3.5
Urban Enemies
ByPublisher Description
Villains have all the fun—everyone knows that—and this anthology takes you on a wild ride through the dark side! The top villains from seventeen urban fantasy series get their own stories—including the baddies of New York Times bestselling authors Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, and Jonathan Maberry.
For every hero trying to save the world, there’s a villain trying to tear it all down.
In this can’t-miss anthology edited by Joseph Nassise (The Templar Chronicles), you get to plot world domination with the best of the evildoers we love to hate! This outstanding collection brings you stories told from the villains' point of view, imparting a fresh and unique take on the evil masterminds, wicked witches, and infernal personalities that skulk in the pages of today’s most popular series.
The full anthology features stories by Jim Butcher (the Dresden Files), Kelley Armstrong (Cainsville), Seanan McGuire (October Daye), Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger), Lilith Saintcrow (Jill Kismet), Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville), Joseph Nassise (Templar Chronicles), Domino Finn (Black Magic Outlaw), Steven Savile (Glasstown), Caitlin Kittredge (Hellhound Chronicles), Jeffrey Somers (The Ustari Cycle), Sam Witt (Pitchfork County), Craig Schaefer (Daniel Faust), Jon F. Merz (Lawson Vampire), Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock), and Diana Pharaoh Francis (Horngate Witches).
For every hero trying to save the world, there’s a villain trying to tear it all down.
In this can’t-miss anthology edited by Joseph Nassise (The Templar Chronicles), you get to plot world domination with the best of the evildoers we love to hate! This outstanding collection brings you stories told from the villains' point of view, imparting a fresh and unique take on the evil masterminds, wicked witches, and infernal personalities that skulk in the pages of today’s most popular series.
The full anthology features stories by Jim Butcher (the Dresden Files), Kelley Armstrong (Cainsville), Seanan McGuire (October Daye), Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger), Lilith Saintcrow (Jill Kismet), Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville), Joseph Nassise (Templar Chronicles), Domino Finn (Black Magic Outlaw), Steven Savile (Glasstown), Caitlin Kittredge (Hellhound Chronicles), Jeffrey Somers (The Ustari Cycle), Sam Witt (Pitchfork County), Craig Schaefer (Daniel Faust), Jon F. Merz (Lawson Vampire), Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock), and Diana Pharaoh Francis (Horngate Witches).
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities51 Reviews
3.5
Mindi Sue Stebbins
Created about 2 months agoShare
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Sig McConnell
Created 5 months agoShare
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Eli
Created 6 months agoShare
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“This anthology is from some of the biggest names in urban fantasy, including Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, and more. I picked the book up for the stories from Butcher, Armstrong, Vaughn, and McGuire. They are some of my favorite authors and I’ve read numerous books from each of them. Some of the other authors I’d never heard of before, but will be going through their backlog next! It’s what makes an anthology so good when I’m in a reading slump - being introduced to short pieces by new authors to get a taste of whether I’ll like them or not without fully committing. This anthology includes stories of ghosts, demons, vampires, angels, gods, and other supernatural elements just waiting to have their side of the story told. My overall impression was favorable. It was a decent mix of new and known authors to me, with enough of a themed thread tying the stories together to make it cohesive. The star review is my overall rating. Each of the stories below got their own rating, as well.
Jim Butcher is one of my favorite authors. “Even Hand” was a wickedly delightful story about John Marcone, a human crime lord mixing with the supernatural world. This story has been published before, so was not new to me. What I enjoyed most was that true to Butcher’s full-length Dresden Files novels, the characters - even the bad guys - are fully fleshed out.
4/5
“Hounded” by Kelly Armstrong was somewhat lackluster for me, especially compared to the full-length novels that are part of the Cainsville series. I highly recommend the series for people who enjoy mysteries surrounding otherworldly beings. This glimpse into what goes on in the mind of a corrupted Hunstman was dark. That wasn’t the problem, it was more that I just didn’t like poor dog suffering.
3/5
Jeff Somers is a new-to-me author and one that I will look for more from in the future. His writing of “Nigsu Ga Tesgu” was clean, and interesting, and he used the concept of magick words in a way that I haven’t come across before. When does the apprentice become the master? That is the question this story is asking, and in a way, answering.
4/5
“Sixty-Six Seconds” by Craig Schaefer was an interesting read. The main character Fontaine is on a mission, secret from what he’s being paid to do. I enjoyed the concept of a demonic bounty hunter having to take on an apprentice while tracking down the opposing side's leader. I would have loved this to be slightly longer, even for a novella. There seemed to be too much story that didn’t make it into the novella for it to be a good standalone, and prior knowledge o the series would have made it better.
