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I picked up this anthology out of interest in the Alpha & Omega prequel by Patricia Briggs. Along with that, though, I got three other interesting stories as well, and although some of them worked for me and some of them didn’t, I found this a decent enough read.

Patricia Briggs’ “Alpha and Omega” opens the set. I’d already basically known what happens in this from having read Cry Wolf, but it was nice to see the details filled in. And I was relieved to see that it works okay as a standalone story, and didn’t really feel like the beginning part of a novel.

Eileen Wilks’ “Inhuman” was the story I liked just about as much, and it intrigued me with a type of supernatural hero we don’t see much of: a hellhound. Of course, there’s the obligatory “but he shifted into human form” aspect of it, but still, points for an unusual type of supe. Decent murder mystery packed into a tiny package, and not too over the top.

“Buying Trouble” by Karen Chance probably should have snared me harder than it did, dealing as it does with the fey and having a good chunk of it set in Faerie. But it didn’t quite click with me.

And lastly, “Mona Lisa Betwining”, by Sunny, was just not my cup of tea. It was outright erotica, and as a result mostly bored me as I skimmed the whole thing looking for any sign of actual plot.

If you’re a Patricia Briggs fan and a completist, you might want to pick this up, but it’s optional since the events in “Alpha and Omega” are touched on sufficiently in Cry Wolf. Three stars.

It doesn’t get much better for me than Julie Czerneda–especially when she concludes an epic, sweeping story like the Stratification trilogy, and does it with a book like Rift in the Sky. Here at last in this volume we see the Om’ray exiles under the leadership of Aryl Sarc having to make the leap from establishing their own Sona Clan to leaving their homeworld entirely, and what dire circumstances provoke their urgent flight–and which established characters must make sacrifices for that flight to happen. We see the first emergence of the power structures familiar from the Trade Pact Universe novels as Aryl’s people–all of the Om’ray who possess the ability to move through the M’hir–rename themselves the M’hiray and begin to plan to further unions of their young based on power levels.

And once the flight from Cersi occurs, be sure to keep reading. What seems like the ending of the story in fact is not, for there’s a whole extra section at the end that covers what happens with Aryl’s people once they’re offworld. There’s tying up of loose ends there as well as bridging work done to tie back to the Trade Pact books–and to look ahead to the books to come.

Since this is the third book of the trilogy, go in expecting events on a grander scale and less time paid to in-depth characterizations; like I said, this is an epic, and it felt entirely appropriate to me to broaden the view out for this conclusion to the story. Beautifully done all in all. Five stars.

I must admit, awesome as the Negotiator trilogy and the Inheritors’ Cycle have been so far, I’ve really rather missed mizkit‘s Joanne Walker in the Walker Papers. And Book 4, Walking Dead, brings her back with a satisfying vengeance.

The title of this might lead you to believe it’s a zombie novel. It’s not, at least not predominantly. The dead do indeed rise, but aside from a couple of scenes, they aren’t the primary point of the book. Rather, we’ve got Joanne and her partner Billie on the hunt for an ancient mystical coffin ETA cauldron (I meant to say this the first time, I really did!) that’s the source of the dead’s uncharacteristic liveliness, and who’s actually putting it to use. Meanwhile, Jo’s actually gotten enough of a handle on her shaman gig that she’s opened up enough to take a crack at dating–although established fans of the series will probably be joining me in going “AUGH MORRISON”. Certain mystical characters from previous books make another appearance here, and a certain other one continues to be conspicuous by his absence.

All in all quite enjoyable, and a nice way to resume the series. Four stars.

It’s not often that I can actually include a fanfic novel in my reading, especially one released for free on the Internet by a professional author. That is however exactly what My Own Kind of Freedom is: Steven Brust’s Firefly fanfic novel. If I understand the history of this book correctly, Brust tried to pitch it professionally but couldn’t sell it, and ergo decided to release it to the net.

The plot’s decent enough and reads like a good idea for an episode of the show, one set after the last aired episode but before the events of Serenity, so we’re down Inara and Book. Our heroes take a job that takes them to Hera–the very planet where the Browncoats lost the war to the Alliance. Jayne’s blowing up at Mal and subsequent expulsion from the crew leads to a much bigger problem: Mal’s old commander is at large on Hera, and moreover, he’s up to no good. Common sense would tell the crew of Serenity to leave the world as fast as they can. But when has common sense ever gotten in the way of our Big Damn Heroes?

Mostly, the characterizations are on the true, and Brust does some lovely things writing from River’s point of view; his language and word choices are at their (aheh) shiniest when he’s writing for her. But I take some issues with Jayne’s part of the plot arc, since it’s precipitated by actions I don’t believe he’d have taken at the point at which the story is set. So overall, while this was pleasant to read, I found it a bit flawed. Three stars.