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shinyfox's review
3.0
Hit and miss on some of the stories. There are one or two that stand out in my mind ('A Questionable Client' and 'Beknighted') and the other stories I can only vaguely remember what they were about.
After flipping through the book again one other story stood out that I had loved, but forgotten the title too. "Even a Rabbit will bite". Bit of a twist ending that had me tearing up. Lovely story and I plan on pursuing more of this particular authors works (Rachel Caine).
3.5 stars
After flipping through the book again one other story stood out that I had loved, but forgotten the title too. "Even a Rabbit will bite". Bit of a twist ending that had me tearing up. Lovely story and I plan on pursuing more of this particular authors works (Rachel Caine).
3.5 stars
jungle_catfish's review
3.0
Enjoyed the stories by Andrews, both Butchers, Elrod, Caine, and Vaughn. The Pettersson one was pretty good too. The Knight story was truly awful. I don't know how that one got stuck in here. I would have given this collection four stars if that story hadn't been included.
nancyotoole's review
3.0
Dark and Stormy Knights is an anthology of longer short stories by some of the biggest names in urban fantasy. The theme this time in anti-heroes. Each story focuses on some sort of a bad boy/girl type character, such as a vigilante, or a mercenary. The story can be part of a larger universe that the author has created, or something completely stand alone. The end result is a solid, if somewhat uneven batch of short stories. Of the the nine stories, five of them were really satisfactory to me. Of the remaining four, I felt pretty conflicted about three of them, and only really disliked one. For a paranormal anthology, that's a pretty good track record.
For a complete list of contents, and brief review of each, please continue.
A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews- The first story takes places in Andrews's Kate Daniels series. In A Questionable Client, Kate, a mercenary, get's hired to protect a man with a secret. I found this story to be very easy to get into, despite having no knowledge of the larger universe coming in. The heroine was likable and the supernatural forces refreshingly outside the norm for the genre. I'm seriously considering picking up the novels in this series.
Even Hand by Jim Butcher- Even Hand was my main reason for expressing interest in this anthology. Fans of The Dresden Files will appreciate getting a glimpse in the mind of of the gangster Marcone. I've always been fascinated by human characters like Marcone who somehow manage to survive in Harry's world despite being surrounded by beings infinitely more powerful then themselves. Although Even Hand is not the strongest Dresden File short story, it has a satisfying amount of action, and a bit of a twist at the end.
The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher- In Shannon Butcher's story, innocent individuals (called beacons) have the power to unintentionally summon demons. Our hero (Ryder) hunts down beacons and kills them before their abilities are triggered. That is until his next target turns out to be a child. I have never picked up a Shannon Butcher novel mainly because she is more of a romance novelist, which isn't really my thing. I was a little surprised to find out that The Beacon is not a romance story at all, and is filled with plenty of action. I was pretty happy with the result, even though I didn't find the main female character to be as interesting as the main male character.
Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine. I have to admit, I kind of groaned when I saw that there was a Rachel Caine story in this anthology. This is because I have been dissatisfied with every short story I have read by her, and I haven't been that happy with her full length novels either. I even considered skipping over it. Then I saw that she had written about dragons, and I knew that skipping was not an option. I am so glad that I did that, as Even a Rabbit Will Bite is probably the most satisfying story in this anthology. It tells the story of an ancient Dragonslayer, who must pass on her training to the next generation. Even a Rabbit Will Bite is well structured story with an ending that I did not see coming. Reading this has taught me to be a little more open minded about Rachel Caine's work.
Dark Lady by P.N. Elrod. Jack Fleming is a vampire detective living in the crime filled Chicago of the 1930s. In Dark Lady, Jack takes on a woman's case, and almost loses his life in the process. I've been curious about book series that Jack Fleming stars in for a while. As I enjoy the mixture of noir and supernatural found in The Dresden Files, I've been curious about this series, which is even stronger on the noir. In the end, even though I found the setting to be fascinating and enjoyed the protagonist, I struggled to connect with the story itself.
Beknighted by Deidre Knight. In Beknighted, an artist struggles to free a knight who's been trapped in a puzzle box. To me, this was a really interesting premise, but the execution of it wasn't to my liking. I thought that the world building was a little sloppy, making the story slightly confusing. I did not like the mix of overly dramatic dialogue with more modern speech. I also could not connect emotionally with any of the characters, and often had a hard time understanding their motivations. Although I must give Deidre Knight the credit for having the most original short story in the batch, I cannot say that I enjoyed it.
Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson. Shifting Star tells the story of Skamar, an individual not born, but created by an agent of light. Shifting Star takes places in Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series. Although I have read the first two novels in this series, this one takes place further down the time line, and therefore spoiled me for events in the series (whoops). One thing I liked about Shifting Star was it's protagonist. I feel that that the kidnapping storyline was less successful, as was the romantic aspect. As a result, I felt conflicted over this story.
Rookwood and Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow. In this story, a vampire named Rookwood agrees to help a wealthy housewife whose undead husband is trying to turn her into a vampire as well. The story itself moved quickly, and kept my attention, which was good. I also liked the concept of struggled against “the thirst.” Unfortunately, the twists and turns didn't have much of an impact on me, due to not caring too deeply for the protagonist. As a result, I felt kind of blah about this story.
God's Creatures by Carrie Vaughn. Vaughn's contribution is one of my favorites and a great way to end this anthology. Fans of The Kitty Norville Series will recognize it's protagonist, Cormac. In God's Creatures, Cormac is summoned to hunt down a violent werewolf. Although the result was a little predictable, I can't deny that this was an engrossing story. I really enjoyed getting a closer look into Cormac's head.
I conclusion, although there are a few stories that didn't work for me, I feel as if the good content outweighs the bad in this anthology, thanks to contributions by Ilona Andres, Jim and Shannon Butcher, Rachel Caine and Carrie Vaughn.
For a complete list of contents, and brief review of each, please continue.
A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews- The first story takes places in Andrews's Kate Daniels series. In A Questionable Client, Kate, a mercenary, get's hired to protect a man with a secret. I found this story to be very easy to get into, despite having no knowledge of the larger universe coming in. The heroine was likable and the supernatural forces refreshingly outside the norm for the genre. I'm seriously considering picking up the novels in this series.
Even Hand by Jim Butcher- Even Hand was my main reason for expressing interest in this anthology. Fans of The Dresden Files will appreciate getting a glimpse in the mind of of the gangster Marcone. I've always been fascinated by human characters like Marcone who somehow manage to survive in Harry's world despite being surrounded by beings infinitely more powerful then themselves. Although Even Hand is not the strongest Dresden File short story, it has a satisfying amount of action, and a bit of a twist at the end.
The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher- In Shannon Butcher's story, innocent individuals (called beacons) have the power to unintentionally summon demons. Our hero (Ryder) hunts down beacons and kills them before their abilities are triggered. That is until his next target turns out to be a child. I have never picked up a Shannon Butcher novel mainly because she is more of a romance novelist, which isn't really my thing. I was a little surprised to find out that The Beacon is not a romance story at all, and is filled with plenty of action. I was pretty happy with the result, even though I didn't find the main female character to be as interesting as the main male character.
Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine. I have to admit, I kind of groaned when I saw that there was a Rachel Caine story in this anthology. This is because I have been dissatisfied with every short story I have read by her, and I haven't been that happy with her full length novels either. I even considered skipping over it. Then I saw that she had written about dragons, and I knew that skipping was not an option. I am so glad that I did that, as Even a Rabbit Will Bite is probably the most satisfying story in this anthology. It tells the story of an ancient Dragonslayer, who must pass on her training to the next generation. Even a Rabbit Will Bite is well structured story with an ending that I did not see coming. Reading this has taught me to be a little more open minded about Rachel Caine's work.
