Dangerous Women

By: Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Jonathan Frakes, Stana Katic, Inna Korobkina, Lee Meriwether, Claudia Black, Sophie Turner, Janis Ian, Iain Glen, Karen Dotrice, Various

Length: 32 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by 12 New York Times best sellers, and seven stories set in the authors’ best-selling continuities - including a new "Outlander" story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden’s world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.

Also included are original stories of dangerous women - heroines and villains alike - by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.

Writes Gardner Dozois in his introduction, "Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living bad girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in post-apocalyptic futures, female private investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more."

Authors: George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Stories and Narrators (in order of appearance):
“Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie; Read by Stana Katic
“My Heart Is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott; Read by Jake Weber
“Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland; Read by Harriet Walter
“The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass; Read by Jonathan Frakes
“Bombshells” by Jim Butcher; Read by Emily Rankin
“Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn; Read by Inna Korobkina
“Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale; Read by Scott Brick
“Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm; Read by Lee Meriwether
“I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block; Read by Jake Weber
“Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson; Read by Claudia Black
“A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman; Read by Harriet Walter
“The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman; Read by Sophie Turner
“Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress; Read by Janis Ian
“City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland; Read by Scott Brick
“Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon; Read by Allan Scott-Douglas
“Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling; Read by Stana Katic
“Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes; Read by Claudia Black
“Caregivers” by Pat Cadigan; Read by Janis Ian
“Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector; Read by Maggi-Meg Reed
“Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon; Read by Jenna Lamia
“The Princess and the Queen” by George R. R. Martin; Read by Iain Glen

The introduction by Gardner Dozois is read by Fred Sanders and the interstitial author biographies are read by Karen Dotrice.

©2013 Random House (P)2013 Random House Audio

interesting anthology

I enjoyed the wide variety of stories and found the narration to be very good, over all. I recommend this book for those who enjoy various views on what constitutess a dangerous woman and how she's seen by others, as well as herself

better than listening to the radio

better than listening to the same song on the radio being played over and over again

Women who are not to be messed with

Dangerous Women is an anthology of short works featuring female protagonists who are not to be messed with. Once again, most of the authors are excellent and very well-known. Though we’re giving the genre as fantasy because there are more fantasy stories than any other type in here, there are actually several different genres represented, including historical fiction and science fiction as well as fantasy.

As always in a collection by different authors there is some variation in quality or at least style, and which stories will be your favorites will depend on what kind you like. In this book, I think I liked best the stories of people dealing with the problems of nursing homes – one woman trying to keep herself out of one, and a set of sisters worried about their aging mother who was already living in one. Doubtless, that says more about me than about the stories themselves. But there were several other good stories here as well, including two different ones that featured, of all people, Eleanor of Aquitaine. There was an interesting story about a woman and her daughter fighting demons in a forest outside the protection of civilization, and a Wildcards story that was very good. Two of the stories I had read, or heard, before – the Outlander short Virgins and The Princess and the Queen by George R.R. Martin, which later appeared in Fire and Blood, the history of the Targaryens. I think these works were first published in Dangerous Women and then re-published in these other formats.

All the narrators did a great job, perfectly bringing out the differences in tone between the various stories.

Skip chapter 20

I loved this book so much. Great for getting your mind off things and clean the house to. I recommend skipping chapter 20. I wish it hadn’t been in the book at all.

Outside of that you won’t regret these short stories.

This is for Gabaldon fans only.

I bought this audiobook just because of Diana Gabaldon, who wrote VIRGINS. This is the story of Jamie, some years before he met Claire, and his adventure with Ian.

Even though Gabaldon is my favorite author, The plot is ok, but I expected a little more (maybe because Jamie and Claire have such attractiveness to the reader/ listener that you expect them to embark upon another adventure, but there's no such thing here. I'd thought that having only Jamie Fraser in a book would be enough... Well, it's not...

I did not listen to the other stories yet, but eventually I will, so I'm only reviewing Gabaldon's story here.

I do recommend it, but I wouldn't go to eager.

And if you are expecting Davina to narrate this one too, well, you're in for some disappointment. The guy who does it, doesn't do a good a job as Davina. I can't even remember his name. I think he was so worried about doing the accent right that at times, some passages lacked emotion. Pity. It could have been a better listen.

Mostly average with a hint of danger

This is a time filler listen. Good for listening on the go when you don't need to be immersed in the world of words and fully focused in a deep and consuming story. I'm lost for words of praise because, although I enjoyed most of the stories, none stood out and grabbed my attention.

Janis Ian's voice does deserve a mention - soft, strong and deliberate -,it's always a pleasure to hear.

LOTS of Bang for the Buck!

This collection of stories is so varied. Each one is unique, memorable, and sometimes disturbing. I highly recommend!

bit uneven but strong overall

Loved about a third of the stories of which some add really rich background to worlds you are already fond of. I liked another third. and the last third were good just not my cup of tea, but they might be yours.

A very mixed bag

A number of these stories are excellent, others respectable, and a few more - while well-written - aren't terribly on theme or enjoyable.

Subjects range from Supernatural Horror to Gritty Western to Modern Noir. And, of course, Martin's endpiece is fantastic.

loved it!

This collection of short stories was so fun and entertaining. i loved all of the narrators, even Sophie Turner narrated one of the stories! that was a pleasant surprise for me. the only one I did not enjoy was the very last one, George RR Martin's story, but only because I don't particularly like his style of writing. I highly recommend this book!