Out of this World
by J. D. Robb (Contributor), Laurell K Hamilton (Contributor), Susan Krinard (Contributor), Maggie Shayne (Contributor)
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (Collections and Selections — 9.5, Magic Like Heat Across My Skin)
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Featuring a Lieutenant Eve Dallas novella and an Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novella, this New York Times bestselling anthology of paranormal romance will transport you to a time and a place you've never been before...In J. D. Robb's "Interlude in Death," Lieutenant Eve Dallas is forced to forsake duty to take down a rogue ex-cop at an off-planet police conference—and save the man she loves.
In Laurell K. Hamilton's "Magic Like Heat Across My Skin," a kidnapping brings vampire hunter show more Anita Blake and the two men in her life closer than a woman, a vampire, and a werewolf have ever been before.
Searching the universe for a missing ship, two telepaths lose themselves in each other—mind, body, and soul in Susan Krinard's "Kinsman."
And in Maggie Shayne's "Immortality," a man pulls a drowning woman out of the sea, a centuries-old witch with one last wish to share with him—and one last hope.
From the Trade Paperback edition.. show less
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TheBooknerd Anthologies like this are often a let-down -- and this one definitely was disappointing. "On the Prowl" is a refreshing exception, with quality stories despite their brevity.
Member Reviews
I was working in a bookstore at the time this came out, and I snatched it up immediately. I was a huge fan of Hamilton at the time, of her Anita Blake series in particular, and I had just recently began reading and loving Robb's In Death series.
This book began my disappointment with Hamilton. First off, her story here, "Magic Like Heat Across My Skin", isn’t a stand-alone; it’s the first hundred pages of her next novel. It doesn’t even really have an ending here. The hundred pages just end where that chapter ends, and then there’s a little note at the bottom of the page informing the reader that the story will continue in the novel Narcissus in Chains coming out later that year. I finished reading it thinking what a cop-out this show more was.
I did purchase and read the Narcissus novel when it published, and that’s were the last of my enjoyment with Anita Blake went away. I got rid of my copy of that book, so I can’t leave a review for it specifically, but there was one scene that really stood out to me because of how poorly written it was. It wasn’t even a sex scene (I was fine with those, in this book at least); it was a scene were where Anita was confused about S&M terminology, asked what the word “top” meant, and had it defined for her... and then the same scene was repeated nearly word-for-word two hundred pages later. Argh — I despised the shoddiness of the writing, and Hamilton, her editor, and her proofreader all should have caught that duplication before the novel ran to press. Leaving it in just drives home that either Anita is too stupid to remember the simple definition of an important word, or Hamilton thinks her readers are stupid and needs to have the word spelled out for them twice, or Hamilton is too stupid to realize she already wrote the scene that discussed that word. None of which I believe Hamilton wants her readers to think.
Robb’s In Death story was very good, and I keep the book in my library solely for it. I don’t remember the other two stories in this anthology, but I don’t believe they struck me as anything special. I’m hopeful that Robb will someday do a collection of all her In Death short stories so that I can have all of them in one book — and I can get rid of this one.
ETA:
With the publication of Robb's collection Three in Death, I now CAN! show less
This book began my disappointment with Hamilton. First off, her story here, "Magic Like Heat Across My Skin", isn’t a stand-alone; it’s the first hundred pages of her next novel. It doesn’t even really have an ending here. The hundred pages just end where that chapter ends, and then there’s a little note at the bottom of the page informing the reader that the story will continue in the novel Narcissus in Chains coming out later that year. I finished reading it thinking what a cop-out this show more was.
I did purchase and read the Narcissus novel when it published, and that’s were the last of my enjoyment with Anita Blake went away. I got rid of my copy of that book, so I can’t leave a review for it specifically, but there was one scene that really stood out to me because of how poorly written it was. It wasn’t even a sex scene (I was fine with those, in this book at least); it was a scene were where Anita was confused about S&M terminology, asked what the word “top” meant, and had it defined for her... and then the same scene was repeated nearly word-for-word two hundred pages later. Argh — I despised the shoddiness of the writing, and Hamilton, her editor, and her proofreader all should have caught that duplication before the novel ran to press. Leaving it in just drives home that either Anita is too stupid to remember the simple definition of an important word, or Hamilton thinks her readers are stupid and needs to have the word spelled out for them twice, or Hamilton is too stupid to realize she already wrote the scene that discussed that word. None of which I believe Hamilton wants her readers to think.