Dark Lady by P.N. Elrod. Jack Fleming is a vampire detective living in the crime filled Chicago of the 1930s. In Dark Lady, Jack takes on a woman's case, and almost loses his life in the process. I've been curious about book series that Jack Fleming stars in for a while. As I enjoy the mixture of noir and supernatural found in The Dresden Files, I've been curious about this series, which is even stronger on the noir. In the end, even though I found the setting to be fascinating and enjoyed the protagonist, I struggled to connect with the story itself.
Beknighted by Deidre Knight. In Beknighted, an artist struggles to free a knight who's been trapped in a puzzle box. To me, this was a really interesting premise, but the execution of it wasn't to my liking. I thought that the world building was a little sloppy, making the story slightly confusing. I did not like the mix of overly dramatic dialogue with more modern speech. I also could not connect emotionally with any of the characters, and often had a hard time understanding their motivations. Although I must give Deidre Knight the credit for having the most original short story in the batch, I cannot say that I enjoyed it.
Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson. Shifting Star tells the story of Skamar, an individual not born, but created by an agent of light. Shifting Star takes places in Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series. Although I have read the first two novels in this series, this one takes place further down the time line, and therefore spoiled me for events in the series (whoops). One thing I liked about Shifting Star was it's protagonist. I feel that that the kidnapping storyline was less successful, as was the romantic aspect. As a result, I felt conflicted over this story.
Rookwood and Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow. In this story, a vampire named Rookwood agrees to help a wealthy housewife whose undead husband is trying to turn her into a vampire as well. The story itself moved quickly, and kept my attention, which was good. I also liked the concept of struggled against “the thirst.” Unfortunately, the twists and turns didn't have much of an impact on me, due to not caring too deeply for the protagonist. As a result, I felt kind of blah about this story.
God's Creatures by Carrie Vaughn. Vaughn's contribution is one of my favorites and a great way to end this anthology. Fans of The Kitty Norville Series will recognize it's protagonist, Cormac. In God's Creatures, Cormac is summoned to hunt down a violent werewolf. Although the result was a little predictable, I can't deny that this was an engrossing story. I really enjoyed getting a closer look into Cormac's head.
I conclusion, although there are a few stories that didn't work for me, I feel as if the good content outweighs the bad in this anthology, thanks to contributions by Ilona Andres, Jim and Shannon Butcher, Rachel Caine and Carrie Vaughn.
miss_fish's review
Picked this up for the Jim Butcher/Dresden short story in it. Have to say, this is the first Dresden series short that is only a solid "meh."
Even Hand is written from John Marcone's point of view. It adds a little overall to the Dresden story, but Butcher maintains the writing style in which he writes Harry (short paragraphs, pauses, fairly emotional) for Marcone, which didn't work for the character. It felt like I was reading Marcone's story as narrated by Harry, rather than in what I imagine to be Marcone's voice.
That said, the story is, as always, a fun moment in Dresden's world. I'm not quite fan enough to remember when, exactly, the Fomor are introduced; this may be an early mention of them. Also a sentence or two that give Hendricks (Marcone's red-headed thug) the teensiest bit more humanity than Harry ever attributes to him.
I read two others in this collection, Shannon Butcher's The Beacon and Carrie Vaughn's God's Creatures. Butcher's story felt like it could have benefited from a few more pages of background story or character development. The characters made some inexplicable decisions that were straight out of a bad action movie.
Vaughn, on the other hand, never disappoints. I have yet to read any of her novels, but her short stories always make me wonder why I haven't. The bios sometimes suggest that the stories that pop up in these collections are based on recurring characters, but I never feel like I'm reading a chapter out of another book. They're complete, well formed, and interesting stories. I suppose it's time I sought out her novels.
Even Hand is written from John Marcone's point of view. It adds a little overall to the Dresden story, but Butcher maintains the writing style in which he writes Harry (short paragraphs, pauses, fairly emotional) for Marcone, which didn't work for the character. It felt like I was reading Marcone's story as narrated by Harry, rather than in what I imagine to be Marcone's voice.
