Book Review: Kelley Armstrong’s Tales of the Otherworld

Posted February 5, 2011 by Kathy Davie in Book Reviews

I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Source: the library
Book Review: Kelley Armstrong’s Tales of the Otherworld

Tales of the Otherworld


by

Kelley Armstrong


anthology, short stories, urban fantasy in a hardcover edition that was published by Bantam Books on April 13, 2010 and has 387 pages.

Explore it on Goodreads or AmazonAudibles.


Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Broken, Personal Demon , Living with the Dead, Men of the Otherworld, Frostbitten, Dates from Hell, Exit Strategy, Made to Be Broken, The Reckoning, Spell Bound, The Gathering, The Awakening, "Hidden", The Calling, Aftertaste, Kisses from Hell, The Rising, Omens, Wild Justice, Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, Visions, Deceptions, The Masked Truth, City of the Lost, Empire of Night, Forest of Ruin, Betrayals, A Darkness Absolute, Indigo, Rituals, The Unquiet Past, This Fallen Prey, Stolen, Rough Justice, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, Waking the Witch, Portents, Missing, Alone in the Wild, Watcher in the Woods, Otherworld Secrets, Wherever She Goes, "The Case of the Half-Demon Spy", "Escape", Otherworld Chills, A Stranger in Town, "Bargain", Hex on the Beach, "Recruit", "Checkmate", "Framed", Cursed Luck, High Jinx, Bitten, Driven, "Forsaken", The Deepest of Secrets, "Dead Letter Days", Men of the Otherworld, The Boy Who Cried Bear

An anthology of eight short stories in the Women of the Otherworld urban fantasy series.

The Series

“Rebirth”, 0.1
“Bewitched”, 0.8
“Birthright”, 0.5
“Beginnings”, 0.6
“Expectations”, 0.9
“Ghosts”, 01.1
“Wedding Bell Hell”, 4.5
“The Case of El Chupacabra”, 6.5

The Stories

A couple of the tales are somewhat independent; the rest fill in background on the principal characters in Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series.

Rebirth” tells of Aaron’s introduction to the undead life; Aaron, today, is a co-delegate on the Council with Cassandra.

Bewitched” is the story of how Kristof and Eve met, their singular courtship, and why Eve left.

Birthright” chronicles Logan’s introduction to the Danvers Pack.

Beginnings” finally gives us the background on Clay and Elena’s courtship ending with his biting her.

Expectations” occurs before Lucas meets Paige and after Eve has left Kristof. Lucas has been told of a grimoire held by Eve Levine and he finally decides that he will have to steal it from her if only to keep the Cabals from going after Eve. (Savannah is old enough to be going to school.)

Ghosts” is Jeremy’s remembrances of the aftermath of Clay biting Elena. It takes place during “Bitten” after Clay has gone up to Toronto to protect Elena who is living with Philip because Daniel and his gang has attacked the Pack.

Wedding Bell Hell” is the funniest story in this collection. It’s the weeks before Lucas and Paige’s wedding and Benicio is determined to “help” somehow, anyhow…

The Case of El Chupacabra” fills in the blanks of how Lucas and Paige got their hands on their new Portland offices. It also signals the start of Sean’s comeout.