enjoyable set of fantastic fiction stories

As with most stories associated with Laurel K Hamilton, her friends and fellow writers of this anthology tell some good tales. Each one a quick but satisfying read.

Only read Patricia Briggs' story. I've been trying to track down all the Asil short stories, so now I've read them out of order.

I’m in one of those moods where I feel like doing individual reviews for each story. So here we go:

Twilight Falls by Jonathan Maberry: NoOOoo! This book was published April of 2020, the height of the pandemic, and this story is about… a pandemic used as terrorism. Who the hell wants to read about a pandemic when they are living through one? The editors should have cut this one. Even if it wasn’t for the pandemic, this story was still meh. It was unnecessarily detailed; for example, instead of saying “I drew my knife” it says “I drew my Wilson Tactical Combat Rapid Response knife…” Who cares!? In what world is that good writing?

Not in this Lifetime by Sharon Shinn: Another disappointment. First, the story is just a retelling of a story that’s been told a bunch of times before. But the worst was that at the end, the cops kill a bad guy and… there’s a protest. Then the story ends. The cops kill an attempted murderer. I’m not sure what kind of message the author is trying to make by bringing in a police protest and lines like: “I caught you on my camera!” and “Police are always killing people.” But the cops in this story weren’t killing an innocent man, they were killing someone who just attempted murder. So the whole random protesting makes no sense. If the author was trying to be deep, she failed.

Mr. Positive, the Eternal Optimist by Larry Correia: Yay! A good story! I’ll admit, the type of story has been done before, but this was a fun new spin on it. I liked the humor and overall vibe. I also didn’t hate that there was a moral to the story. It was a little heavy-handed, but still ok. Overall, a fun read.

No Greater Love by Kacey Ezell: This is a retelling of a Mormon story. It’s packed full of religion and scripture and… it has no place in a sci-fi/fantasy anthology. Having one magical character in there mixed with all of the religion doesn’t give it a pass. There’s a reason why there are totally separate Christian publishers – because the average reader doesn’t want preachy religious stories. Clearly, I am not a fan. But as an atheist, I wouldn’t be. If you are super religious, then hey, maybe you will like a story about a Mormon and a werewolf.

Broken Son by Griffin Barber: A sci-fi story about prisoners working in space – some normal and some “broken.” I really liked this one, it kept me flipping page after page.

Heart of Clay by Kevin J. Anderson: I enjoyed this one as well. It was a quick story about the murder of golems. It was a fun read with a lot of characters – vampires, dragons, ghosts, wizards, and more. After reading this story, I am now kinda interested in reading the series it’s from.

Reprise by John G. Hartness: I have mixed feelings about this one. It was a mostly entertaining story and it was well-written. But it was also about nazis and the Holocaust and that always feels sketchy to me. It wasn’t necessarily outright disrespectful, but using the Holocaust as fodder for a story is a bit iffy.

Asil and the Not-Date by Patricia Briggs: I am a fan of this series already so I figured I would like this story, and I did. However, I think parts of it would be confusing for someone new to the series. Overall though, the story was fun and I liked seeing more of this werewolf character.

In the Dust by Robert E. Hampson: This was a short and sweet sci-fi story. It was a nice read. Nothing groundbreaking or super memorable, but nice.

Fallen by L.E. Modesitt Jr.: Another sci-fi story. This one felt a bit out of place among the other stories. It is a little… too smart. The other stories have been straightforward and fairly simple. This one was much deeper and required more focused reading and even some re-reading to understand the points made. So, while not bad, it just felt out of place among a bunch of really simple stories.

Working Conditions by Patrick M. Tracy: This one contains spoilers.

Spoiler

Woman who owns store has cancer and is dying. Employee becomes a vampire and she offers to help him out because he’s “just a kid” and everyone has turned on him. He bites her in this “intimate” moment and uses his super vampire healing powers to cure her cancer. But he only cures her after she’s guilted into helping him first. The whole thing felt creepy and not in a fun way. I think if it was written as a horror story and the vampire was purposely being evil and manipulative and we were supposed to see him as a villain; I would have been on board. But he’s supposedly a normal nice guy, so everything just makes him a creep.

Last Contact by M.C. Sumner: A science fiction story about aliens making contact. I loved this one! I am not really a fan of sci-fi, but this was I story that actually had me interested in reading more. I thought it was a clever spin on the usual alien contact story that we see in films. I also really liked the tone of the writing.

Ronin by William McCaskey: I really liked the creativity of this one. I did not like the Christian preachiness of it though. Second story in the bunch. I have read a LOT of these fantasy anthologies and this is the first with Christian stories. I hate it. I think that I would have enjoyed this story if it wasn’t for the BS bible-talk.

Skjoldmodir by Michael B. Williamson and Jessica Schlenker: This one is a retelling of Beowulf. A retelling that pretty much takes out any kind of magic or fantasy… so, not sure why it’s in a fantasy book. It wasn’t awful, it was just kinda boring. It also seemed like they were trying to make Grendel autistic. I could be totally reading into that, but it sure sounded that way.

Bonds of Love and Duty by Monalisa Foster: Hands down the best story in the book! I’d give this one 5 out of 5 stars and the rest of the book 2 stars. This is a well-written and engaging story about a genetically engineered race. I really enjoyed it and even wanted more.

Zombie Dearest by Laurell K. Hamilton: Mixed feelings. I enjoyed some parts and disliked others. I will say that this one may be confusing for someone new to her universe. I don’t think a new reader will know what the ardeur is (I read some of the series, but eventually stopped). I will also say that I'm still annoyed by the pointlessly gendered BS in her writing (“girl clothes”). This was published in 2020 - do better. I don’t separate my clothing and “girl clothes” and “boy clothes.” They are simply my clothes. I am a grown ass adult, I don’t place gender on pieces of fabric. Jeez. She just sounds like an out-of-touch boomer talking like that. But in spite of those things, I was entertained by the rest.

All in all… a disappointment. I think this will be the last time I read one of Hamilton’s anthologies and definitely the last time I read one by this publisher. There were some good stories in the mix, but it was mostly bleh with a mix of preachiness.

I read three of the stories in this - the Shinn, the Briggs, and the Hamiton.

I only read Patricia Briggs' Asil story and it was awesome. Maybe I'll read the other stories sometime, but for now, his story is the only reason I bought the book.

I got this book to read the Sharon Shinn story, as I love her. I read all but the first one in this book and enjoyed them. I got introduced to a lot of new to me authors. Overall, an enjoyable read.

Entertaining short stories I listened to on audio specifically for the brevity for a week of quick commutes. Did not finish every short story - made a bee line for Laurell K. Hamilton's "Zombie Dearest" which was excellent, and was entertained by the quirky "Mr. Positive the Eternal Optimist" by Larry Correira. Ezell's "No Greater Love" was a bit too religious for my full appreciation, and Barber's "Broken Son" ultimately didn't catch me, so I'm shelving this for now because I don't want my general lack of appreciation of short stories to color what is likely an overall good read. I did love the optimistic thread tying these paranormal stories together given it was published during COVID!

True confession: I picked up this book for one reason and one reason only -- it includes a new Patricia Briggs story, starring the dangerous old werewolf Asil, who appears in the Alpha & Omega books primarily, although he comes up sometimes in the Mercy Thompson books too. The story is called "Asil and the Not Date", about a blind date gone bad, and the mayhem that ensues. It's fun and exciting, and is a must for fans of Briggs's world.

I really enjoyed this and finished it all!