That said, the story is, as always, a fun moment in Dresden's world. I'm not quite fan enough to remember when, exactly, the Fomor are introduced; this may be an early mention of them. Also a sentence or two that give Hendricks (Marcone's red-headed thug) the teensiest bit more humanity than Harry ever attributes to him.
I read two others in this collection, Shannon Butcher's The Beacon and Carrie Vaughn's God's Creatures. Butcher's story felt like it could have benefited from a few more pages of background story or character development. The characters made some inexplicable decisions that were straight out of a bad action movie.
Vaughn, on the other hand, never disappoints. I have yet to read any of her novels, but her short stories always make me wonder why I haven't. The bios sometimes suggest that the stories that pop up in these collections are based on recurring characters, but I never feel like I'm reading a chapter out of another book. They're complete, well formed, and interesting stories. I suppose it's time I sought out her novels.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of short stories by some of the best paranormal sci-fi writers out there. A great collection, fun to read. I wanted more - and I usually don't like short stories because they aren't quite as satisfying as a full novel, but these are an exception.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
librarycatnip's review against another edition
3.0
No, really. LOTS of SPOILERS.
And I got my Kitty fix and I got my Dresden fix and I got my Kate Daniels fix allinthesamebookanditwassocool!!!
I could jump on board with this anthology thing.....
The Kitty story directly interrogates the question of monstrosity. Pitting Cormac against a werewolf, who admittedly is beginning to lose control, but who has never killed a human being leaves both the reader and Cormac questioning the nature of monstrosity. There is no reference to where in the Kitty timeline this takes place, I would suspect earlier rather than later since Cormac's crush on Kitty and his cousin getting all monstrosified should have led him to this question far earlier in the series than where this sits by publication date.
Really, this question is at the heart of so much of the horror genre. What is humanity? What is monstrosity? Let's blur those lines a bit, now what do they look like, is that what they "really" are? Silence of the Lambs is a good example of this line blurring. Sure it is easy enough to code Buffalo Bill as a "monster," he's kidnapping and killing young women for their skins and all. But what about Lector? Monster? Yes.....killing people and making them into, ah, works of art is an easy monstrosity codification. But he also provides invaluable help in catching Buffalo Bill. That makes him, at the very least, a selectively helpful monster. And there is this aspect to his character like a flame to the metaphorical moth that we, the audience, embody. He is an old school gentleman. How does that quality jive with his cannibalistic and violent tendencies? We find ourselves unable to look away from his cleverness in manipulating the police who strive to keep him locked up. We even find ourselves rooting for him, maybe just a little, when he tries to escape his windowless prison. If he is a monster, why do we feel this way? This conundrum is the question of monstrosity that faces Cormac, and so many other characters (and their readers) in Urban Fantasy.
The Dresden story follows Johnny Marcone, suuuuuuuuper mobboss. This story confirmed my theory that Marcone is another form of condoned masculinity in the Dresdenverse. Motivated by the "dark secret" of a girl who took a bullet meant for him, Marcone has her closeted away on life support; not even the girl's mother knows the kid is alive (she incidentally was an antagonist in the first book and now works as a madame for Marcone and probably betrayed him in Small Favor). Here we learn that Marcone's one rule is "No Children." As in, keep the kids out of the crime. It comes out that he disguises this as protecting his business interests, but both the reader and his magical consultant (female, btw) are led to question this "business" as his sole motivation. Particularly after Harry rooting out the kid's existence and understanding the MASSIVE trouble Marcone went to with the Shroud to try curing her.
Harry is totally OCD about saving kids, even more so than he is about saving damsels in distress, and yes, he does categorize said dames in that manner.
Michael is a literal knight in shining armor who met his wife while saving her from a dragon. Doesn't get more classic than that, which was the point. He gets "completely irrational" (Father Forthill, Dark and Stormy Knights) where his children are concerned.
