Today’s hottest urban fantasy authors come together in this delicious brew that crackles and boils over with tales of powerful witches an... read full description
reviews
Dec 01, 2010
Liriel27
rated it: 
I won this book through First Reads. It's interesting to see how the 9 stories in this collection apply the central theme (witches and magic) to flesh out pre-exisiting characters and worlds (with a couple of exceptions, to be mentioned later). In order of appearance:
Patricia Briggs' "Seeing Eye" takes place in the Mercy Thompson universe, but aside from a few general references, it focuses on new characters and new situations, like the magic system and the role of witche More...
Patricia Briggs' "Seeing Eye" takes place in the Mercy Thompson universe, but aside from a few general references, it focuses on new characters and new situations, like the magic system and the role of witche More...
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Dec 22, 2010
Suzanne the Mighty ~Satin Seductress~
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Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs
3.5 Stars
This was VERY short as in only 24 pages, but I still really liked it and it has encouraged me to give Patricia Briggs another shot.
Last Call by Jim Butcher
3.5 Stars
Another story that again was really short, about 50 pages, but was entertaining, I haven't read any of the Dresden Files books but this little snippet has inspired me to put it on my TBR mountain.
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Ca More...
3.5 Stars
This was VERY short as in only 24 pages, but I still really liked it and it has encouraged me to give Patricia Briggs another shot.
Last Call by Jim Butcher
3.5 Stars
Another story that again was really short, about 50 pages, but was entertaining, I haven't read any of the Dresden Files books but this little snippet has inspired me to put it on my TBR mountain.
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Ca More...
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Jun 20, 2010
Nozomi
rated it: 
I remember why I shouldn't read short story anthologies. Because short stories usually suck. Luckily, I liked 3 of the 9 stories so far.
Briggs' Seeing Eye was written well, and the characters were likable. Except that it was slightly boring, and obviously, too short, I still liked it. 4/5.
Butcher's Last Call was really, really good. I've never read Jim Butcher before, but I think I might start. It was written well, and I liked the universe. 4/5.
Caine's Death W More...
Briggs' Seeing Eye was written well, and the characters were likable. Except that it was slightly boring, and obviously, too short, I still liked it. 4/5.
Butcher's Last Call was really, really good. I've never read Jim Butcher before, but I think I might start. It was written well, and I liked the universe. 4/5.
Caine's Death W More...
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Jul 17, 2009
Anita
rated it:
Usually I'm not a big fan of short fiction. I tend not to be satisfied with appetizers ... I want the full five course meal plus the chocolate mints that come with the check. Short stories ... like appetizers, leave me hungry, not quite satisfied, and in some cases, down right cranky. There are exceptions and this collection of short fantasies is one. The reader will find a nice section of well known authors such as Jim Butcher, P. N. Elrod, Charlaine Harris and Patricia Briggs ... all four t
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May 18, 2010
Carolyn
rated it: 
Stories were OK, some disappointing. Many were related to current series/characters by their authors. Since I'm unfamiliar with all of them except the Charlaine Harris 'world', they didn't do much for me. One good one was a standalone by Faith Hunter, will be checking to see if there will be a series [hopefully:] spinning off of this character.
ETA: The Patricia Briggs story is the backstory to a couple we'll meet extensively later, in the 2nd Alpha & Omega book Hunting Ground More...
ETA: The Patricia Briggs story is the backstory to a couple we'll meet extensively later, in the 2nd Alpha & Omega book Hunting Ground More...
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Jul 23, 2009
Jamie
rated it:
I enjoyed the Patricia Briggs story, which is set in the same universe as her Mercedes Thompson books, but with new characters. (ETA: Moira and Tom show up as secondary characters in Hunting Ground, the second book in her Alpha & Omega series.)
Butcher's Harry Dresden story was pretty good, and so was Elrod's Jack Fleming story. I didn't like Charlaine Harris's contribution at all - it's not a Sookie story, but it's set in that universe.