3/5
I could have liked “Kiss” by Lilith Saintcro, but for it being set in WW2. I nearly always dislike stories that focus on true-life war events. I wanted to like the idea of a demon making an alliance with a demon hunter bloodline in order to “stop the greater evil”. I just couldn’t get past the WW2 background enough to get into the story. It was also another one that would have been a better read if I’d had previous knowledge of the series it came from.
2.5/5
“The Naughties T Cherub” by Kevin Hearne was interesting. It was neither exciting nor dull and so I am willing to give the series it came from a chance. We follow Loki into Hell to speak with Lucifer about the end of the world. This is a piece inbetween two books in the “Iron Druid” series and I plan to pick up the first book.
3.0/5
“The Resurrectionist” by Caitlin Kittredge is another one that I want to read more of the series. It details Lee’s story as a “retired” hunter as he deals with a missing girl, zombies and hellhouds.
3/5
“Down Where the Darkness Dwells” by Joseph Nassise - I skipped it, no rating.
“Bellum Romanum” by Carrie Vaughn
Finally, a story about Roman! I was so looking forward to getting into this guy’s mind. The insanity of his master was an interesting detail, but the fact that he is the cause of a huge “natural” disaster made sense as the origins of his evil organization.
4/5
“Altar Boy” by Jonathan Maberry - I skipped this one. No rating.
“Make it Snappy” by Faith Hunter was another one I had looked forward to, and I was not disappointed. This one is Leo’s story, before Jane Yellowrock comes into his life and changes him for the “better”. I loved the insight into his vampiric organization prior to the series.
4/5
“Chase The Fire” by Jon F. Merz was neither good nor bad. It was the story of two vampires who are simply an evolutionary branch on the human tree and not the typical “dead” vampire with a virus or magic or whatever it is that animates them. That was more interesting to me than the story, but maybe the series would be better.
3/5
“Unexpected Choices” by Diana Pharaoh Francis - Skipped this one. I’m not a big fan of angle stories, I guess. No rating.
“Reel Life” by Steven Savile - Skipped this one. Evil brothers is an overdone trope and this one was too dark for my current tolerance levels. Might be good when I’m in a better place for it it emotionally. No rating.
“The Difference Between Deceit and Delusion” by Domino Finn was so-so. I like a good villain but I don’t care to start stories right out the gate with torture. It starts before the “Black Magic Outlaw” series and tells the story of Tunji Malu who is the cause of all the bad in the series.
3/5
“Balance” by Seanan McGuire was one of the few that I was excited to read. I have read many of her books, and this one written from the POV of a Cuckoo makes it particularly creepy-good. Cuckoos are humanoid creatures with the ability to slip into the minds of people and convince them to do or believe whatever the Cuckoo wants. Perfect for a villian story! I just love everything McGuire writes.
4/5
“Everywhere” by Sam Witt - Didn’t read. No rating.
Content Warnings:
Major - Death, Gore, Violence
Moderate - Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture
Minor - War”
Laurie
Created 6 months agoShare
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BookWyrm
Created 11 months agoShare
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About Jim Butcher
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher turned to writing as a career because anything else probably would have driven him insane. He lives mostly inside his own head so that he can write down the conversation of his imaginary friends, but his head can generally be found in Independence, Missouri.
Other books by Jim Butcher
Kevin Hearne
Kevin Hearne is the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles. He’s a middle-aged nerd who still enjoys his comic books and old-school heavy metal. Visit him online at KevinHearne.com.
Other books by Kevin Hearne
Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire is the author of Every Heart a Doorway, the October Daye urban fantasy series, the InCryptid series, and several other works, both standalone and in trilogies. She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. She was the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 she became the first person ever to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot.
Other books by Seanan McGuire
Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Otherworld series, as well as the New York Times bestselling young adult trilogy Darkest Powers, the Darkness Rising trilogy, and the Nadia Stafford series. She lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her husband and three children.
Other books by Kelley Armstrong
Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and adventure; and he writes for adults, teens, and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, The X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV, including V Wars, which is a Netflix original series. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including the X-Files books, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Hardboiled Horror, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. He lives in Del Mar, California. Visit him at JonathanMaberry.com and on Twitter (@JonathanMaberry) and Facebook.
Other books by Jonathan Maberry
Jeff Somers
Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. After graduating college he wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey brought him back to his homeland. Visit him at JeffreySomers.com and WeAreNotGoodPeople.com, and on Twitter at @JeffreySomers.
Other books by Jeff Somers
Joseph Nassise
Joseph Nassise is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the internationally bestselling Templar Chronicles series, the Jeremiah Hunt trilogy, and the Great Undead War series. He also writes epic fantasy under the pseudonym Matthew Caine. He’s a multiple Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee and his work has been translated into seven languages.
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