Billy is also a sanctioned representation of masculinity, he's all about protecting his own and gets to deal with that failure in Turn Coat, just like Harry in the Grave Peril-Summer Knight arc via Susan.
Butters is a sanctioned portrayal of masculinity, more interesting that a lot of the others because he is originally coded as a victim, and while he "overcomes" this "deficiency" with some difficulty, he continues to be portrayed as a much less classically macho version of masculinity. His geekness is sanctioned as masculine by Harry when the latter brings the former over to Billy's place to continue the gaming nights with the introduction that Butter's "geek dick" is bigger than everyone elses. Here a premium is put on a high level of geekness, a social subgroup that perceives itself as somewhat disenfranchised and disempowered by more mainstream ideals of masculinity. (This is arguable since geek-dom tends to be extremely male dominated and frequently perpetrates many of the gender issues seen in mainstream patriarchy while loudly pontificating that this cannot possibly be so because of their masculinely disenfranchised state. See blog "From Texas A&M to College Station" for more on the gender complexities of being a female "geek"). Nonetheless, Butters presents a sanctioned, and comparatively disparate, version of masculinity in Butcher's works.
Morgan is also sanctioned....Nicodemus is actually sort of in this category. Maybe. Must think more on that one.....After this short story Hendricks definitely falls here.....Ramirez definitely falls here too....
Anyway.
Andrew's story takes place prior to the rest of the series and provides the explanation of Saiman's and Kate's meeting and the following business, at least on Kate's part, relationship. The range of mythology incorporated lives up to precedent (not a small thing), and fully delivers on characterization and cohesiveness in plot and action. There is an interesting bit about Saimen not being able to mimic viable ovum, thus leaving the actual creation of life in more normal realms. This could potentially be an interesting point of inquiry along the lines of the domestic/public sphere conflict critiqued by Shelley in Frankenstine.
Beyond that, we have Kate married to her very masculine job, a female/male merc team which brings the merc gender count for this story to 2f:1m. Kate gamely sticks to the job, there may be something to that aspect. And she and Saiman debate sexual mores, which definitely bears further scrutiny.
Throughout UF, there seems to be a longing for the mythos of The White Picket Fence while also critiquing it and sometimes rejecting it outright as impractical at best. Harry comments about Michaels house that there probably isn't a place like that for him, homey and full of life. Kate believes that she will also be excluded from mainstream aspects of life because of her bloodline, though she adopts an orphan and does "crazy aunt" pretty well. Anita Blake is scared to death of the normalcy promised her by her upbringing and potentially manifest in the form of Richard. The narrative here argues that WPFM is impractical, dangerous, unrealistic, and nonexistent in general and definitely for Ms. Blake specifically. That being said, she carves out a version of domestic normalcy and finds peace within it. Kitty mourns when she learns that her lycanthropy precludes carrying a pregnancy to term and observes early on that there will be no house in the suburbs with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever in the back yard for her. This doesn't come up so much for Mercy in Briggs' books, or maybe it does since her coyoteness is a portal of sorts by which Adam (or any other werewolf, say, Samuel) might more easily and less painfully acquire WPFM. That is going to make the kid question particularly impactful in this series.
All these books are approaching the point where the question of biological reproduction will be introduced. The books are targeted toward young adult, for the most part, women. With strong female protagonists negotiating a world that tries to dominate, control, kill, use, disempower, and instruct them, it offers a symbolic manifestation of patriarchy and all the subtle dangers that go with it. In a world where a woman can choose to marry, shack up and live happily in sin, go it alone, choose either a female or male partner, be the family bread winner, or have her own valuable and viable career, the question of choosing to reproduce has become socially charged. In so many ways, a woman's supposed value is connected to her physicality (the value thereof ascribed by the male gaze), which in turn connects to her potential to bear children. Much of our culture focuses around supporting this valuation, which makes sound evolutionary sense, but may or may not have a valid place on today's over populated planet.
