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)

Bought this for Dresden, loved the rest!

I bought this just for Jim Butcher's story (which was actually about John Marcone, not Harry Dresden) but I enjoyed every story. It's very rare that I find a compilation like this where every story is gripping, action-packed, and well written but this one has it all. I enjoyed that there was very little romance and a lot of battling monsters. I will definitely listen to this collection again!

26 of 27 people found this review helpful

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.

32 of 35 people found this review helpful

Great collection

I'm giving this book four stars only because I'm not a huge fan of short stories. I picked up this book because it had offerings from some of my favorite authors. They were all very good, not a clunker in the batch.

One of the best things about the short story format is that is offers an author of a long-running series the opportunity to write something from one of their supporting character's point of view. Sometimes this can be disappointing, but not here. I don't want to give any spoilers.... but Jim Butcher does a great job here.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Rachel Caine blew me away!

I picked up this volume of short stories in a sale. I didn't have high expectations because I am not a huge fan of the short form, but there were several writers included that I liked so I gave it a try. And, most of the stories are pretty good, especially Ilona Andrews' and Jim Butcher's. But I got a total shock from Rachel Caine. I have read some of Caine's books, but have never been overly impressed. However, her short story, Even a Rabbit Will Bite, is just about as good a short story as I have ever read - right up there with some of my favorites of Edgar Allen Poe and that is saying something. She builds and destroys a whole world in one brief story, makes the reader care deeply about some very odd characters, and left me with a tale I will never forget. It is especially nice that this great story is perfectly narrated by Suzanne Toren (bravo, Ms. Toren!). This is such a great short story, it makes the whole collection totally worth a credit.

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

werewolfs, zombies, mages and yes dark knights

I get the anthologies to read different authors and hear different narrators. I liked this anthology better than Down these Strange Streets although the subject matter was the same and many of the same authors. I feel these stories were shorter and if you weren't already familiar with the character they provided enough to enjoy the story. Also there was a variety of stories, some romance ,some stories funny, some were scary some were sad, some were twist on history so something for everyone provided your into monsters or "the unknown". I wish audible provided a more detailed table of contents though so I can go back and maybe look up other things from the authors and/or narrators that were particularly entertaining. as an example, I particularly liked the story by Rachel Caine and Carrie Vaughn. I magine the Kindle version has all that. whisper sync is perfect for books like this, you can read some or listen or read and listen.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Truly enjoyable stories from great authors

If you know any of these authors, give this anthology a chance, and don't expect the same old same old. I was very pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this bunch of stories. I don't know what the other people who only gave two stars were expecting, but you can't please everyone. I found myself really enjoying the entire anthology. Great authors, some doing different things, others sticking to what they know. On a recent road trip everyone enjoyed this one.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Good Anthology

I got this because I was interested in the stories by Ilona Andrews and Carrie Vaughn. I liked both of those stories very much. The other stories varied in my level of like or dislike for them. I found that the Jim Butcher story was very good and made me decide to listen to the Dresden series in the future. I also liked the Lilith Saintcrow story. I hope she'll write more about Rookwood and Mrs. King (if she does I'll buy the book). Overall I didn't expect to like all the stories (and I was right) but I found enough of the stories to be good that it was worth the cost of buying this.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A good adventure through some pretty cool authors!

Each story was about a hero, perhaps a bit of a dark one, but they were all doing what they could to make their world better, even if they got a little satisfaction or cash for themselves along the way.
Each author is solid, skilled and reputable.
I never felt like I was listening to short stories, which I dislike. It was like a series of novellas. If you like one of these authors, and who wouldn't, take a chance on hearing someone new. I've found a few new authors from these books and this is my third of the compilations.
Not one was a novella I'd prefer to skip over. All were worth the time and shared credit.
I recommend.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Short stories from favorite authors.

Where does Dark and Stormy Knights rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I enjoyed most of the short stories from Dark and stormy Knights. I like a longer book better than short stories on the whole.

What other book might you compare Dark and Stormy Knights to and why?

