Tales of the Otherworld

A surprisingly strong collection of stories about characters from Armstrong's Otherworld novels. Some provide insight into side characters. Others fill in gaps in the lives of protagonists like Eve Levine.

I enjoyed the longest story of the lot, in which Paige and Lucas investigate a possible vampire attack. Besides giving us a view into their domestic life (which I quite enjoyed--to me, their relationship feels the most real and lived-in of all the romances in the Otherworld), it also gives depth to the benefits and strictures of Cabal life. Lucas distanced himself from the Cabals long ago, but is beginning to think that a closer connection might be useful. Sean, on the other hand, is the heir to the other largest Cabal, and he has show more chosen to try to change the organization from within. He finds that doing so is more painful and difficult than he'd imagined. The contrast isn't belabored within the story, but it is interesting.

The least successful story, for me, covered Clayton falling in love with Elena pre-[b:Bitten|11918|Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306101770s/11918.jpg|2606334], when he was a hotshot young professor and she was his beautiful student. He's immediately enamored with her and so offers her a job as his TA (even though she's an undergrad) to keep her around. Eventually they start dating and get engaged. Clayton, however, is a werewolf sworn to secrecy about the supernatural, and to ensure this the Alpha won't allow anyone to be in a serious relationship with a human. Clayton can't bear to give Elena up but also doesn't want to disobey his Alpha and be cast out of his family, so he bites Elena. Nonconsensually turning someone into a werewolf is pretty shitty, but to make his act even worse, he knows that no adult has been successfully turned before. His bite pretty much condemns her to death. Since writing this backstory into [b:Bitten|11918|Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306101770s/11918.jpg|2606334], Armstrong seems to have realized how incredibly fucked up it is, and has given Clayton a sob story and some softening in an attempt to make Elena's eventual marriage to Clayton (the man who lied to her and basically tried to kill her) seem less twisted. But seeing the world through Clayton's eyes doesn't make his decision to turn Elena any less horrific; instead, it makes it clear that he was absolutely clear-headed and knew exactly what he was doing. Suuuuper icky. I never liked him or the werewolf-centric books in general (the constant rape threats to Elena from all the other werewolves get old fast), but this short story just cemented my dislike. show less

I make no show of hiding my love for Kelley Armstrong’s novels, especially her Women of The Otherworld Series. She could publish a book of her shopping lists and I think I’d happily buy it and devour it as quickly as I did this one.

There are seven stories in total:

Rebirth – Aaron and Cassandra
Bewitched – Eve and Kristof
Birthright – Logan
Beginnings – Clay and Elena
Ghosts – Jeremy
Expectations – Lucas
Wedding Bell Hell – P...more I make no show of hiding my love for Kelley Armstrong’s novels, especially her Women of The Otherworld Series. She could publish a book of her shopping lists and I think I’d happily buy it and devour it as quickly as I did this one.

There are seven stories in total:

Rebirth – Aaron and show more Cassandra
Bewitched – Eve and Kristof
Birthright – Logan
Beginnings – Clay and Elena
Ghosts – Jeremy
Expectations – Lucas
Wedding Bell Hell – Paige and Lucas
The Case of El Chupacabra – Lucas and Sean

While I’d love to discuss each and every one of these stories, I chose two that stood out to me above the rest.

First is Bewitched, which is focused on Eve and Kristof and how they first met. I actually surprised myself in choosing this one, as it wasn’t long ago that I wasn’t a huge fan of Eve. But the half demon witch has come to grow on me. I’ve always wondered how she ended up with Kristof; the pair almost seems to be polar opposites with the commonality of getting what they want, and knowing how to do it well.

What starts as a business proposition turns into a romance on a slow burn that explodes in a straight up love affair for the pair. Though when you’re dating the son of a cabal leader and you’re a witch that dabbles in the dark arts its never going to be easy.

The second story that stood out is definitely Beginnings, the story of how Clay and Elena fell in love before things changed very drastically for the pair.

Though Elena is the character that started the Otherworld series, they’re not quite my favourite couplings. But I’ve always been curious as to how these two met. Clay sometimes comes across as unemotional as a spanner sometimes, not that it’s a fault, it’s how he is. Clay sees things in black and white, straight down the middle and emotions play no part in his decisions.

To see him fall for Elena and the longing to have a mate was heartwrenching at points for me. It was the same of Elena, knowing what she thought and felt for Clay and knowing where it would lead was sometimes hard to read. She completely trusted this person who took that trust in a moment of panic and broke it.