What does it mean to be a woman who chooses not to have or rear children? UF is about to launch right into this question. What does it mean to be a strong woman and choose to reproduce/rear children? How does this get balanced? Perhaps male nurturers is an answer to this question as well as its parallel in masculinity. What does it mean to be a man in a society whose women can defend themselves? What does it mean to be a man in this society and choose to reproduce/rear children in a society where a man is not necessarily the primary bread winner or protector?
These, I think, are some of the crisis questions of this generation. Reconciling a new culture with older ideals. Perhaps that is always the way of it.
In other reviews, I love the story "Even a Rabbit Will Bite." It has a nice twist and is evidence of short stories lack of need to preserve their main characters.
And I got my Kitty fix and I got my Dresden fix and I got my Kate Daniels fix allinthesamebookanditwassocool!!!
I could jump on board with this anthology thing.....
The Kitty story directly interrogates the question of monstrosity. Pitting Cormac against a werewolf, who admittedly is beginning to lose control, but who has never killed a human being leaves both the reader and Cormac questioning the nature of monstrosity. There is no reference to where in the Kitty timeline this takes place, I would suspect earlier rather than later since Cormac's crush on Kitty and his cousin getting all monstrosified should have led him to this question far earlier in the series than where this sits by publication date.
Really, this question is at the heart of so much of the horror genre. What is humanity? What is monstrosity? Let's blur those lines a bit, now what do they look like, is that what they "really" are? Silence of the Lambs is a good example of this line blurring. Sure it is easy enough to code Buffalo Bill as a "monster," he's kidnapping and killing young women for their skins and all. But what about Lector? Monster? Yes.....killing people and making them into, ah, works of art is an easy monstrosity codification. But he also provides invaluable help in catching Buffalo Bill. That makes him, at the very least, a selectively helpful monster. And there is this aspect to his character like a flame to the metaphorical moth that we, the audience, embody. He is an old school gentleman. How does that quality jive with his cannibalistic and violent tendencies? We find ourselves unable to look away from his cleverness in manipulating the police who strive to keep him locked up. We even find ourselves rooting for him, maybe just a little, when he tries to escape his windowless prison. If he is a monster, why do we feel this way? This conundrum is the question of monstrosity that faces Cormac, and so many other characters (and their readers) in Urban Fantasy.
The Dresden story follows Johnny Marcone, suuuuuuuuper mobboss. This story confirmed my theory that Marcone is another form of condoned masculinity in the Dresdenverse. Motivated by the "dark secret" of a girl who took a bullet meant for him, Marcone has her closeted away on life support; not even the girl's mother knows the kid is alive (she incidentally was an antagonist in the first book and now works as a madame for Marcone and probably betrayed him in Small Favor). Here we learn that Marcone's one rule is "No Children." As in, keep the kids out of the crime. It comes out that he disguises this as protecting his business interests, but both the reader and his magical consultant (female, btw) are led to question this "business" as his sole motivation. Particularly after Harry rooting out the kid's existence and understanding the MASSIVE trouble Marcone went to with the Shroud to try curing her.
Harry is totally OCD about saving kids, even more so than he is about saving damsels in distress, and yes, he does categorize said dames in that manner.
Michael is a literal knight in shining armor who met his wife while saving her from a dragon. Doesn't get more classic than that, which was the point. He gets "completely irrational" (Father Forthill, Dark and Stormy Knights) where his children are concerned.
Billy is also a sanctioned representation of masculinity, he's all about protecting his own and gets to deal with that failure in Turn Coat, just like Harry in the Grave Peril-Summer Knight arc via Susan.
