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Jan 15, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

Mean Streets is an anthology of four stories by four authors, all featuring urban fantasy and private eyes. For the record, I was familiar with two of the authors Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green, but not familiar with Kat Richardson or Thomas E. Sniegoski. I'm going to review each of the stories separately.

The Warrior (Jim Butcher)
I enjoyed this story. It involved the Carpenter family, some of my favorite side characters of The Dresden Files. Plus, we got some good world-bu More...

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Dec 26, 2008

Julie (jjmachshev) rated it:

Urban fantasy fans, pay heed! "Mean Streets" is an awesome anthology with stories by four big-hitters of the genre. In one book, you can visit with Chicago wizard Harry Dresden, Nightside PI John Taylor, Greywalker Harper Blaine, and fallen angel Remy Chandler in their own worlds. Stories of murder and attempted murder most foul, but with magic added to the mayhem.

For those who are unfamiliar with the above names, they are the creations of Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Ka More...

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Apr 16, 2009

Michael rated it:

No offense to the other fine authors in this collection, but I picked "Mean Streets" up for only one reason--the new Harry Dresden story.

"The Warrior" picks up after the events of "Small Favor." If you've not read the entire Dresden Files series leading up to this one, I imagine you might be a little confused. Yes, the story is standalone, but it's still one that requires a lot of prior knowledge to fully appreciate it.

Something is targetin More...

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Mar 12, 2009

Shannon rated it:

(Since I'm not supposed to be buying books right now, my excuse is that I picked this up used from Powell's last week after selling some others that I was never going to read again.) I of course got it because of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files story- which was enjoyable and nicely cheesy in the way that only stories involving Michael can be. Don't read this one until after "Small Favor," it has lots of spoilers since it is set immediately after.

All I'll say about the second More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

I picked up this book for the Greywalker novella by Kat Richardson, The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog. This was an excellent story, short, snappy, tightly plotted and well written. In this novella, Harper is named in a stranger’s will, and asked to fulfill a woman’s last request. She is to bury a clay dog in a certain, unidentified grave in Mexico – on the Day of the Dead. The characters are interesting, especially the dog! This is now my favorite Greywalker story. [return][return]T More...

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Mar 14, 2009

Jana rated it:

Being a huge fan of Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, and Simon Green, I was happy to stumble across this collection of stories on the local library shelves.

The Butcher story is a Harry Dresden one. A succinct little vignette that lets a bit of light into both Harry and the character of Michael Carpenter, the Knight of the Sword who was injured in the last Dresden Novel. The story seems quite straight forward at first but takes some interesting philosophical turns and I give it five star More...

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Feb 27, 2009

Donna rated it:

4 wonderful novellas. The first 3 are from favorite authors the 4th was unknown to me but fit right in with the others.
The warrior / Jim Butcher
The difference a day makes / Simon R. Green
The third death of the little clay dog / Kat Richardson
Noah's orphans / Thomas E.

Butcher's novella is about someone threatening Michael's family in order to scare Harry Dresden into giving up the 2 guardian swords that he is holding.

A lost female shows up a More...

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Feb 14, 2009

Leon rated it:

This was a very good book. I usually don't like books of short stories but the four books in this set were all novella's that had to deal with separate series. I have read three of the four series so I was able to really get into the stories.

The Dresden Files story was great! But I'm biased since the Dresden books are on my "favorites" list. It dragged a few of the characters into the book, but by no means all of them. It was a nice little jaunt into the Dresden world. More...

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Dec 14, 2011

***Dave rated it:

(Original review: http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2009/04/08/...)

I hate it when Iā€™m successfully manipulated by Big Business. Or Big Publishing.

And, of course, thatā€™s whatā€™s happened with Mean Streets, a collection of four novellas by different fantasy writers about their urban fantasy noir detectives. All of whom, coincidentally, happen to have book series that Roc (Penguin) would just love me to buy.

Which, of course, I now need to.