I only skimmed the rest of the book, More...
Butcher's Harry Dresden story was pretty good, and so was Elrod's Jack Fleming story. I didn't like Charlaine Harris's contribution at all - it's not a Sookie story, but it's set in that universe.
I only skimmed the rest of the book, More...
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Mar 12, 2011
Ruby
rated it:
I of course got this primarily for the same reason most people will buy it - the Patricia Briggs story!! Which was excellent, as I'd hoped, and threw additional light on matters in Alpha and Omega and the related series about Mercy Thompson.
Apart from that I also had a very positive overall impression of this, which is I think my first UF/PNR anthology. The P.N. Elrod story was very entertaining, and I enjoyed the one by Faith Hunter so much I expect I'll go looking for more works b More...
Apart from that I also had a very positive overall impression of this, which is I think my first UF/PNR anthology. The P.N. Elrod story was very entertaining, and I enjoyed the one by Faith Hunter so much I expect I'll go looking for more works b More...
Dec 30, 2010
Karissa
rated it:
Overall this is a decent set of stories. The highlights for me were Karen Chance's super action packed "Vegas Odds" and Jenna Maclaine's beautifully written, action packed, and intricate "Dark Sins". I found Cin from "Dark Sins" to be a very interesting heroine and I would definitely like to read more about her. I also really liked meeting Jane Yellowrock in Faith Hunter's "Signatures of the Dead." Jane is a character I would also like to read more about.
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Mar 10, 2010
Wealhtheow
rated it:
A collection of short stories by some of the best-known authors in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genre. Each is set in the author's already popular series. On the plus side, this means the writing is at least readable and some small effort has been put into the world building. On the minus side, nothing important can happen for fear that regular readers of the books will miss out.
Patricia Briggs's "Seeing Eye" would have been good as a book--as a short story, there is More...
Patricia Briggs's "Seeing Eye" would have been good as a book--as a short story, there is More...
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Feb 09, 2010
Marianna
rated it:
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs: The best of the lot. I wanted more once I was done reading it. 5/5
Last Call by Jim Butcher: Not exactly my cup of tea, but it made me interested in reading the series. 3.5/5
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine: Not bad. Disliked the heroine intensely. "Bad things happened to me, that's why I'm a b*tch!" Sure. The romance was meh. 3/5.
Vegas Odds by Karen Chance: Not bad. It had its funny/sweet moments, but I found the actio More...
Last Call by Jim Butcher: Not exactly my cup of tea, but it made me interested in reading the series. 3.5/5
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine: Not bad. Disliked the heroine intensely. "Bad things happened to me, that's why I'm a b*tch!" Sure. The romance was meh. 3/5.
Vegas Odds by Karen Chance: Not bad. It had its funny/sweet moments, but I found the actio More...
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Oct 10, 2009
Melindeeloo
rated it:
A tasty sampler of UF shorts to quench your thirst for a quick summer read
Strange Brew was a pretty good sampler of urban fantasy shorts and even though most of the stories are connected to these favorite authors' popular series, most worked pretty well as standalones. My favorites were the one's by Briggs and Caine.
****Seeing Eye - Patricia Briggs - A blind witch is an unlikely `finder' but this witch has a very personal reason for accepting a werewolf's plea for magical aid More...
Strange Brew was a pretty good sampler of urban fantasy shorts and even though most of the stories are connected to these favorite authors' popular series, most worked pretty well as standalones. My favorites were the one's by Briggs and Caine.
****Seeing Eye - Patricia Briggs - A blind witch is an unlikely `finder' but this witch has a very personal reason for accepting a werewolf's plea for magical aid More...
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Jul 11, 2009
Sammy
rated it:
"Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs was a tight story of a blind witch, who after a werewolf comes to her door, faces off for the fight of her life.
Jim Butcher, as always presents an excellent Dresden story, "Last Call" - all Dresden wants in some of Mac's beer, and of course, its not that simple. Certainly not a required reading for the series, but a great, funny story neverless.
"Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine was an ok story about a necr More...
Jim Butcher, as always presents an excellent Dresden story, "Last Call" - all Dresden wants in some of Mac's beer, and of course, its not that simple. Certainly not a required reading for the series, but a great, funny story neverless.
"Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine was an ok story about a necr More...
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Jul 09, 2009
Ascexis
rated it: 
I got Strange Brew in the post yesterday (one of those lovely pre-order surprise arrivals ::g::), and loved it. So much so that I went looking to see what the authors I *hadn't* heard of had written, and added some stuff to the old wishlist. Even the Charlaine Harris stories (whose Sukie Stackhouse just pissed me off) was enjoyable, and I really want more of the Lia de Croisset stories -- a war mage in Las Vegas. Sadly the only other story for this character was in another anthology, which I can
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Feb 07, 2010
~Sara~
rated it:
I haven't read much paranormal fiction before, so I thought this would be a good taster to see what I like.
Seeing Eye, by Patricia Briggs is the first story and it was fantastic. I would've never guessed I'd have a thing for werewolves or that smelling a neck could be so sexy. It's a good story to draw you into the book and I will definitely look for more by her. *4.5*
Last Call, by Jim Butcher is amusing. All he wants is a beer but it's not easy to get. I would've given i More...
Seeing Eye, by Patricia Briggs is the first story and it was fantastic. I would've never guessed I'd have a thing for werewolves or that smelling a neck could be so sexy. It's a good story to draw you into the book and I will definitely look for more by her. *4.5*
Last Call, by Jim Butcher is amusing. All he wants is a beer but it's not easy to get. I would've given i More...
Sep 23, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Strange Brew is a nice mix of stories. Most, if not all, of the authors in the collection have novels that make use of the characters in the short fiction. I've read some of the books.
In this collection, I truly enjoyed "Bacon" by Charline Harris. It is set in her Sookie world, but does not feature Sookie. I found to be a good use of myth, and I loved the ending. It almost made me wish I was still reading Sookie, almost.
Jim Butcher's story, "Last Call" More...
In this collection, I truly enjoyed "Bacon" by Charline Harris. It is set in her Sookie world, but does not feature Sookie. I found to be a good use of myth, and I loved the ending. It almost made me wish I was still reading Sookie, almost.
Jim Butcher's story, "Last Call" More...
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Jul 28, 2009
Alice
rated it:
A new anthology set with some of my favorite fantasy authors and I actually read most of the stories this time!
Patricia Briggs had Seeing Eye was a decent story- set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson ones, but not with any of the same characters. I liked it though. She should revisit Moira and Tom.
Jim Butcher...always there with a good Harry Dresden tale. Two thumbs up.
Rachel Caine brought us Death Warmed Over. It was oddly moving.
Karen Chanc More...
Patricia Briggs had Seeing Eye was a decent story- set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson ones, but not with any of the same characters. I liked it though. She should revisit Moira and Tom.
Jim Butcher...always there with a good Harry Dresden tale. Two thumbs up.
Rachel Caine brought us Death Warmed Over. It was oddly moving.
Karen Chanc More...
Aug 28, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
These are all written in the first person... it makes it hard to get the names of the main character...
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs... Wendy Moira Keller a white witch, forsees her own death in a confrontation with her father, a black witch, who took one of her eyes to power his magic, and made her sacrifice the other, hence she is blind. Tom Franklin, 2nd of the Emerald City Pack, a werewolf/policeman, comes to her because he believes Kuros, leader of the black coven, has kidnape More...
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs... Wendy Moira Keller a white witch, forsees her own death in a confrontation with her father, a black witch, who took one of her eyes to power his magic, and made her sacrifice the other, hence she is blind. Tom Franklin, 2nd of the Emerald City Pack, a werewolf/policeman, comes to her because he believes Kuros, leader of the black coven, has kidnape More...
Aug 20, 2009
Kathryn
rated it:
My take on what I've read so far.