Robb’s In Death story was very good, and I keep the book in my library solely for it. I don’t remember the other two stories in this anthology, but I don’t believe they struck me as anything special. I’m hopeful that Robb will someday do a collection of all her In Death short stories so that I can have all of them in one book — and I can get rid of this one.
ETA:
With the publication of Robb's collection Three in Death, I now CAN! show less
Very variable quality of work in this. Read it for the J.D.Robb and Laurell K. Hamilton stories, but really didn't like the other two. My three stars are a combination of four for the stories I like and two for those I didn't. I'm not a fan of stories that are entirely removed from my reality - space, strange alien languages. I can't usually relate to them. Four thousand year old witch queens are beyond me.
It's been a while since I "visited" with Eve and Roarke. With the growing TBR insanity, I haven't got back to my in-progress series as much as I might like. I keep getting distracted by new books.
This time around, Eve is off-planet at a law enforcement symposium and trying not to think about the seminar she is supposed to be giving. It's easy to be distracted when a 50-year veteran and legend of the police force, Douglas Skinner, tries to blackmail her into helping him put Roarke behind bars. Things get more complicated when one of Skinner's aides is bludgeoned to death in a stairwell.
This was a very well executed tale, a tangle of parents and children, prejudices and passions and another glimpse into Eve and Roarke's lives. The show more resolution was neat, the solution clever and the herring nicely red. A good, short addition to the series. show less
This time around, Eve is off-planet at a law enforcement symposium and trying not to think about the seminar she is supposed to be giving. It's easy to be distracted when a 50-year veteran and legend of the police force, Douglas Skinner, tries to blackmail her into helping him put Roarke behind bars. Things get more complicated when one of Skinner's aides is bludgeoned to death in a stairwell.
This was a very well executed tale, a tangle of parents and children, prejudices and passions and another glimpse into Eve and Roarke's lives. The show more resolution was neat, the solution clever and the herring nicely red. A good, short addition to the series. show less
This anthology was basically an introduction to the publisher's popular stable of current romance/sci-fi/fantasy authors. I knew that, it was what I was looking for, and it served its purpose. The Robb "Eve Dallas" story was adequately written, but poorly plotted. The others were just unmemorable. All are stand-alone pieces, except for the Laurie K. Hamiliton entry, which is the first half of a novel that became, I understand, NARCISSUS IN CHAINS. This was crass--I don't like pieces of novels unless they are explicitly presented as an advertisement; this was not.
I gave this book a C on my personal book rating scale. What can I say about this book. Well, I think it suffers from what other anthologies suffer from...too little pages not enough story.
The JD Robb story was about 90 pages long. I felt the story was good and complete. Perhaps it is because I have read so many other Eve and Roarke books that the lack of background on the characters was ok with me.
Kinsman by Susan Krinard was perhaps the weakest of the stories. at 87 pages the story introduces several alien species, different planets and a whole new galaxy and I just felt that there was not enough background to allow the reader to stay connected with all the different species and what their capabilities were. I have noticed that there show more is a full novel on the Kinsmen..I might try it to see if Krinard's world makes more sense.
Maggie Shayne's story was not bad but it did leave some unanswered questions.
Laurell K Hamilton....what can I say about her other then when you get to put a short story in an anthology it should be an actual short story and not two chapters or so from an upcoming book. show less
The JD Robb story was about 90 pages long. I felt the story was good and complete. Perhaps it is because I have read so many other Eve and Roarke books that the lack of background on the characters was ok with me.
Kinsman by Susan Krinard was perhaps the weakest of the stories. at 87 pages the story introduces several alien species, different planets and a whole new galaxy and I just felt that there was not enough background to allow the reader to stay connected with all the different species and what their capabilities were. I have noticed that there show more is a full novel on the Kinsmen..I might try it to see if Krinard's world makes more sense.
Maggie Shayne's story was not bad but it did leave some unanswered questions.
Laurell K Hamilton....what can I say about her other then when you get to put a short story in an anthology it should be an actual short story and not two chapters or so from an upcoming book. show less
Interlude in Death:
Including the two novellas, of which this is one, this is the 14th book in the In Death series. It has Eve and Roarke & much of the usual cast at Roarke's off-planet resort for a police conference.
Eve has an unpleasant run-in with former commander Skinner, a legendary hero from the Urban Wars. He has a serious vendetta against Roarke, and tries first bribery, then threats to get Eve to help him take Roarke down. It culminates in Eve hitting one of the commander's bodyguards, who's later found murdered, with the fairly obvious clues pointing to Roarke.