*sigh*

ā€The Warri More...

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Feb 18, 2011

Anthony rated it:

I picked this up only because of the Harry Dresden novella, a worthy epilogue to the novel "Small Favor" (the novella contains spoilers about the events of that novel, so if you're at all interested in reading the Dresden books with a sense of surprise, be warned!). I greatly enjoyed the Dresden novella, but then put the book aside for a while because I was not familiar with the other three authors in the anthology.

Finally got around to reading the remaining three stories ove More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Karissa rated it:

This included four novellas by wonderful authors. I was very excited to read both Butcher's and Green's stories since I love those series. I also was interested in reading Richardson's and Sniegoski's series since I really want to read those series. Overall I found the stories I expected to like were nothing special; the best of the bunch was Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans." I think I was a bit disappointed with this book because I expected it to be really awesome.

- The Warrio More...

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Jul 20, 2010

Sheila rated it:

Okay, I confess. Iā€™m a Harry Dresden addict; so much so that I fear Iā€™ll soon end up shelling out for hardbacks instead of patiently waiting for paperback editions. Still, in the meantime, Mean Streets is a set of four novellas that includes a Harry Dresden tale, so it was a good option to keep both me and my husband happily reading.

The Warrior by Jim Butcher provides a satisfying transition between heroic Michaelā€™s accident and his subsequent, possibly more normal life. Harry Dresden More...

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Jun 16, 2010

Melanti rated it:

4 novellas, 4 very different opinions.

I liked "The Warrior" because I've read so much of the Dresden Files. I don't think this is a story that you can fully appreciate without the context that comes with the previous 10 novels. The Carpenters are my next to favorite side characters.

"The Difference a Day Makes" just confirms to me that I shouldn't bother even thinking of reading any more of the Nightside books. I've read the first two, and now this More...

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Apr 16, 2010

T. rated it:

I quite often find collections of short stories from successful writers to be little more than divided effort cash-cows, however Mean Streets was a cut above the rest.

Jim Butcher's story is an action packed story from his regular character Dresden. I'm often leary when swords are mentioned due to my favourite groan-worthy quote "A sword gets you a lot of space, even on a crowded hovertrain" from Saintcrow's Deal with the Devil. This story kicks ass though.

The ne More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Hester rated it:

I was unsure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. The book consists of four novellas, two of which I would give three stars, and two of which I would give four stars. This may be part of the book's beauty. As I get older, I enjoy novellas and short story collections more and more. While all four of these stories are urban fantasy mysteries, they are distinct tales with different feels.

My favorites were by Jim Butcher and Kat Richardson. "The Warrior," by Butcher surp More...

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Aug 29, 2009

Alice rated it:

The Jim Butcher short that opens this collection is pretty good. It addresses a pretty significant gap between two of the Harry Dresden novels and gives better perspective on the Carpenter family and Michael's recovery, which is good, because Michael is a wonderful character and it's nice that he didn't just pop out existence entirely. It also does some of what I think is foreshadowing about the swords, which makes me anxious for the next book.

The second short, by Simon R. Green, i More...

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May 24, 2009

Joel rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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May 03, 2009

Casey rated it:

This book contained 4 short stories, each dealing with the supernatural.

I found The Warrior, another Harry Dresden story by Jim Butcher, very good. But then this is one of my favorite series so I was prejudiced in it's favor. This one was about someone out to steal the swords that have been put into Harry's care. Nice story, with some info on what happened to Michael after the last Harry Dresden book.

The second story, The Difference A Day Makes by Simon R. Green, less enj More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Forgotten Realms Queen rated it:

Fans of Jim Butcher really need to pick up this anthology. The first story is of course all about our wonderfully bumbling master of wizardry Harry Dresden. I love this story to pieces as Harry actually manages to save the soul of one Micheal Carpenter. Yes Mr. Sword Wielding, Ever Faithful Soldier of God Micheal Carpenter. Scary isn't it? But absolutly fabulous.

