Dark and Stormy Knights Review
All of these stories have something in common; they feature a "knight" someone who will go to heroic measures to protect innocents (or to make some money).
The best of the bunch is Ilona Andrews "A Questionable Client"; this is a great story in and of itself and is a great sample of Andrew's writing style. Kate Daniels fans will love it too because it fills an important event that happened between Kate and Saiman. My second favorite was Caine's "Even a Rabbit Will Bite" loved the characters and the irony of the story.
There were some stories that were entertaining but not outstanding. "Even Hand" by Jim Butcher give insight into John Marcone's character from the Dresden Files. "Rookwood and Mrs. King" by Saintcrow introduces some new characters that I hope she expands on in a series. "Shifting Star" by Vicki Pettersson gives you a story about Zoe's Tulpa, Skamar; unfortunately if you aren't reading Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series I think you will be totally lost as to the meaning behind this story.
My least favorite of the bunch was Beknighted by Deidre Knight; there was a bit too much of a romance vibe going on here and the world wasn't described well...I thought it didn't really fit with the rest of the stories and the theme of this anthology.
Overall a decent anthology. The Ilona Andrews story makes it worth reading. The other stories provide good samplings of some of the best Urban Fantasy authors out there. This is definitely urban fantasy and not PNR; which was awesome...it seems like so many anthologies tend towards paranormal romance (PNR). I personally got it from the library but it might be worth buying if you are a huge fan on one of the series represented. See below for a description and mini-review of each story.
- A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
We get to find out about that time Kate served as a bodyguard for Saiman. Action-packed filled with sharp humor; it was nice to have that story filled out some.
- Even Hand by Jim Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story from John Marcone's point of view. It was interesting to gain some insight into Marcone. The story was entertaining but over-all nothing mind-blowing.
- The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story about a hunter who assassinates Beacons that lure evil creatures called Terraphages to earth to destroy humanity. This was an entertaining story, I enjoyed the main character and there was a lot of action. I am curious as to what else Butcher has written, but not curious enough to immediately pick up books by her to read.
- Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine (5/5 stars)
Story about a retired dragon trainer and the young trainee that is supposed to take her place. I liked this story it was entertaining and ironic. I love how the story wrapped up but wasn't all that surprised at the ending. Overall a great story. I have read some of Caine's Weather Warden series and like her okay as an author in general.
- Dark Lady by P. N. Elrod (3/5 stars)
This is another Jack Flemming story. In general I am not a big fan of Elrod's Jack Flemming stories and this story was no exception. I've read some short stories with Jack and the first book in the Flemming series. This was another noir/gangster-type vampire story. It was okay and was well-written.
- Beknighted by Deidre Knight (2/5 stars)
An artist has to pay a steep price to free a knight from his prison. The world surrounding this story isn't very well defined and it is a bit confusing. This is more like a romance than anything else and was my least favorite of the bunch. There are parts of it that are a bit amusing and the idea is interesting...just not that well done.
- Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)
If you have read all the Signs of the Zodiac book (which I have) then this story will be an interesting read for you. It features Skamar, Zoe's tulpa, and takes place sometime after the 4th book in the series. We get to learn more about Skamar as an individual and about what she is doing while Johanna is recovering. Kind of interesting. I think anyone who has not read the series will be totally lost though.
- Rookwood and Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow (4/5 stars)
Story about a woman named Amelia who comes to investigator Rookwood with a plea that he kill her already dead husband. Not much world-building but there was a lot of action and the characters were interesting. It would be great to see some books about Rookwood and Amelia in the future. Previously I have also read Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series and liked it.
- God's Creatures by Carrie Vaughn (3.5/5 stars)
Story from the point of view of Cormac the Bounty hunter from Vaughn's Kitty Norville series. Basically it just tells about Cormac going on a wolf hunt. It was okay and I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't add much to the characters for me and as a stand alone story it wasn't anything special.
Dark and Stormy Knights Overview
It was a dark and stormy knight, and nine dark defenders embarked upon a most perilous quest-.
They-re the ultimate defenders of humanity-modern day knights who do dark deeds for all the right reasons. In this all-star collection, nine of today-s hottest paranormal authors bring us thrilling, all-new stories of supernatural knights that are brimming with magic mystery and mayhem.
John Marcone sets aside his plans to kill Harry Dresden to go head-to-head with a cantrev lord in Jim Butcher-s Even Hand. Kate Daniels is called upon for bodyguard duty to protect Saimen, a shifter she trusts less than the enemy in Ilona Andrews- A Questionable Client. Cormac must stop a killer werewolf before it attacks again on the next full moon in Carrie Vaughn-s God-s Creatures. And in Vicki Pettersson-s Shifting Star, Skamar gets more than she bargained for when she goes after a creature kidnapping young girls-and enlists the aid of her frustratingly sexy neighbor.
When everything-s on the line, will these knights complete their missions and live to fight again another day? Find out in Dark and Stormy Knights!