Butters is a sanctioned portrayal of masculinity, more interesting that a lot of the others because he is originally coded as a victim, and while he "overcomes" this "deficiency" with some difficulty, he continues to be portrayed as a much less classically macho version of masculinity. His geekness is sanctioned as masculine by Harry when the latter brings the former over to Billy's place to continue the gaming nights with the introduction that Butter's "geek dick" is bigger than everyone elses. Here a premium is put on a high level of geekness, a social subgroup that perceives itself as somewhat disenfranchised and disempowered by more mainstream ideals of masculinity. (This is arguable since geek-dom tends to be extremely male dominated and frequently perpetrates many of the gender issues seen in mainstream patriarchy while loudly pontificating that this cannot possibly be so because of their masculinely disenfranchised state. See blog "From Texas A&M to College Station" for more on the gender complexities of being a female "geek"). Nonetheless, Butters presents a sanctioned, and comparatively disparate, version of masculinity in Butcher's works.
Morgan is also sanctioned....Nicodemus is actually sort of in this category. Maybe. Must think more on that one.....After this short story Hendricks definitely falls here.....Ramirez definitely falls here too....
Anyway.
Andrew's story takes place prior to the rest of the series and provides the explanation of Saiman's and Kate's meeting and the following business, at least on Kate's part, relationship. The range of mythology incorporated lives up to precedent (not a small thing), and fully delivers on characterization and cohesiveness in plot and action. There is an interesting bit about Saimen not being able to mimic viable ovum, thus leaving the actual creation of life in more normal realms. This could potentially be an interesting point of inquiry along the lines of the domestic/public sphere conflict critiqued by Shelley in Frankenstine.
Beyond that, we have Kate married to her very masculine job, a female/male merc team which brings the merc gender count for this story to 2f:1m. Kate gamely sticks to the job, there may be something to that aspect. And she and Saiman debate sexual mores, which definitely bears further scrutiny.
Throughout UF, there seems to be a longing for the mythos of The White Picket Fence while also critiquing it and sometimes rejecting it outright as impractical at best. Harry comments about Michaels house that there probably isn't a place like that for him, homey and full of life. Kate believes that she will also be excluded from mainstream aspects of life because of her bloodline, though she adopts an orphan and does "crazy aunt" pretty well. Anita Blake is scared to death of the normalcy promised her by her upbringing and potentially manifest in the form of Richard. The narrative here argues that WPFM is impractical, dangerous, unrealistic, and nonexistent in general and definitely for Ms. Blake specifically. That being said, she carves out a version of domestic normalcy and finds peace within it. Kitty mourns when she learns that her lycanthropy precludes carrying a pregnancy to term and observes early on that there will be no house in the suburbs with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever in the back yard for her. This doesn't come up so much for Mercy in Briggs' books, or maybe it does since her coyoteness is a portal of sorts by which Adam (or any other werewolf, say, Samuel) might more easily and less painfully acquire WPFM. That is going to make the kid question particularly impactful in this series.
All these books are approaching the point where the question of biological reproduction will be introduced. The books are targeted toward young adult, for the most part, women. With strong female protagonists negotiating a world that tries to dominate, control, kill, use, disempower, and instruct them, it offers a symbolic manifestation of patriarchy and all the subtle dangers that go with it. In a world where a woman can choose to marry, shack up and live happily in sin, go it alone, choose either a female or male partner, be the family bread winner, or have her own valuable and viable career, the question of choosing to reproduce has become socially charged. In so many ways, a woman's supposed value is connected to her physicality (the value thereof ascribed by the male gaze), which in turn connects to her potential to bear children. Much of our culture focuses around supporting this valuation, which makes sound evolutionary sense, but may or may not have a valid place on today's over populated planet.
What does it mean to be a woman who chooses not to have or rear children? UF is about to launch right into this question. What does it mean to be a strong woman and choose to reproduce/rear children? How does this get balanced? Perhaps male nurturers is an answer to this question as well as its parallel in masculinity. What does it mean to be a man in a society whose women can defend themselves? What does it mean to be a man in this society and choose to reproduce/rear children in a society where a man is not necessarily the primary bread winner or protector?
