A mixture of short stories featuring other characters than the series' normal heroes, often the antagonist. Sadly but not unexpectedly, the best stories are those by the famous authors I already know, and none of those new-to-me struck a chord as series to be explored. However even the famous ones weren't necessarily that great, so perhaps this was just an interesting writing experiment that ultimately didn't pan out. ( )

Pretty decent anthology, although, like most, it's better if you're already a fan of the authors' work. ( )

A fantastic anthology that offers an alternative point of view; the antagonist, the dark side, the people who do go bump in the night. As with any great story, those characters aren't as black and white as they seem and these glimpses into their world and their psyches are absolutely wonderful. As a fan of the Dresden Files, Cainsville and Iron Druid chronicles I adored those stories, but the rest of the anthology, for the most part, (there's always at least one or two stories that never quite resonate with me in an anthology) was absolutely brilliant too. Highly recommended. ( )

Urban fantasy anthologies are always great fun to read. It doesn't matter if you haven't read anything by most of the authors before, heck, it's a great way to be introduced into series.

This anthology appealed to me because I recognized authors like Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire and Kevin Hearne. The rest were new ones for me, but for the most part did all of the stories work, even though most of the series in this book were new for me, like even though I have read books by Seanan McGuire before haven't I read anything before from her October Daye series, and I have only read the first book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (and a short story) before so the villain in the book was pretty unknown for me. But, it worked. Most of the stories worked, despite the fact that I had pretty much zero knowledge before I read them. Then again, I love interesting villains so that helped.

The best story was without doubt Kelley Armstrong's. But, I started to read her Cainsville series a while back, and I love it so that's not really a big surprise. It did spoil the series a bit since I have only read the first two books, but that's alright. It doesn't put me off reading the next books.

If I had been wise would I have taken notes of every story, but I was too lazy for that so I will not comment on every story. However, I will say that it's a great collection whether or not you have read anything by the others before.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

Urban fantasy anthologies are always great fun to read. It doesn't matter if you haven't read anything by most of the authors before, heck, it's a great way to be introduced into series.

This anthology appealed to me because I recognized authors like Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire and Kevin Hearne. The rest were new ones for me, but for the most part did all of the stories work, even though most of the series in this book were new for me, like even though I have read books by Seanan McGuire before haven't I read anything before from her October Daye series, and I have only read the first book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (and a short story) before so the villain in the book was pretty unknown for me. But, it worked. Most of the stories worked, despite the fact that I had pretty much zero knowledge before I read them. Then again, I love interesting villains so that helped.

The best story was without doubt Kelley Armstrong's. But, I started to read her Cainsville series a while back, and I love it so that's not really a big surprise. It did spoil the series a bit since I have only read the first two books, but that's alright. It doesn't put me off reading the next books.

If I had been wise would I have taken notes of every story, but I was too lazy for that so I will not comment on every story. However, I will say that it's a great collection whether or not you have read anything by the others before.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )