Tales of the Otherworld (The Otherworld Series Book 2)

by Kelley Armstrong

Ebook, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Bantam (2010), Edition: 1, 466 pages

Description

Devotees of the Otherworld series can share special moments with some of their favorite superhuman characters--as well as discover deeper insights into the lives of some of the lesser-known players--in these seven tales of friendship, adventure, and enduring romance.

User reviews

LibraryThing member flemmily

I'm not a huge short story fan, but I am definitely a Kelley Armstrong fan. I enjoyed this collection because I've read the rest of the series, it's a nice, well-written peek at the stories that are hinted at in the novels. I thought the first story was the weakest, I like Aaron as a character but

found the story of his origins pretty boring. The other stories were great however. If you like the Otherworld series, this is a nice time with some old friends.

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LibraryThing member RavenswoodPublishing

Kelley Armstrong is a progeny when it comes to supernatural writing. Her books leave you breathless with their racy romances, the constant struggles, and the exciting stories. She does all of this effortlessly and you have no choice but to plummet without stumbling straight into her world. She has

created such a strong presence in all of her characters that everything about them makes them seem real! You get so caught up in their stories that you feel you are a part of them. I cannot say enough good things about Kelley!

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LibraryThing member xbetty

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 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.

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LibraryThing member teharhynn

This makes me want to reread all the books all over again. It's been a while since I've read them... I think I just might. I've read most of these when they were posted on her website, but how much fun was it to read them all over again. Another win for all fans of Kelley Armstrong. I can't wait

for the next book, interested to see how Savannah's going to be as a more dominant character to the story line.

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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C

I greatly enjoy Armstrong's Otherworld books. I wouldn't recommend starting with this one if you haven't read them--these are a grouping of 8 stories, including one novella, and I think their primary pleasure comes from seeing them fill in the gaps in the histories of some favorite characters. So

go read Bitten and Stolen and Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic at least first, then come back and pick up this book. I enjoyed all the stories here, but I think my favorite was the last one, "The Case of El Chupacabra," but then Lucas Cortez and Paige Winterbourne are my favorite Armstrong characters, and I always love it when they show up.

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LibraryThing member saramllr

Solid collection of short stories about Armstrong's Otherworld crew. I loved "Beginnings," which told the story of how Clay and Elena met up until she was bitten. Great series!

LibraryThing member ReadingWithMartinis

Tales of the Otherworld combined two of my most favorite things: Kelley Armstrong’s writing and short stories. I adored this collection. I really liked the stories that provided history for some of the lesser characters that we encounter in the Otherworld series, such as Council characters. I

also loved the backstory that was provided on Eve and Kristof and how their relationship formed and then disintegrated.

I adored this book. I absolutely recommend it to Kelley Armstrong fans and fans of urban fiction. Even if you haven’t read the Otherworld series, you can still pick up this book and enjoy the stories.

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LibraryThing member amberic

Loved the story with Elena and Clay!! SO worth it! They are my favorites!!

LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba

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 detract from the story and are never inappropriately placed.

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LibraryThing member mountie9

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 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 : )

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LibraryThing member reannon

I read a lot of paranormal fantasy for a while, but got tired of it and have cut way back. Kelley Armstrong, however, is an author whose new books I await eagerly. She has a fascinating universe in which supernaturals mix with but are mostly hidden from regular mortals. The books in the series

alternate as to which set of characters are the central focus. There are werewolf characters, witch characters, a necromancer, a half-demon half-witch ghost, etc. This latest book, the tenth or so in the series, is a collection of short stories that give the back story of many of the characters. Excellent as usual from Armstrong.

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LibraryThing member Nikk1s

I really enjoyed this compilation. After reading Men of the Otherworld, I really enjoyed reading the story of how Elena and Clay met in Toronto, and I loved the story of Eve and Kris. I'm glad I read them after reading the other stories because I could feel the love and affection Kelley has for her

characters in these stories that I wouldn't have been able to appreciate if I hadn't read the features first. I love compilations of short fantasy stories that feature characters in series. They're great ways to get introduced to new writers.

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LibraryThing member sithereandread

BEGINNINGS, by Kelley Armstrong, was another look into the life of the Otherworld werewolf mates, Clay and Elena. I am a huge fan of the Otherworld series in general, especially anything including this stubborn but lovable pair.

I received 'Tales of the Otherworld' this afternoon and sat down and

read 'Beginnings' in one sitting. In this novella, we explore the relationship between Clay (werewolf) and Elena (human) and how it became the rocky but epic romance that continued in 'Bitten'. I always wondered how these two came to be and how Elena (werewolf) came about. Clay's heart was literally torn in two when he was forced to make a decision between the Pack and his mate, so his decision to bite Elena was the toughest he had ever made. We also got some backstory on why Elena and Logan were very close friends. I also liked getting inside Clay's head more in this story because his thoughts are more werewolf than human and it leads to a very interesting read.

Overall, this is a MUST read for any fans of the Otherworld series. I am satisfied with my Clay/Elena fix for now, but I know I will soon enjoy the rest of the novellas in this book.

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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher

I wouldn't recommend this to folks who aren't already steeped in this world, but these stories tie up some loose ends and are generally pleasant.

LibraryThing member mlsimmons

I loved these stories. I have read some of them before from the website. It is great to have them now in hardback.

LibraryThing member bgknighton

Enjoyable, fleshes out previous relationships in 3 storylines

LibraryThing member emblue

Liked certain stories more than others -- probably 3.5-4.5 for some of them.

LibraryThing member Carol420

This book collects several of Armstrong's shorter fiction featuring characters from her "Otherworld" series. There are eight stories in all, three novellas and give short stories. Most of the stories had been previously available to download off Armstrong's website but are collected here for the

first time. Kelley Armstrong knows how to write a good book. It is an impelling and interesting to read. A great insight, and well worth your time to read.

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LibraryThing member London_StJ

While I enjoyed the most recent book in the Otherworld collection, I did not find Tales of the Otherworld to be as entertaining as Armstrong''s previous collection, Men of the Otherworld. Both books present history and background that is entertaining to fans of Armstrong''s series, but would likely

confuse readers who have not already been introduced to the principal characters. However, I always enjoy the opportunity to explore the world and characters a little further, and Tales of the Otherworld allows just that.

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