Tales of the Otherworld

`Tales of the Otherworld' is a collection of short stories and novellas set in Armstrong's `Women of the Otherworld' series. All of these short stories were initially e-serials, available for free on Armstrong's website as a sort of `gift' to her fans.Fans aren't disgruntled by the fact that these previously free stories are no longer available online - because (as Armstrong says in her author's introduction) after she published her e-serials the number 1. fan question was `when will they be available in book form?'. Well, that time has finally arrived. And Armstrong's even gone so far as to donate the proceeds of `Tales' to the World Literacy of Canada - a nonprofit volunteer organization. Wow. As if fans needed another reason to heap praise on this legendary paranormal author...`Tales of the Otherworld' is a collection of 8 short stories featuring some beloved character, and a few secondary ones. Only 1 short story is original, and never before been available for download.`Rebirth' is the story of Aaron, and his transition from human to vampire.`Bewitched' is the new story in the collection, and is all about Eve Levine (Savannah's mother). The story is a `prologue' of sorts, recounting how Eve met and became lover to Kristof Nast.`Birthright' is the back-story to a deceased werewolf pack member. It explains how Logan discovered his werewolf heritage and journeyed to Stonehaven to come face-to-face with his father for the first time.`Expectations' follows Lucas Cortez in an early investigation of his.`Ghosts' is another time-filler, set during the timeline of `Bitten' when Jeremy is left alone at Stonehaven.`Wedding Bell Hell' is a story that fills in the timeline gaps between books, by telling the tale of Lucas Cortez and Paige Winterbourne's wedding`The Case of The El Chupacabra' is a Lucas and Paige murder-mystery investigation.All of the stories are wonderful. Of course they are when written by the masterful Kelley Armstrong and set in her colourful `Otherworld' universe. A lot of them are filling in the gaps and fleshing out stories that were previously referenced in the `Otherworld' novels, but only in passing.It's one of the wonderful things about the `Otherworld' series; the narrators and characters change in each book, but when a narrator picks up the thread of their story they don't get bogged down in recounting the missing months or years. It means that the series always moves at a swift, energetic pace, because Armstrong isn't concerned with giving every minute detail of her character's goings on... but it also means there are some gaps that fans want filled. Some stories that we miss out on and actually want to be told. Well, `Tales' scratches that itch - well and truly.My favourite short story was `Beginnings' - it's the prequel to Elena and Clay's romance... the story of how they met.Elena is my favourite narrator, and Elena/Clay are one of my all-time favourite Urban Fantasy couplings. I absolutely loved getting the back-story to their story.Clay is teaching anthropology at the University of Toronto where Elena is studying journalism. From their first `encounter', it becomes clear that Clay and his wolf are intrigued by Elena... she's not like other flirty, vapid co-eds. She's smart, tenacious and not afraid to stare Clay down. For him, Elena is the first female he's ever had an interest in. Hell, she's the first human he's ever had an interest in.Clay is a rare werewolf who thrives on his wolf-nature and instinct. He understands his beast better than his humanity, and as such he's never been one for slaking carnal lust or one-night-stands. In Elena he sees a true mate.From Elena, readers are offered a perspective on her first real healthy adult relationship. Elena's character history is quite dark and sad; she was passed around from foster home to foster home, where she was repeatedly sexually abused. It's a history that Armstrong recently addressed in `Frostbitten', but is even further developed in `Beginnings', adding more layers to Elena's character.Ultimately though, `Beginnings' is completely romantic. Elena and Clay are one H-O-T couple who steam up the page in their `Otherworld' novels. Armstrong definitely communicates that lust in `Beginnings', but it's a slow burn from first meeting, to tentative friendship, blooming relationship and then full-blown romance. And there's a real element of forbidden love to them too - since werewolf pack law forbids any werewolf from entering into a long-term relationship.`Beginnings' is a very fleshed out, microcosm of a story. Elena and Clay both narrate, which is wonderful. Fans get rare insight into Clay's thinking - particularly his decision (calculated or otherwise) to bite Elena and turn her into a werewolf... another issue that has recently been discussed between them in `Frostbitten', but now holds more weight because of Clay's point of view in `Beginnings'.I loved this collection of short stories. It doesn't feel like a mishmashed, haphazard collection, hastily thrown together... rather, all of the stories in `Tales' offer new perspectives and insights into characters and side-stories. It is a very cohesive, layered collection that sheds new light on the `Otherworld' universe.If you are a `Women of the Otherworld' fan, you MUST give this collection a read.

I picked up (or as it were down-loaded) Tales of the Otherworld on a whim and because I've read some favorable comments about the series. While the majority of the stories were ok, I found some of the protagonists a bit juvenile and I also had some trouble with the shifting of perspectives between different first person narrators within the same story. But I absolutely, completely loved "Bewitched", the story of how Eve Levine and Kristof Nast meet. It's so beautiful, emotional and tragic, when at the end Eve leaves him so as not to have him make an impossible choice. I really wanted to find out how the story of these star-crossed lovers continued, so imagine my disappointment when I went online and found out, that Eve dies and their mutual daughter Savannah becomes the ward of Paige Winterbourne. After this hauntingly beautiful love story I don't want to read about Eve as a ghost, so I won't be picking up anymore of Kelley Armstrong's books.