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs - Great new twist on the witch and familiar story. I'm a big fan of Briggs to begin with and this story really impressed me.
Last Call by Jim Butcher - I love Harry Dresden stories.
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine - Not one of my favorites. However, I really like her Morganville Vampire teen series.
Vegas Odds by Karen Chance - Non stop action.
Hecate's Golden Eye by P.N. El More...
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs - Great new twist on the witch and familiar story. I'm a big fan of Briggs to begin with and this story really impressed me.
Last Call by Jim Butcher - I love Harry Dresden stories.
Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine - Not one of my favorites. However, I really like her Morganville Vampire teen series.
Vegas Odds by Karen Chance - Non stop action.
Hecate's Golden Eye by P.N. El More...
Sep 13, 2009
Schnaucl
rated it:
I think the stories were supposed to be linked via the use of a brew (usually a potion). Sometimes that works better than others.
I was amused by Jim Butcher interpreting "brew" to mean McAnally's prized beer. It was a nice story, no guest appearances aside from Murphy, and no major revelations about things from the novels.
Karen Chance had a story from a new series that might be interesting. Then again, her protagonist is dangerously close to spending a lot of t More...
I was amused by Jim Butcher interpreting "brew" to mean McAnally's prized beer. It was a nice story, no guest appearances aside from Murphy, and no major revelations about things from the novels.
Karen Chance had a story from a new series that might be interesting. Then again, her protagonist is dangerously close to spending a lot of t More...
Jul 11, 2011
Desiree
rated it:
This rating is only for 3 of the stories.
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs - 3 1/2 stars. This short story is set in the Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega world but there's no mention of the characters (at least up until the point I've read in both series). Although I liked Tom and Moira I wish that there had been more. This was only about 40 pages and I didn't feel like I spent enough time with these characters to really form any kind of valid opinion. I still enjoyed the story but I didn't More...
Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs - 3 1/2 stars. This short story is set in the Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega world but there's no mention of the characters (at least up until the point I've read in both series). Although I liked Tom and Moira I wish that there had been more. This was only about 40 pages and I didn't feel like I spent enough time with these characters to really form any kind of valid opinion. I still enjoyed the story but I didn't More...
Sep 09, 2009
Kerry
rated it:
I really got this book to read the Patricia Briggs story, Seeing Eye. I thought that was lovely; just short and to the point, but beautifully executed. It makes me immediately want to read more Briggs.
I also skim read through the Faith Hunter story, Signatures of the Dead. I really liked Hunter's Rogue Mage book (Bloodring, Seraphs and Host) and I recommend them. However, this story didn't do much for me and I think I'll give Hunter's Jane Yellowrock books a miss.
The rati More...
I also skim read through the Faith Hunter story, Signatures of the Dead. I really liked Hunter's Rogue Mage book (Bloodring, Seraphs and Host) and I recommend them. However, this story didn't do much for me and I think I'll give Hunter's Jane Yellowrock books a miss.
The rati More...
Sep 16, 2010
~♥*Marianna*♥~
rated it:
I got this for the "Seeing Eye" story by Patricia Brigs. It was a very nice glimpse into Moira's and Tom's story. I would love to read more about their relationship. (5 stars)
I also enjoyed "Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine. Very intriguing magical principles and great potential for a great love story. Except for the last paragraph. Everything was fine and dandy till that. I'm all for happily-ever-afters but in my opinion such an abrupt and insufficiently explai More...
I also enjoyed "Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine. Very intriguing magical principles and great potential for a great love story. Except for the last paragraph. Everything was fine and dandy till that. I'm all for happily-ever-afters but in my opinion such an abrupt and insufficiently explai More...
