Choices: All-New Tales of Valdemar edited by Mercedes Lackey

Choices: All-New Tales of Valdemar edited by Mercedes Lackey - 351 pages

The twelfth anthology of short stories set in the beloved Valdemar universe, featuring stories by debut and established authors and a brand-new story from Lackey herself.

The Heralds of Valdemar are the kingdom's ancient order of protectors. They are drawn from all across the land, from all walks of life, and at all ages--and all are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and more. These inborn talents--combined with training as emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, warriors, and more--make them indispensable to their monarch and realm. Sought and Chosen by mysterious horse-like Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. The Heralds of Valdemar and their Companions ride circuit throughout the kingdom, protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.

Now, twenty-three authors ride with Mercedes Lackey to her magical land of Valdemar, adding their own unique voices to the Heralds, Bards, Healers, and other heroes of this beloved fantasy realm.

Doctor Who: The Missy Chronicles by Stephen Cole (Editor)

Doctor Who:  The Missy Chronicles by Stephen Cole (Editor) - 224 pages

Know your frenemy.

‘I’ve had adventures too. My whole life doesn’t revolve around you, you know.’

When she's not busy amassing armies of Cybermen, or manipulating the Doctor and his companions, Missy has plenty of time to kill (literally). In this all new collection of stories about the renegade Time Lord we all love to hate, you'll discover just some of the mad and malevolent activities Missy gets up to while she isn't distracted by the Doctor.

So please try to keep up.

Matchup edited by Lee Child

Matchup edited by Lee Child --- 445 pages including an Introduction and Author Biographies.

Another entry in a series of short story anthologies organized by the International Thriller Writers. This one is edited by Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels. In this anthology, Child has invited twenty-two best selling thriller writers to work in pairs --- one female and one male author ---
and collaborate on eleven short stories that combine iconic characters from both fictional worlds.

The results are a delight to read. Child also contributes an Introduction explaining how the concept for the book evolved, as well as short intros to each story, giving a behind-the-scenes peek at how each pair of authors came up with their own unique methods of collaboration. Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan and Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Lisa Jackson's Regan Pescoli and John Sandford's Virgil Flowers, Karin Slaughter's Jeffrey Tolliver and Michael Koryta's Joe Pritchard were my favorites, but there's not a bad story in this bunch.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers' Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from The Real Book Spy web site.