These, I think, are some of the crisis questions of this generation. Reconciling a new culture with older ideals. Perhaps that is always the way of it.
In other reviews, I love the story "Even a Rabbit Will Bite." It has a nice twist and is evidence of short stories lack of need to preserve their main characters.
reader44ever's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this anthology. The stories were great! All of them were incredibly interesting, with neat characters that I hope to see again. Some of the names I recognized, but all of them would be cool to read more about. My top two favorite stories from this collection were [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg]'s "A Questionable Client" and [a:Shannon K. Butcher|114283|Shannon K. Butcher|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1323815903p2/114283.jpg]'s "The Beacon." The two stories were very different, but both were highly enjoyable. All of the stories were different, with only the knight-to-the-rescue theme to unite them. I found this collection to be incredibly fun to read due to this diversity. :-)
lauriereadslohf's review
3.0
3 out of 5
I read this book on audio during my too long ride to work. Each story seems to have a different narrator and I enjoyed the change of voice for each story (even if every story wasn't so great).
The first story A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews is a prequel to the Kate Daniels series featuring Kate's first run-in with sexy, shady shifter Saiman. I loved it. It's filled with sarcasam, gore and Saiman doing his creepy shifting thing and attempting to find the perfect form that'll make Kate jump his bones. He has found himself in a world of trouble after stealing a magical acorn (yes, you read that correctly), and she is called in as a bodyguard. Sounds weird when I write it all down here but trust me it works out. 4.5
Next up is Jim Butcher's Even Hand. I haven't been following the Dresden Files series. I think I made it to book 3 or 4 and was so sad when the tv series came to an untimely end and then sort of forgot about the series. Fortunately, this story stood well enough on it's own. Set in the Harry Dresden universe, it's not about Harry but about another gumshoe type. A young lady and a baby arrive and need his help. Creatures show up, adventure ensues. The writing was crisp but it didn't thrill me. Actually, if I'm being honest it kinda bored me for the most part. 3
The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher is a very average tale about a man who slays "Beacons". Beacon's are people who somehow have the capacity to bring monstrous man-killing beasts into the world. This Beacon Slayer has spent his life murdering the "Beacon's" before the monsters arrive. They are typically old men so he doesn't feel all that bad about his dutyt but when the latest Beacon turns out to be an adorable little cherub with a beautiful young, single mother he has a change of heart. This is an ok monster tale with some action and emotion but it's not one I'll remember for too long. 3.5
Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine was more my thing. It starts out slow but the payoff was worth it. The last dragonslayer is being forced to retire and train her replacement. She's crotchety and a bit of a bitch and I loved that realism about her personality. But be warned, it's a sad, melancholy story. 4.5
Next up was Dark Lady by P.N. Elrod featuring vampire and private investigator Jack Fleming. This is part of the Vampire Files family and is a well written, noir type of mystery written in the same tone as the rest of the series. Not my favorite, honestly I found it a wee bit boring, but certainly not bad by any means. 3.5
Beknighted by Deidre Knight felt so very stereotypical. A beautiful artist is attempting to bring to life the knight of her dreams by way of her puzzle artwork. Only problem is she doesn't have the cash to buy the special gold stuff needed to spring him free and must take on a patron in order to raise the bucks. She pisses and moans that's shes not a nine to fiver but I think this book is set in the past? This was a little unclear to me. The man with the gold coin is, of course, gorgeous but a terribly Evil guy who has nefarious plans. This was a bit disjointed and didn't gel together for me. 3
Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson may well be a fabulous story but the narrator was so monotonousness that I tuned much of it out. I haven't listened to a narrator this awful in ages. This one also confused the hell out of me and I found the lead character wooden and odd. She's after something called a "Tulpa" that *I think* has been kidnapping young tweens. It feels very mid series and is not a story that reads well on its own. 2.5
By the time I reached the last two stories by Lilith St. Crow and Carrie Vaughn my attention had left for good and I can't remember enough about either story to write up any kind of synopsis.