleasant enough.
Dating Terrors by Patricia Briggs — 4.5*s.
This was the strongest story of the bunch. Well written and expertly told, with great characterizations (regardless of how likable or dislikable the characters were) despite the very short length of the story. In fact, I liked this story a whole lot more than the longer books I read by this author. I am not a fan of the whole shifter pack dynamics, especially as described here (and in Briggs' other books), so that was a source of irritation for me, but otherwise I really liked the story.
Little Things by Jim Butcher — 1.5*s.
Not awful, but I know Butcher can write better short stories — I had read some of them. So this was disappointing.
The Dark Ship by Anne Bishop — 3*s.
I cannot say that I enjoyed this story, but it was intriguing enough to pique my curiosity about the world the story is set in and the non-human creatures mentioned in it. But probably not enough to go read full books about them.
Comfort Zone by Kelly Armstrong — 3*s.
I liked the main characters of this story, and their relationship, and how it was described and shown, but the plot of the story left me completely uninterested.
Train to Last Hope by Annie Bellet — 1*.
I did not enjoy this story at all — the writing style didn't work for me, and I didn't care for the plot. The only thing that appealed to me in the story was the same-sex parents setup, which was a breath of fresh air in this otherwise very heteronormative collection, but the poor handling of that representation almost made the whole situation worse, not better.
Fire Hazard by Kevin Hearne — 1*.
Even the cute animal perspective couldn't save this one for me. Again, not offensively awful, — just nothing I could find likable or interesting.
Grave Gambles by R.R. Virdi — 1.5*s.
Interesting concept, but in all other aspects the story and storytelling failed for me here.
Silverspell by Chloe Neill — 1*.
Perhaps, if I had read the series, I would have liked this story, but the story convinced me that I wouldn't have liked the series — not even a little bit. Sloppy writing and even sloppier characterizations and exposition.
Troll Life by Kerrie L. Hughes — 4*s.
This was one of the most pleasant surprises of the collection. I liked the main character (and the fact that in such a short story there was enough of the character to like) and, surprisingly, the unapologetically simplistic storytelling. This is another story that made me curious about its world, even though my mind wasn't quite buying the idea of sentient telepathic trains.
Return of the Mage by Charlaine Harris — 0.5*s.
One of the worst 2 stories in the collection (I was surprised to find more than 1 story competing for that dubious 'honor'). The writing and expression/characterizations didn't work at all. Either this is set in a series and the author expected all readers to be very familiar with the world and these particular characters (in which case I am not the right audience here), or this was a massive storytelling failure. But if this is the first scenario, the story must be nothing but fan service, because nothing about it made me even remotely curious to know more about any of it.
The Vampires Karamazov by Nancy Holder — 0.5*s.
This is the second contender for the place at bottom of the barrel. But in this case I am actually familiar with the Dostoyevsky's book it's 'inspired' by. That didn't help, however.
The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic by Jennifer Brozek — 2.5*s.
This story had strong cozy mystery wibes, but with witches and magic. Not special, but pleasant enough.
Dating Terrors by Patricia Briggs — 4.5*s.
This was the strongest story of the bunch. Well written and expertly told, with great characterizations (regardless of how likable or dislikable the characters were) despite the very short length of the story. In fact, I liked this story a whole lot more than the longer books I read by this author. I am not a fan of the whole shifter pack dynamics, especially as described here (and in Briggs' other books), so that was a source of irritation for me, but otherwise I really liked the story.
chocolatereader's review against another edition
3.0
The Dresden short story was alright. Now off too the next novella he released recently.
jvilches's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
jakobitz's review
4.0
Short story anthologies are pretty hit-and-miss with me. I only picked up this one because I enjoy the works of Butcher and Briggs, and I am so glad I did. This is a solid collection of fantasy short stories that mostly requires little to no foreknowledge of each authors’ oeuvre (ironically enough, I would say the only exception is Butcher’s chapter, which kicks off the anthology and would be pretty disorienting to someone unfamiliar with the Dresden Files). For me, the standout stories were Comfort Zone, by Kelley Armstrong, and Troll Life, by Kerrie L. Hughes. Both provided a glimpse into intriguing worlds, and told engaging character driven tales with hints of worldbuilding.
mssunnyskies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
carebear11's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0