Otherworld Nights: An Anthology
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publish Date: October 28 2014
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Women of the Otherworld, anthology collection #3
Rating: A
Otherworld Nights: An Anthology is the third collection of short stories Kelley Armstrong has written for her Women of the Otherworld series. All of which have been previously published with the exception of the last story Vanishing Act which features Savannah and Adam. It was great to dive back into the series. Armstrong is an author who I have absolutely no issue going back and re-reading her work. So, despite already having read most of these stories, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection.
Fans of Elena and Clay (Bitten, Stolen, Broken, Frostbitten) will love that there are two very well fleshed-out stories and one quick short featuring the pair. Stalked was originally published in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon and was probably my favorite out of the three because they left the kids at home. This made the dynamic between them a little more reminiscent of the early books in the series, which I’ll admit I have missed. Hidden was a great novella featuring Clay, Elena, and the kids as they attempted to have a Christmas to themselves. I loved the slow build-up of suspense and how Armstrong handled the personal dilemma Elena was facing concerning the twins. From Russia with Love was a very quick short, which had been included in the hardcover of Thirteen. This one acted as a kind of epilogue for Elena and the Pack. I’ll admit that I haven’t gotten around to reading Thirteen yet, but I don’t think anything was spoiled by reading this.
There were also two more stories which stayed with Armstrong’s werewolves. Chivalrous featured the new recruit, Reese, and told the background of why he needed to run from Australia to seek refuge with the American pack. As a prequel to Bounty Hunt, which will be released in December 2014, it was a good teaser and I look forward to seeing how Reese’s story will continue.
Lucifer’s Daughter is my favorite out of this collection and was originally featured in Blood Lite II: Overbite. The story focuses on Hope and Karl as they deal with an escaped demon at a museum gala. I have a serious soft spot for this pair and loved every minute of their story.
Twilight was originally featured in Many Bloody Returns and centers on Cassandra. I’m not a huge fan of the character, so this was one of the few stories included that I had never read. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. It centers on Cassandra’s fear that her vampiric life may slowly be ending. My only complaint is that it ended rather abruptly and didn’t feel like a lot of the questions raised were concluded.
Demonology was originally published as a free short story on Armstrong’s website. It features Adam’s mother as she goes on a quest to find help and answers for her son. It was interesting, but very short and a little abrupt.
Vanishing Act was the new short story included in this anthology. It features Savannah and Adam as they handle the aftermath of a demon summoning case gone wrong. It was a nice change of pace to get a fully fleshed-out story in the collection that didn’t center on the werewolves. It also worked as a nice incentive for me to pick-up the last three books in the series, which I have been avoiding since I had never gotten into Savannah’s character. However, Armstrong managed to make me interested Savannah and I look forward to going back to read her journey to this point in life.
All in all, a really great collection that any fan of Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series will love.
Ebook provided by Netgalley and the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review
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