Strange Brew edited by P. N. Elrod review

Strange Brew is an anthology edited by P. N. Elrod, who also has a story included.  Each of the nine short stories deal in some manner with witches.  The first five stories are by authors (Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine and Karen Chance) who have established that they can craft a good story, and for the most part these stories are set in the worlds of their most famous creations.  So I will not go over those four; just assume they are good, and I can assure you that you will be happy with them.

The sixth story, “Hecate’s Golden Eye,” is by P.N. Elrod and is set in her Vampire Files series.  This is a story about karma, of sorts.  Jack Fleming and his associate are asked to recover a stolen gem that the owner believes to be cursed.  What they discover and what happens to the thieves is a perfect example of “you reap what you sow.”  It is difficult to feel sorry for someone who brings trouble upon themselves through selfishness and greed.  I’ve never read any of her Vampire Files books, so I might just have to seek them out now that I have been introduced to the character.

Seventh in the set is “Signatures of the Dead” by Faith Hunter.  I have read Hunter’s Seraph series and enjoyed it very much, but this short story is set in a new world of her creation featuring Jane Yellowrock, a skinwalker.  This story has similarities to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files in that the main characters work together, keeping each other’s secrets, to destroy a danger to the community.  While I felt that there were some logical inconsistencies, for the most part this is a good story with good characters, and I will be adding Skinwalker to my to read list.

Caitlin Kittredge’s “Ginger,” while a good story with a satisfying ending, had too many issues with consistency and continuity for me to truly be drawn into the story. There were logical flaws–for example a lawyer would not be the one to initiate an infiltration–characterization issues where the main characters seemed to be acting outside of their described character, and some continuity issues. The final climax was very confusing for the reader, and it was difficult to follow the timeline and understand how each character got to where they were in the final scene.

“Dark Sins” by Jenna Maclaine was, in my mind, the weakest of this anthology.  The story was relatively interesting and the characters showed promise, but I felt that the ending was heavy on the deus ex machina–it took away from my enjoyment.

For the most part, this anthology was highly entertaining, with a couple of revenge and biting karma stories that got a chuckle, and some twists that had me raising my eyebrows.  I am not sure if it was engineered this way or not, but the reading order was exactly my preference order–the first stories being my favorites and the final ones my least favorites.  Definitely worth picking up, especially if you like stories about witches or if some of these authors are your favorites.  Considering that I have not yet read any full-length books by P. N. Elrod and that I did not yet know about the new book by Faith Hunter, the book would have been worthwhile just for the new books I will be adding to my reading list.  Since I very much enjoyed the collection overall, I consider the new books I will be reading in the future to be a bonus!

Trade Paperback, St. Martin’s Griffin, July 2009