A review by a_ab
Heroic Hearts by Chloe Neill, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs, Rachel Caine, Anne Bishop, Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes
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.