Unlike in Naked in Death, Roarke's not a suspect, but Eve has to figure out why Skinner is so bent on Roarke's arrest, and whodunit, while trying to avoid stepping on show more toes, as she's out of her jurisdiction. There's much about vengeance, and gray areas, about how obsession can cloud and warp a mind, and the aforementioned revelations about Roarke's father.
If you haven't read the rest of the series, the characters might not be as clear due to the novella length, but then again, if you haven't read the rest of the series, why not? show less
Including the two novellas, of which this is one, this is the 14th book in the In Death series. It has Eve and Roarke & much of the usual cast at Roarke's off-planet resort for a police conference.
Eve has an unpleasant run-in with former commander Skinner, a legendary hero from the Urban Wars. He has a serious vendetta against Roarke, and tries first bribery, then threats to get Eve to help him take Roarke down. It culminates in Eve hitting one of the commander's bodyguards, who's later found murdered, with the fairly obvious clues pointing to Roarke.
Unlike in Naked in Death, Roarke's not a suspect, but Eve has to figure out why Skinner is so bent on Roarke's arrest, and whodunit, while trying to avoid stepping on show more toes, as she's out of her jurisdiction. There's much about vengeance, and gray areas, about how obsession can cloud and warp a mind, and the aforementioned revelations about Roarke's father.
If you haven't read the rest of the series, the characters might not be as clear due to the novella length, but then again, if you haven't read the rest of the series, why not? show less
Like many of these anthologies, this book was a complete waste of time. The J.D. Robb story was quite forgettable, as were the Susan Krinard and Maggie Shayne stories. As for Laurell K. Hamilton, this was one of her big cheats where she put out a few chapters of her next book and passed it off as a short story. Nothing like buying a book and realizing you've already paid for part of it.
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Author Information
Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland on October 10, 1950. Her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981. Since then, she has written more than 200 novels. She writes romances under her own name including Montana Sky, Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, The Search, Chasing Fire, The Witness, The Perfect Hope, Inner Harbor, Dark show more Witch, Shadow Spell, The Collector, The Villa, The Liar, The Obsession, and Shelter in Place. She writes crime novels under the pseudonym of J. D. Robb including the In Death series. She has been given the Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into their Hall of Fame. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Laurell K. Hamilton was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas on February 19, 1963. She received degrees in English and biology from Marion College, which is now Indiana Wesleyan University. She writes the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and the Meredith Gentry series. (Bowker Author Biography)
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2001-08-01
- People/Characters
- Eve Dallas; Roarke; Anita Blake; Puabi; Mathew Fairchild
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA
- Epigraph
- Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain. --Aristotle
Happy is the child whose father goes to the devil. --Sixteenth-century Proverb - First words
- "Interlude in death" by J.D. Robb - The faces of murder were varied and complex.
"Kinsman" by Susan Krinard - Jonas Jane VelArhan strode toward Persephone Station's docking bay with little thought to the people who moved quickly out of his way, or the glances they cast after him, full of hostility and fea... (show all)r.
"Immortality" by Maggie Shayne - For the fight time in four thousand years I was ready to die.
"Magic like heat across my skin" by Laurell K. Hamilton. - June had come in like its usual hot, sweaty self. but a freak cold front had moved in during the night and the car radio had been full of the record low temperatures. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Interlude in death" by J.D. Robb - The streets of New York were resort enough for her.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Kinsman" by Susan Krinard - Kori flushed, and Jonas laughed. "You may have to wait some time, brother."
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Immortality" by Maggie Shayne - "Oh, Matthew," she whispered. "it's only just the beginning."
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Magic like heat across my skin" by Laurell K. Hamilton. - But somehow staring at Asher's naked back, with Narcissus gazing up at him with a look somewhere between adoration and terror, I just wasn't in the mood anymore. - Disambiguation notice
- This anthology contains 4 stories:
"Interlude in death" by J.D. Robb
"Kinsman" by Susan Krinard
"Immortality" by Maggie Shayne
"Magic like heat across my skin" by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.08508 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Romance fiction Collections
- LCC
- PS3568 .O243 .O97 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
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- 1,061
- Popularity
- 24,156
- Reviews
- 11
- Rating
- (3.56)
- Languages
- English, Hungarian, Korean
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 5