I read this book for Elena and Clayton. I enjoyed Logan’s into and a peek about him when Elba first meet clay. I know she was close to Logan ———- (SPOILER IF YOU HAVENT READ FIRST BOOK) —-while we really didn’t get to see him and her because sadly in the first book we was killed off. It was nice to get to know him a little. Was nice to read how clay meet Elena and even get to be in Jeremy’s head. Tho I’d actually like a novella of when Elena was first changed I instead of just heading about it. I’d love one from Jeremy pov.

Rebirth - How Aaron became a vampire and met Cassandra.Bewitched - This is the story of how Eve and Kristof met and fell in love. And also the specifics concerning why she left him. Fair warning--it's as lovely as it is heartbreaking.Birthright - Logan POV. How he joined the Pack.Beginnings - At close to 200 pages this is closer to a short story than a novella (not that I'm complaining). It's included in the Tales of the Otherworld collection, and it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.I'm talking OMGOMG!! amazing.It's the story of how Clay and Elena met and fell in love right up to where it all went to hell (you can read about the hell part in Becoming). It's told, alternating, from both Clay and Elena's POV, so it finally answers the question, "What was his thinking?!" a million times over. Was it a crap thing to do? Yes. Do I love, love, L-O-V-E him anyway? YES.Expectations - From Lucas's POV, about a run-in he had with Eve in an attempt to steal one of her grimoires.Ghosts - Jeremy POV from right after he sent Elena and Clay to Toronto in Bitten.Wedding Bell Hell - Countdown to Lucas and Paige's wedding. Meh.The Case of El Chupacabra - Lucas and Paige short story with a tiny bit of Sean Nast tossed in. About an alleged vampire killing and how Lucas and Paige came into possession of their office space.

If you've followed the Otherworld series, this book (and Men of the Otherworld) are both must reads. They fill in information that we don't get from the series. The series is wonderful in and of itself, but being able to learn more about characters like Jeremy, Clayton, and Elena (including how Elena and Clayton met, finally!!!) make these two WELL WORTH the money. They are short stories about the characters and sucked me in from the word go. I love Kelley Armstrong. She began with natural talent and has developed into a better writer over the years. I've loved watching her grow and mature as a writer. I'm very impressed.

Ich liebe die Bücher von Kelly Armstrong rund um eines meiner beliebtesten Werwolfrudel, deswegen war es für mich ein MUSS dieses und die anderen Stories zu kaufen. Da viele der Geschichten/Novel nicht auf Deutsch verfügbar sind, habe ich mich dazu entschieden diese auf Englisch zu kaufen. Der Schreibstil von Kelly Armstrong ist wie immer sehr gut und ich werde definitiv die weiteren Stories der Otherworld-Serie kaufen. Hauptsächlich habe ich das Buch jedoch aufgrund von Clay und Elena gekauft. Liebe diese Paar einfach und fand es schön eine weitere Storie zu den beiden zu lesen. Nur zu empfehlen.

I love reading about all the side stories that happen in all the characters lives. Putting all the pieces together is so satisfying

Mon "roman" préféré est celui où Clayton et Elena se rencontrent. On découvre un nouveau Clayton peu sûr de lui, attendrie par Elena et faisant tout pour qu'elle reste avec lui (y compris la morde). Mais il y aussi des anecdotes sur le mariage de Paige et Lucas ou une enquête melant Sean, le demi-frère de Savanah.

Great read

Tales of the Otherworld is the second collection of short stories from Kelley set in her Otherworld. All but one of these stories first appeared on her website several years ago as free extras for her readers, but then she was offered a deal where the profits when to a charity, so they were taken off and put in to two collections. Men of the Otherworld which has been out for a year, and this one.I love this collection! Some of the stories are only 15-20 pages long, but even those contain a lot and give some great back ground to some characters we don't see much of. As well as those set before or between her main Otherworld books. A fantastic addition to her series.The stories:Rebirth: the story of how Aaron became a vampire. Outside this, don't know much about him, this short story made me really love him.Bewitched: the all new story for this collection which follows black witch Eve Levine as she meets enemy and potential ally sorcerer Kristof Nast. Brilliant back story for the characters which explains a lot and made me really want to reread the books where both characters appear, even if briefly.Birthright: Logan discovers his heritage with an...interesting meeting with alpha werewolf Jeremy Danvers. One of the only times we really see Logan, and I love his characters. Wish there could be more of him.Beginnings: how Elena Michaels meets and falls in love with Clayton Danvers, and his ultimate betrayal. Oh my gosh. Quite possibly my favourite of Kelley's stories full stop. A fantastic addition to the series all on it's own.Expectations: Lucas Cortez is feeling the weight of his family's name, despite trying to escape it. Set well before we meet Lucas in Dime Store Magic, giving us a decent insight in to some of his motives for how he does things. I liked this story, but not one of my favourites. I like Lucas fine, but don't find him as interesting as some other characters. His interaction with Eve is well worth reading though.Ghosts: Set during some events near the end of Bitten (1st Otherworld book, I don't want to give away spoilers) from Jeremy's POV. I love the insight to the Alpha's head.Wedding Bell Hell: Lucas and Paige planning their wedding. Funny and sweet story which again adds to their overall story in the series.The Case of El Chupacabra: Sean Nast (son of Kristof Nast, half brother to Savannah Levine) brings a case to Lucas and Paige to investigate. Didn't actually read this when it was online, but having read it now, I wish I had. Fantastic short story.Overall, a must have if you're a fan of the series.