Dark and Stormy Knights

By: Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Shannon K Butcher, Rachel Caine, P. N. Elrod, Deidre Knight, Vicki Pettersson, Lilith Saintcrow, Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Renee Raudman, Joe Barrett, Marc Vietor, Suzanne Toren, David Pittu, Katherine Kellgren, Natalie Gold, L J Ganser

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

It was a dark and stormy knight, and nine dark defenders embarked upon a most perilous quest. They're the ultimate defenders of humanity, modern-day knights who do dark deeds for all the right reasons.

In this all-star collection, nine of today's hottest paranormal authors bring us thrilling, all-new stories of supernatural knights - stories that are brimming with magic, mystery, and mayhem.

John Marcone sets aside his plans to kill Harry Dresden to go head-to-head with a cantrev lord in Jim Butcher's "Even Hand". Kate Daniels is called upon for bodyguard duty to protect Saimen, a shifter she trusts less than the enemy in Ilona Andrews' "A Questionable Client". Cormac must stop a killer werewolf before it attacks again on the next full moon in Carrie Vaughn's "Gods Creatures". And in Vicki Pettersson's "Shifting Star", Skamar gets more than she bargained for when she goes after a creature kidnapping young girls and enlists the aid of her frustratingly sexy neighbor.

When everything's on the line, will these knights complete their missions and live to fight again another day? Find out in Dark and Stormy Knights! Included are stories from Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Shannon K. Butcher, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod, Deidre Knight, Vicki Pettersson, Lilith Saintcrow, and Carrie Vaughn.

©2010 P. N. Elrod (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Jim Butcher does his usual top-notch job with the Dresden Files tie-in “Even Hand”….Equally as good is Carrie Vaughn’s taut and suspenseful “God’s Creatures”….Rachel Caine’s “Even a Rabbit Will Bite”…is unexpectedly poignant.” ( Publishers Weekly)

I really liked some but not all the stories.

Some of the stories were too sad and morally ambiguous. Overall the collection was difficult to get through.

1 Klinker, the rest outstanding

What made the experience of listening to Dark and Stormy Knights the most enjoyable?

The Jim Butcher story was worth the price alone, but this is a delightful- and delightfully performed for the most part, collection of stories. The Harry Dresden story was masterful in writing as well as performance.

One of the early stories is a bit too fantasy for my tastes, and relied upon a confusing list of fanciful beings and items which was very chaotic. Added to the annoying "read", was an annoying voice that made it intolerable (I will let you figure out which one I refer to: Hint: It will be obvious). If it's not on the page it's not on the stage however, as the same voice actress rendered a stunning performance on a later story.

Overall I recommend this collection highly- look at the klinker as an extra that doesn't matter, but don't let it stop you from picking this up- heck, most collections like this have only a couple good stories, this has only one mediocre one!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry Dresden. The writing and performace were both 5 star.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Depth of field in his ability to range from believeable woman to Harry himself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughter was common.

Any additional comments?

A must have in the Short Story Genre collection of Audio Books.

It’s good

I really did enjoy this anthology! All the stories were good with no single story falling behind! I will also say that no one story stood out either. All the narrators did well and brought the characters to life! Would definitely recommend!

Highly suggested!

I got this to read the short story by Jim Butcher, and while his story was very good, I can't even say it was the best on here. There was a story about a vampire that owned a haunted bar during the roaring 20's that was absolutely amazing! There was another about the last dragon hunter who is now an old lady and set in her grandmother like ways, and it made me sad when it ended and I want an entire series about it. Very good stuff!

Good enough

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If my friend was looking for something they could listen to in short bites but still get a full story and if they liked the genera then I might recommend this book.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the Jim Butcher story. It was based in the Dresden-vers, but came at the story from the vantage point of John Marconi. The others where varying degrees of good and bad, basically what you would expect from a book of novellas.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I had read some of the story's already and for the most part the narrators did not enhance the book for me. This is rare since a good reader (and they where) usually brings nuances to life that I would have missed in a reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No it was just some light fluff.

Butcher was excellent as usual everyone else meh

The short stories varied from excellent to painstakingly average. But, since I'm not a romance novel lover you might feel a bit differently if you care for the genre.

Get this just for P.N. Elrod, not for Jim Butcher

All of the entries are excellent reads, but as we all know the story narrated can ruin it for you. All of the entries are well read, however, the man who ready Jim Butcher's entry about the infamous character John Marcone needed to be told that he didn't have to sound like a "wise guy" from some old 50's film. Johnny is not a smoker or drinker and this buy sounded like he had been on binge all of his life. The upside is that David Pittu is excellent as 30's vampire and super sleuth Jack Fleming is right on the mark.

5 books,

Well played),
I expected one book or story and we get so much more,
Thank you

very nice

love it, enjoyed reading, short stories all kept you on the the edge of your seat!

Entertaining read

This was an entertaining read. I was familiar with a couple of the authors and some of the stories (if not all?) were about characters in their existing fictional world settings. I think readers who are already familiar with the authors' previous works will gain added enjoyment from the stories, but they are all good stand alone stories and don't require prior knowledge of the authors or world settings to be enjoyed, and could be a good starting point for anyone.