Search - Strange Brew

A Strange Brew is a collection of stories that all involve witches or spell casting. Unlike many anthologies, there are only a couple of duds!

Patricia Briggs - A blind witch helps a werewolf find his brother, and in return he gives her site. I liked the concept of this story, but thought it would have been better as a novel. The ~40 pages did not do the characters or their developing relationship justic.

Jim Butcher - After a hard day of work Harry Dresden just wants a beer. Unfortunately, his favorite bar has been ransacked and the beer is poisoned. This story is self-contained in that it could fit in pretty much anywhere chronologically in the Dresden Files series. It works well as a humorous short story. Love the premise!

Rachel Caine - A witch who can raise the dead must resurrect her lover to save herself. Caine packs a lot of emotion into this short, enjoyable story.

Karen Chance - A mage instructor must rescue her students. I could not finish this story. Although it had a lot of action, it only had action and very little characterization.

P.N. Elrod - A vampire detective recovers a stolen diamond. Not very engaging - perhaps old P.N. was too busy editing to write an interesting story for this collection.

Charlaine Harris - A vampire whose husband is murdered enlists the help of a witch to seek revenge. This story had a few funny moments, but overall was not as funny (nor interesting) as it was probably meant to be.

Faith Hunter - A witch and a shapeshifter track down a rogue vampire group on a killing spree. Hunter packs a lot of action and chills into her offering! I added Skin Walker, the book based on one of the characters in this story, to my wishlist.

Caitlin Kittredge - A werewolf detective sends her caster cousin undercover. As someone who has not read any of the Nocturn City books, I found this story boring and confusing. Perhaps it makes better sense in the context of the series?

Jenna Maclaine - A vampire who is also an aspiring witch must learn to control her magic to save her lover and friends. The author packs a lot of romance and adventure in her 30-some paged offering.

I loved this book that had short stories by some of my favorite authors, and a few new authors that are now on my radar. Butcher did another Harry Dresden tale; Patricia Briggs wrote about a new character but in the same story line as her popular werewolf/skin walker series; Rachel Caine, Karen Chance, Charlaine Harris all great authors who introduce new character stories. In total 9 authors share STRANGE BREW tales. A great read, and this oversized paperback was only $11 at WalMart, instead of the requested 15 on the back cover.

I bought this book purely for Jim Butcher and have been absolutely thrilled by the other stories. Can't wait to search through PBS to find some full novels by the whole group of writers.

A nice set of short stories from some major paranormal writers - somewhat uneven but generally entertaining. A couple involve series main characters (Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, in the only piece that actually involves a strange brew - an enchanted beer!; Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock; and P.N. Elrod's detective duo); others introduce characters who appear later in series novels (Patricia Briggs' Wendy Moira Keller and Tom Franklin, who turn up as major characters in "Hunting Ground"); and others I might like to see more of (Karen Chance's Accalia de Croisset). All in all definitely worth the read!

enjoyed all the stories.