Mar 06, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
I picked up "Strange Brew" for the sole purpose of reading the two stories in it by authors I love: Charlaine Harris and Jim Butcher. Jim Butcher's story, "Last Call", is a straight-up Harry Dresden adventure, exactly what you'd want if you're a fan. Charlaine Harris's story, "Bacon", is a non-Sookie story set in the Sookie-verse, continuing the story of Dahlia, the vampire featured in "Tacky" (which appeared in the collection "My Big Fat Supernatural
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Jul 11, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
The theme of Strange Brew is witchcraft. This anthology features nine well-known urban fantasy authors, each with their own spin on the theme. Some of these stories feature well-known characters. Others focus on characters who are secondary in the author's series, or characters who are entirely new. Glancing at the table of contents and doing a little mental math, most of the stories are around 40 pages, give or take a few. (The longest is Karen Chance's at just under 60.) As is always the case
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Mar 15, 2011
I was handed this book by a librarian when I asked her for a recommendation. I said I preferred stories with female protagonists and also liked science fiction and fantasy. It is not what I expected! I don't really know what I expected... but it wasn't werewolves and vampires. I've avoided Twilight like the plague, but perhaps I looked like I was in that demographic?
It's a collection of nine short stories (or longer short stories). Many of the authors, the librarian told me, have More...
It's a collection of nine short stories (or longer short stories). Many of the authors, the librarian told me, have More...
Dec 04, 2009
All Things Urban Fantasy
rated it:
Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com
Seeing Eye is a very short story. It clocks in at only 38 pages, and in the hands of a lesser author, it could have been a disaster trying to build a world, create compelling characters, and tell a satisfying story in so few pages. Fortunately for us, Patricia Briggs was more than equal to the task.The story is simple enough, Wendy Moira Keller (yep, named after the Peter Pan character), a blind witch, agrees to help a desperate werewo More...
Seeing Eye is a very short story. It clocks in at only 38 pages, and in the hands of a lesser author, it could have been a disaster trying to build a world, create compelling characters, and tell a satisfying story in so few pages. Fortunately for us, Patricia Briggs was more than equal to the task.The story is simple enough, Wendy Moira Keller (yep, named after the Peter Pan character), a blind witch, agrees to help a desperate werewo More...
Nov 08, 2010
Mailis
rated it:
I absolutely loved the first half of the book, and i might have to go back to my last Jim Butcher Dresden review and take a star off, because i guess i didn't really remember how funny he can really be, until i read "Last Call", and even though White Night was good, i know now it could have been even better. Then about in the middle of this fantastic publication, the humorous collection turned a new page, to become Laurell K. "Lets play with guts" Hamilton style affair with F
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Jul 11, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
First of all, THANKS to goodreads.com for the book. I have loved the giveaways! Now to the review. I decided to review each story separately because they were all so different. Also, I don't read a lot of short stories because I love to really get to know the characters I so often fall in love with. I was impressed that a couple of the authors did such a good job of drawing you in. Also, it was fun to read so many different approaches to witches--how they work, what they can do, etc...So her
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Jan 25, 2010
Stacie
rated it:
I just finished this collection of short stories. I have read the previous one “Big Supernatural Wedding” due to the fact there was another author in the book that wrote a short story about a series I have read. In that book it reintroduced Dresden and Sookie to me. This is not the normal short story book; there are many different paranormal books. I have restarted the Sookie books and will probably read some Dresden as well. This book had so many little stories that introduced different wo
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Jul 19, 2009
Michelle
rated it:
just acquired for the Charlaine Harris & Jim Butcher stories. Have now passed on book to Mother.
Bacon:
Nice story, but not the masterful storytelling i've come to expect from CH. I felt plopped into the middle of a story having missed the obviously important prequel. But no matter. Loved "the Circe" concept. Would have liked more ideas into how all a witch protects her household, and where did the super helpful cat come from? But a great shout out to Harry Dres More...
Bacon:
Nice story, but not the masterful storytelling i've come to expect from CH. I felt plopped into the middle of a story having missed the obviously important prequel. But no matter. Loved "the Circe" concept. Would have liked more ideas into how all a witch protects her household, and where did the super helpful cat come from? But a great shout out to Harry Dres More...