Jim Butcher's Dresden series as well as Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series

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

When the mob boss saves the little girl. He's not as bad as he wants you to believe

Any additional comments?

I especially liked the story by Jim Butcher. Instead of a story about the main character in his Dresden series, he writes a story about one of Dresden's adversaries. He makes the mob boss human and likeable. At the end he adds the twist that the security measures he uses to destroy the monster that attacks his headquarters were put in place for his final confrontation with Dresden. Now you don't want either of these characters to lose that confrontation.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Wonderful

I am not really a short story fan ordinarily, but these stories got me carried away & gave me an idea of the other writers style that I had not read before, each short story had a different narrator & the production was really great.
My favoutrites definately are 'Questionable Client' & 'Even Hand', but most have their merits, the most haunting had to be 'Even a rabbit will Bite', which stayed with me long after.
Here's a snap shot of each story to give you an idea of what to expect.
Ilona Andrews - A Questionable Client.
Kate works for the Mercenary Guild & when she's offered £3000 dollars for one nights work she knows it's going to be a nasty job, even if it is bodyguarding.
Superb characterisation, plot, magical creatures. Written with wry humour & intelligence.

Deirdre Knight - Unknighted.
Magical fantasy she has to complete the puzzle, but there is something missing, a benefactor suddenly gives what she needs, to release whats in the puzzle. Failure is not an option, slow build up to a life threatening ending.

Jim Butcher - Even Hand
Written from John Macone point of view, he who is cold hearted, mobster extrodinaire, has lines even he won't cross especially when it comes to drugs, prostitution involving kids. Which maybe is why he uncharacteristically agrees to give his protection to Justine & a child. Hardhitting, magical vilolence.

Sean Butcher - The Beacon.
Ryder is an assassin, he's sick to the teeth of his job, he has to kill the 'Beacon' - A human, he falters & has to stand & fight, a fight he has no chance in hell of winning. Dark & gritty - desperate measures take place for pure survival - superior descriptive writing.

Rachel Caine - Even a Rabbit will Bite.
A slow burner this one, She's been a dragon slayer for over 700 years & has to train the new slayer who is going to take her place. A melancholy tale with a desperate twist. Dark undertones that make you think..

P.N Elrod - Dark Lady.
1930's noir type suspense thriller. Vampire Jack Fleming is a night club owner, with his own ghost resident Merna. A lady visits late at night asking for his help, naturally suspicious, there's unpleasant shannigans, mobsters, pugilism, elaborate set-ups & exploitation.....

Vikki Petterson - Shifting Star.
Schmar wants to stay under the radar, but Vaughn makes that difficult - she doesn't want to feel she just wants to make the Tulper pay - painfully. Super powers, vicious fights a short story from the Zodiac series, warring fractions of light & dark, fighting for Vegas's Soul.

Lilith Saintcrow - Rockwood & Mrs King.
Rockwoods a vampire, a very thirsty vampire & well he cannot but help appreciate the attributes of Mrs King, when she comes into his office & asks for him to kill her husband. It's a who using who scenario. Again noir type, gumshoe, hardboiled detective style. Keeps you guessing.

Carrie Vaughn - Gods Creature.
Cormack is a mercenary his services are expensive, but he gets the job done - tough, relentless, cynical & a hunter with many notches on his belt. When a local farmer purchases his services to kill a rogue werewolf, it's more complicated than it first appears...

I gave it four stars as this was about average of the individual scores. Great Stuff,if you like it, dark, hardboiled & gritty .

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Dark & Gritty

I am not really a short story fan ordinarily, but these stories got me carried away & gave me an idea of the other writers style that I had not read before.
Each is read by a different narrator, superbly produced. I gave it four stars as this was about average of the individual stories. Great Stuff,if you like it, dark, hardboiled & gritty - wry humour & superb descriptive writing and tight plots. recommended...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great

great selection of story's
I have my favourites and listen again and again
highly recommended listen

An excellent assortment

I don't usually like short stories but I thoroughly enjoyed these. A great mix of old and new ideas.