Includes stories from:
Ilona Andrews
Jim Butcher
Shannon K. Butcher
Rachel Caine
P.N. Elrod
Deidre Knight
Vicki Pettersson
Lilith Saintcrow
Carrie Vaughn
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Customer Reviews
Dark and Stormy Knights - Kathy E. - Bristol, CT
Ilona Andrews "A Questionable Client" I really enjoyed this novella. It reads like a prequel as Kate's first encounter with Saiman. It was interesting creative and action-packed. I am a huge Kate Daniel's fan; however this novella just didn't feel the same without Curran. 4.5/5
Jim Butcher "Evenhand" Mr. Marcone, a crime lord assists a desperate woman n the run whose plight is not as it seems. I haven't enjoyed many of Jim Butcher's novellas but I did enjoy this short story. The novella was interesting, felt hard-boilish and was full of action. 3/5
Shannon K. Butcher "The Beacon" Ryder is a hunter walking a fine line between villain and hero. This was my first experience reading any of Shannon's work and I enjoyed this novella. It was entertaining and fast moving. 3.5/5
Rachel Caine "Even a Rabbit Will Bite" This story really grabbed my attention in the beginning but after a quarter of the way through, the story just seem to drag on and on. Nothing exciting seemed to happen and the story became more about a dragon slayer's long and grueling training, than the exciting and dangerous profession of being a dragon slayer. I am not a fan of Rachel's Weather Warden series. I stopped reading it simply because there were too many convenient coincidences and it was becoming completely unbelievable, even for fantasy. 2/5
P.N. Elrod "Dark Lady" I've never clicked with P.N. Elrod's novellas in the past and this short story is no different. Even though this novella had a nice 1930s detective feel to it, the plot was completely predictable and boring. 1/5
Deidre Knight "Beknighted" This short story was way too bad paranormal romance for me and I just couldn't get into it. 0/5
Vicki Pettersson " Shifting Star" Skamar learns what it means to be human, with human frailties. This story was well done and extremely interesting. I am a huge Joanna Archer fan and this tease of a story made me salivate for the next book in the Sign of the Zodiac series The Neon Graveyard. 4/5
Lilith Saintcrow "Rockwood & Mrs. King" Rookwood, a vampire PI finds himself in a bind when a mysterious widow shows up with deep pockets and trouble. 3.5/5
Carrie Vaughn "God's Creatures" I just couldn't get into this short story, it was so boring. 0/5
Authors rarely seem to impress me these days and as far as anthologies go, this was ok. The only exceptions were Ilona Andrews and Vicki Pettersson's short stories. Without those novellas this anthology would have been a bust.
I recommend:
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
Cheat the Grave (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 5)
Must Love Hellhounds
Strange Brew
First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Book 1)
A Great Intro to some New Authors - Library Girl Reads -
Dark and Stormy Knights is a collection of short stories by some great authors of paranormal and fantasy fiction. The book includes stories by Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Shannon K. Butcher, Rachel Caine, P. N. Elrod, Deidre Knight, Vicki Pettersson, Lilith Saintcrow, and Carrie Vaughn. I had read books by a couple of these authors before but many of them were new to me.
I really loved the majority of stories in this collection. I think short stories are incredibly difficult to write because there is not as much time to develop characters and do world building. The writing has to be very tight to fit all the information in that the reader needs to understand what is going on during this brief episode in the character's journey. All of the authors did a wonderful job with this. The stories that I enjoyed less were still very good and well written, they were just not to my reading taste as much as the others.
Another thing that I find difficult with short stories is when they are written about a character who is also a main or supporting character in a series of novels. Sometimes I feel like I need to have read the other books to have the background to understand the story. This was not the case with the stories I read in this book. I've been wanting to read Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels' series anyway and now that I've read "A Questionable Client" I'm moving those books up on the list. Although I've read Jim Butcher's books, I think I would have been able to follow "Even Hand" just as easily if I hadn't known Harry Dresden's story. "Dark Lady" by P. N. Elrod made me want to read more of The Vampire Files that my husband has sitting on the shelf.
I think Dark and Stormy Knights is a fantastic collection of stories for paranormal and fantasy lovers. It introduced me to some new authors and now I want to read more!
Great anthology - G. Robinson - CO
This is 9 short to longish shorts. There are a couple of 3 1/2 stars (much better than average for the genre), a couple of 4 stars (great but not home runs) and some 5 star truly excellent stories.
One by Ilona Andrews tells about how Kate met Saiman and why he as sch a case of the hots for her. The Jim Butcher is a surprise as is about John Marcone not Harry Dresden but it adds depth to the character and has a nice twist. The Carry Vaughn is about Cormac when he is starting out and has a nice but linear plot and a kind of bitter sweet ending. A nicely done vampire slayer who inadvertently teaches his client to hunt vampires.
Very rare to have this many high quality stories together.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 25, 2010 21:46:04
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