Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong, UK edition cover.

Title: Tales of the Otherworld (The Otherworld)
Author:  Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit (13th April 2010)
Blurb:

Kelley Armstrong’s gripping and imaginative short stories are brought together in a fantastic new collection.

A young vampire learns the heavy price of his new existence; black witch Eve Levine meets Kristof Nast, her soulmate and her nemesis; Lucas Cortez, lawyer, sorcerer and unwilling heir to his father’s Cabal, sets out on a case that will change his destiny; Paige Winterbourne discovers just how fraught a white (witch) wedding can be; and Elena Michaels begins her unwitting journey to a new life – as the only female werewolf in the world . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

With Tales of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong introduces her second anthology of short stories based in her fantastic The Otherworld series. This book holds a collection of eight stories, some of which were at one point available on Armstrong’s website for free. However, with the publication of this book Armstrong has her proceeds go to World Literacy of Canada.

I’ve visited and read some of the short stories available on Kelley Armstrong’s website, but the ones in this collection were all new to me and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed them. It was nice to read the stories that happened outside the books – to see the life the characters lead outside the chaos/events that occur in the series.

There is no over-riding theme to the stories in the anthology except that the stories feature the cast of The Otherworld series. All eight stories vary in length, from ten pages to almost two hundred pages. They all offer a glimpse into a world that never made it to print. Rebirth gives an interesting look at choices made by Aaron. Bewitched is the new story that was written solely for the anthology. It is a brilliant read, allowing us to see Eve and Kristof before they became the characters we meet in the books. Birthright tells the story we hear in passing in Bitten (I think). Beginnings shows us how the relationship between Elena and Clayton first began, that we come across in Bitten. Expectations has Lucas taking his first case. Ghosts shows a missing scene from Bitten. Wedding Bell Hell has Lucas and Paige’s wedding, and The Case of El Chupacabra features them on a case that causes all sorts of problems.

If you’re interested in reading more short stories set in The Otherworld then Kelley Armstrong still has a few available for free up on her website. They’ll give you a taste of what’s available in this anthology, and leave you (like me) eagerly anticipating the next book in The Otherworld.