I should also mention my love for Lucas. He’s the focus of three of the short stories and it was nice to see a little more from his prospective and learn a little more about him. I would write more, but this review would then be far too long with me lamenting my love for Lucas!

Final Thoughts…

If you’re a fan of Kelley Armstrong’s books then this makes a nice addition to the series, filling in a few blank spaces of history that have been referenced to but not divulged. If you’re new to Kelley’s work, I would imagine a lot of this might not make much sense, though is still an enjoyable read. I should warn though, if you’re planning on reading this before any of the other books, it does contain quite a few spoilers.

Tales Of The Otherworld is an excellent addition to the every growing Women of The Otherworld series and would totally recommend it to any fan of the series and Kelley’s work. show less

I'm completely gaga over The Women of the Otherworld series. It's hard to put these down - not only am I going through the novels in order (thirteen full length), but also the several novellas and anthology collections. This is the first anthology I've taken on for the series, and if they continue to be as good as this one, I'll end up enjoying these almost as much as the full-length novels. This is one of the highest recommended because it has Elena and Clay's novella where they first meet and bond.

The anthology opens mediocre before blooming into greatness. Rebirth is Aaron's short story - how he died, how he rose, how he meets Cassandra. It was just okay. I never cared about either character in the series either really. Short and to show more the point.

Bewitched is telling the backstory of how Eve met Kristof and how they ended up working together and eventually falling for each other. It was okay, but since I'm not attached to either of the characters just yet, I wasn't as glued into the story. The ending felt slightly abrupt. I'm curious how he found out about the pregnancy and did she go into hiding? Only more reading will tell. It would work out reading this one before or after Eve's full length novel, Haunted.

Birthright is a short stint showing Logan coming to Stonehaven. While I usually love Clay, he was a little too trigger happy for my tastes in this one. It's brief and shows a quick intro to the character and how he came there.

Beginnings is the heart of this anthology. Pretty much any fan of the series will want to see Clay and Elena meeting and falling for each other. The novella takes up most of the book at over 100 pages. It's told through alternating POVs for Elena and Clay. Shows his offstandish personality with people which comes across adorable. His intensity in the relationship with Elena = heart-putter. I love the slow and realistic way their bond develops. It's not instant lightning strike but it's awesome. The scene with Jeremy explains much more than I understood before on the reasoning. Excellent novella fans should hunt down.

Expectations is a brief journey of Lucas stealing a grimoire. It doesn't add anything to the cannons of the story, like Logan's short, but it's worth reading.

Ghosts is beautifully strong. Told through Jeremy's POV with flashbacks to Elena changed and begging to break from the cage, to Clay's weakness and also begging from the cage. It shows how lonely Jeremy is without him and how he fears the emptiness of the house. Haunting in theme and gorgeous writing, one of the best of the anthology.

Wedding Bell Hell is the top one outside Elena and Clay's meet that I wanted to read. It was funny as anticipated but I wish it were longer and could go into a bit more detail. Love that couple and the father's meddling. Recommended.

The Case of El Chupacabra was lengthy and enjoyable. We get into Paige and Luca's life while they explore and solve, but also other characters like Sean and a personal dilemma, Savannah showing off to her two grandfathers, Benecio's scheming, and a life changer for Lucas.

Tales of the Otherworld carries stories central to the characters: Elena and Clay meeting, Paige and Lucas tying the knot, Kris and Eve first falling for each other. It tells the backstory for a few minor characters like Aaron and Logan. Finally, it throws in some behind the scenes stuff that fleshes out some regulars like Jeremy. Highly recommended for fans of the series. show less

I enjoyed reading the Tales of the Otherworld, but would suspect it is a book largely for fans.

"Rebirth" is a vampire birthing tale, which was moderately interesting. I had forgotten how vampires worked in Armstrong's world. "Bewitched" was one of the better stories, and describes the meeting and sweet romance between Eve Levine and Kristof Nast. I've always had a problem with Eve's character in Armstrong books, because her characterization varies so much depending on which book/story. When she is first introduced (chronologically)we are given to understand she is a witch of the blackest order. I enjoyed this background tale a great deal, but continue to be confused about the extreme dichotomy we see in her character, from sensitive, show more misunderstood mother to black witch for hire, willing to kill as needed.