The next story in line is by one Simon R. Green, and this is one to look out for. Fans of Harry Dresden will enjoy Green's ch More...

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Sep 18, 2009

Colleen rated it:

No surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed Jim Butcher's short story "The Warrior". A fast-paced tale, centering on Michael Carpenter, his family, and his connections within the church many months after the events in 'Small Favor'. One of the reasons why I enjoy Butcher's stories is that his novels are filled with character development and lots of action. We don't get 3+ pages of unnecessary description about the scene, and if the description goes on for more than a paragraph, it's becau More...

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Mar 17, 2009

Karen rated it:

I originally picked this up for Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden story, but I enjoyed being introduced to some new characters.

The Warrior by Jim Butcher features Harry after Small Favor doing what he does best; protect his friends, figure out the truth, and beat it to a pulp.

The Difference a Day Makes by Simon R. Green wasn't one of my favorites. I enjoyed the characters and the feel, but the endgame really disturbed me. I might read some of the firt in this series to determin More...

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Mar 20, 2009

Eric rated it:

This is a collection of four novellas, all about supernatural detectives. I quite enjoyed the book. I knew two of the authors before hand, and found two new ones to like. Over all, I gave the book 4 stars, but the work was not completely even across the board.

"The Warrior" by Jim Butcher - 4.5 stars. If Butcher had a more inspired hand with the language itself, this one would be a 5 star story. We got to learn more about the Carpenters in this story, and about the Knig More...

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Jun 03, 2010

Ralph rated it:

eAudio Book downloaded from my library. Has a new eISBN:9781441607980
Each story was unique and dramatic. If you enjoy stories about supernatural characters with a strong plot and likeable characters this is the book for you. If you have a short attention span, even better because each story is action packed and flies by quickly. I donā€™t read short stories, but as an Audio Book the short story format seem well suited. I got this book for the Jim Butcher story and ended up finding a few new More...

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Jan 11, 2012

Savannah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 02, 2010

Bethany rated it:

I got this for the Butcher short story, since I've finished the novels published so far and am now working through all the shorts/graphic novels that I can find. I thought this format worked well for the Dresden stories, since Butcher has a tendency to repeat himself in the novels (we know about Mister, Bob, the layout of the apartment already!) but was space limited to minimal fluff. This fit in between the last two novels currently out (Turn Coat and Changes) and filled in (spoiler alert) wh More...

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May 05, 2009

Mandy added it

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May 12, 2009

Laura rated it:

The Warrior by Jim Butcher: 2 stars. I've read some of Butcher's "Dresden Files" series and found them enjoyable, but this story just didn't catch my interest at all. The plot was an (overly) familiar one: a "Bad" Guy tries to blackmail the Good Guy by threatening a friend and the friend's family, with a predictable showdown between the two. There was nothing to distinguish this story from all the other stories using the same plot line, and nothing to distinguish Harry from a More...

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Jul 01, 2009

Cam rated it:

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Jun 29, 2009

Donna rated it:

"Product Description:

From four of todayā€™s hottest fantasy authorsā€”all-new novellas of dark nights, cruel cities, and paranormal P.I.s.

The best paranormal private investigators have been brought together in a single volumeā€”and cases donā€™t come any harder than this.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher delivers a hard-boiled tale in which Harry Dresdenā€™s latest case may be his last.

Nightside dweller John Taylor is hired by a woman to fi More...

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Mar 21, 2011

Susan rated it:

The Mean Streets anthology was a good read that gave the reader a glimpse of four different worlds/series. Jim Butcher delivered another great adventure in the Dresden series as Harry tried to save his friend from a threat only to become a target himself. I liked seeing Michael back as Harry's right hand man as the two try to figure out why they were being targeted. Kat Richardson delivers a new adventure in the Harper Blaine series that has Harper on a strange mission to Mexico. Harper make More...

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