Inked

This is a collection of short stories by people established in the UF genre and their own worlds. It tells those stories, sometimes from a new perspective (Chance tells a story from a war mage's POV), sometimes just a sidebar story.

In this collection the theme is tattoos. Magical tattoos in the main, although in one it's a religious ceremony that results in the couple being painted rather than tattooed. And romance is strong in all the stories too, sometimes full on and sexual, sometimes the sex is mentioned as having happened but takes no part in the written word.

As always the standard is a bit hit and miss, and surprisingly for me, it's Karen Chance's story that is actually the weakest to my mind, and the stories get stronger from show more there on. Galenorn I might look up, Wilks - I've just ordered 6 more books of hers to read. show less

When I first starting reading this, I thought it was going to be too silly to be enjoyable, but after I got into it a bit, I found the first two stories, in particular, to be really good. I'll be looking for more books by those authors.

I am addicted to anthologies. With so many new and upcoming authors out there, and known authors I haven't tried yet, this is a perfect "taste" of the new, and a toe-dip into the 'somewhat known'.

"Skin Deep" is the first short story I ever read by Chance, and lead me to another anthology, "On The Prowl". Everyone else has told you the story line, so I will just say that the story was enjoyable, and was my first step to adding Chance to my 'must read' list. Will see how that goes.

Liu is, as always, delicious. Her whole storyline with her character Maxine Kiss is based upon tattoos, hence her perfect fit within this anthology. Maxine's tattoos are characters of their own - demons, fixed within her skin, peeling away from her body at night show more to become major players within her stories. The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1) was a treasure to read the first time, and should be on everyone's reading list.

I am not really a fan of Galenorn. Nothing against her, or her writing, her work just doesn't fall within my interests. I am sure, if you like her work, you will find it wonderful. I actually enjoyed her story, just won't invest in further books by her for my own reading. Again, though, if you like her type of work, she is a great writer and well worth your time.

And then there is Wilks and her Lupi. This is a nice stand-alone story, but it also brings into account new characters who could make later entry into her Lupi books. Once you read "Human Nature" I hope you find that you are highly interested in Wilks further work. I find it well written, with good world building, strong characters, humour, and well developed story lines. Well worth the investment.

In all, a strong group of stories by a strong group of writers. Recommended! show less

This anthology just didn't do it for me. In fairness, I am not an avid urban fantasy reader. I enjoy contemporary fantasy and paranormal, as well as sci-fi and more traditional romances and thriller/action novels. I thought this would lure me as well, but it just didn't strike any chords for me. I had to force myself to finish the book, just because I hate to leave any book unfinished, and because I hoped that at least one of the stories might hook me. Some of them are better than others, but I do not feel any special urge to seek out the series' to which some of them are connected. I'm not a prude, but I found the sex just for the sake of sex a bit annoying. Possibly this could be due to the fact that I had absolutely no previous show more knowledge of an of the characters before reading this book. Maybe if I had some knowledge of where the characters were going, or where they'd come from, it wouldn't have felt so out of place to me. This is, of course, always an issue in a short story. There often isn't enough time to properly develop the characters. And that may be my biggest problem of all. I simply never got to a point where I cared about any of them. Perhaps urban fantasy just isn't my thing, but I really wish I hadn't spent any money to buy this book. show less

I am addicted to anthologies. With so many new and upcoming authors out there, and known authors I haven't tried yet, this is a perfect "taste" of the new, and a toe-dip into the 'somewhat known'.

"Skin Deep" is the first short story I ever read by Chance, and lead me to another anthology, "On The Prowl". Everyone else has told you the story line, so I will just say that the story was enjoyable, and was my first step to adding Chance to my 'must read' list. Will see how that goes.

Liu is, as always, delicious. Her whole storyline with her character Maxine Kiss is based upon tattoos, hence her perfect fit within this anthology. Maxine's tattoos are characters of their own - demons, fixed within her skin, peeling away from her body at night show more to become major players within her stories. The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1) was a treasure to read the first time, and should be on everyone's reading list.

I am not really a fan of Galenorn. Nothing against her, or her writing, her work just doesn't fall within my interests. I am sure, if you like her work, you will find it wonderful. I actually enjoyed her story, just won't invest in further books by her for my own reading. Again, though, if you like her type of work, she is a great writer and well worth your time.

And then there is Wilks and her Lupi. This is a nice stand-alone story, but it also brings into account new characters who could make later entry into her Lupi books. Once you read "Human Nature" I hope you find that you are highly interested in Wilks further work. I find it well written, with good world building, strong characters, humour, and well developed story lines. Well worth the investment.

In all, a strong group of stories by a strong group of writers. Recommended! show less

Contains four short stories by established authors revolving around familiar characters from their respective series. As the title suggests, the stories are linked by the common theme: body art. Tattoos, whether lethal for their bearers, to someone else, or not at all, play pivotal roles in the action.

"Skin Deep" by Karen Chance - this was the only author I wasn't familiar with going in, and while I was a bit at sea regarding who the main players were and what exactly was the motivation behind the ongoing war, the writing was good, the action was fast, and I think I'll be looking for more of Chance's standalone works. (Probably the point - LOL!)

"Armor of Roses" by Marjorie M. Liu - Demon hunter Maxine Kiss and her lover Grant are show more finishing an evening of philanthropic flesh-pressing when a soon-to-be corpse expires against Maxine's ride. Although Maxine's never met him, he knows who she is - and he has documents to prove it. Only thing... they're from World War II. A bit of time travel twistiness follows.

"Etched in Silver" by Yasmine Galenorn - a Moon Witch on the trail of a cop gone bad gets a bit of help from a scarily seductive Fae. Can she resist temptation long enough to get her man? The weakest of the four IMHO, but not terrible for all that.

"Human Nature" - Rule and FBI agent Lily Yu, set to celebrate her birthday, instead end up back in California dealing with a prejudiced police chief, a racist cult leader, a murdered werewolf, and a few relationship issues. Wilk's does a fine job of working a lot of detail into a relatively short story.

One cautionary note - it helps to have some knowledge of the characters and worlds they're at home in going in. Otherwise, the plots may be a bit opaque. show less

Amazon preorder.

I'm sort of torn about these anthologies that have "4.5" of this series, and 3.5 of another series. This anthology I don't mind, because I would buy an anthology for any one of three of the stories. (I just haven't gotten into Gaelorn.)This anthology I didn't mind, three excellent must buy authors, and one that was fine to pass the time. I'm glad, because sometimes I end up buying these for one story and feeling robbed. This was good value.

I love Chance, I love Liu and I love Wilks. All three of these are novella length pieces of ongoing series. The Liu in particular seems to have some significant story advancement in the Hunter Kiss longer story arc.

The Chance is sort an "inbetween" story and I don't think it would show more matter if it were missed out of the larger arc although I enjoyed it.

The Wilks had some character maturation of both characters. Again, while I enjoyed reading it I don't know that it couldn't have been stuff happening offstage from the main story path. show less