"Birthright" is the story of a werewolf coming of age. This one didn't do it for me; I think it wasn't long enough or well enough characterized to care about Logan. The other men in the story are familiar from other books, but I had forgotten who one of them was, and there wasn't really enough background to help me remember. Definitely a fan-only piece.

"Beginnings" is the standout story, an engrossing read and remindng me of Bitten, why I started reading Armstrong in the first place. (Note to self: add Bitten to personal collection). A story of how Elena and Clay met and fell in love, and does well to capture the singlemindedness of the werewolf and the unsureness of Elena's feelings.

"Expectations" is about Eve and Lucas, a number of years after the first story in the collection. Anticlimactic storyline. I tend to dislike Lucas' voice as narrator and think it sounds very stilted. "Ghosts" is definitely a fan piece, and reads like a scene that ought to be from a longer format. It was interesting because I knew the character from the novels, but still didn't feel like fleshed out enough. It's the sort of scene that comes to you in inspiration, but needs to be written and lengthened to come to shareable fruition.

"Wedding Bell Hell" was a humorous pre-wedding tale, including intrusive in-laws-to-be. "The Case of El Chupacabra" wasn't a particularly strong mystery, but had nice moments about Lucas and Page's relationship. Again told in Lucas' voice. Had bonus moments of Cassandra, a vampire at the end of life, who provides moments of levity through her sheer non-interest in most human activities. show less

This is a great book - I loved how it gives background on a few of my favorite characters, specifically how Elena and Clay met, culminating in the bit that made Elena a werewolf. The story of Eve was nicely written. I don't remember Logan very much, so his story was a bit of a blank. I especially liked the last story, The Case of El Chupacabra, a well rounded mystery about Paige and Lucas.

Its a nice, well written anthology. As usual, I skipped the sex scenes. Kelley Armstrong is a great writer, writes well written characters, but I wish she would back off on the sex just a bit - it gets old, and doesn't really mesh with real life. Just how much sex can a couple with a 16 year old daughter (adopted) really have? The sex scenes don't show more detract from the story and are never inappropriately placed. show less

The Good Stuff

* I've only read one other Kelley Armstrong book so far (The Gathering) and I was a little worried that I would be lost reading this anthology, but was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't lost at all, it just really whet my appetite to read the rest of her stories in order to find out more about their stories
* ALL proceeds from sale of book goes to World Literacy Canada - that is worth the price of the book alone
* Kelley just knows how to craft a good tale. I always feel slightly out of touch after I am reading her stories, because I become so engrossed in her world
* Favorite stories were Rebirth, Bewitched and Beginnings
* Intriguing, fast paced stories
* Love her dry humour
* Strong kick ass female characters

The Not so show more Good Stuff

* Now I want to read more books by her and I have some books that HAVE to be reviewed first, before I can read more by Kelley -- damn responsibilities
* Brought it to work with me one day to read at lunch and ended up reading for almost 2 hours -- and I only have a 1 hour lunch -- phew didn't get busted though
* As a new reader I was a little confused at what exactly the Cabal are

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"It was like seeing a mythical being come to life -- a real parent, the kind I'd heard existed, but never met. Certainly never had myself."

"Some women just aren't cut out to be mothers, and unfortunately it had taken Susanna three kids to realize she was one of them."

"I wasn't stupid enough to piss off a guy like that. Just stupid enough to do business with him and expect a fair deal."

"Vampirism is simply another state of consciousness" she said. "You will find that vampires do not appreciate being called--" Her lips twisted. "Undead".

What I Learned

* Tons of background information about various characters in the Otherworld
* That I NEED to get more books by Kelley -- hmm I know the babysitter and Keira have all of her books, think I will be borrowing from them for a change.

Who should/shouldn't read

* Pretty much anyone who is interested in a good tale with paranormal twists
* I would say 14+ due to some sexuality and violence - but it is not me to judge

4.5 Dewey's

I received this from Random House in exchange for an honest review -- thank guys for introducing me to such a spectacular author and she's Canadian : ) show less

The Good: This book is an absolute must read for fans of the series. We finally get to see exactly how Clay and Elena got together, which was never fully looked into during the series but was a huge motivation for all of their relationship woes. We also get to see how Eve and Kristof got mixed up together when they were such a unlikely pair. And how Eve became the "bad" witch she was when she died. These are things fans are dying to know and they are, in fact, every bit worth the wait.

The Bad: The short story format was jumpy. I would have much rather this been a prequel/origions story type novel.