Volume two. Four more stories: the mind of a mind reader, babysitting the supernatural, packing up, and what's it like to be a queen. More fun for fans of the Accords, with setup for the series story arc.
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This was another fun short story collection from the Demon Accords series. We got four short tales in this one and I felt like all were decent reads and that they likely had stuff happen in them that will carry into the main series!
The first short story was from Nika’s POV. Which was interesting. We got to see her put her telepathic ability to the test as she hunted down an abducted baby and ended up running into a Vorsook!
The second story was from Toni’s POV. She was babysitting the twins, but of course it went awry and she had to fend off a kidnapping! We also learned more about the supernatural abilities of the twins.
The third story was from Holly’s POV. Holly is the girl who got bitten by the demon werewolf in Snake Eyes. Stacia has taken her under her wing. This was a fun tale as we got to see Declan’s confrontation with Brock and the New York Pack.
The fourth tale was the least interesting of the bunch with Chris and Tanya stopping to close a demon portal they found in Florida. Best bit of it was the hint that the next villain would be a female demon!
It was a short collection but fun! The first two short story compendium’s are almost necessary reading between Summer Reign and Demon Divine and this second one was better than the first collection.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: James Patrick Cronin did OK with the audio.
Another 4 short stories from the Demon Accords world. Unlike the first volume, these stories did have an impact on the series. I always thought there was something missing between Summer Reign and Demon Divine. Stacia having her own small pack with Declan. The twins having powers. Toni babysitting the twins and seeming older than she should be. Those questions were answered in this book. The first story followed Nica and was just alright. The second story followed Toni as she was babysitting and is where the twins first show that they have powers. The third story is Declan facing off against the New York pack for interfering in pack business when he protected Stacia from all those werewolf challenges. The last story was from Tanya's point of view and it involved the Demon coming in from Fairy in Florida - based on the timeline this happened right before the Demon Divine book. There were references about Toni's necklace and being in Florida in that book that I didn't understand until now.
If you haven't read the Demon Divine book yet, I would recommend to read this story first and things will make more sense.
These compendiums are pretty entertaining and if you don't want to be lost on certain things in the books I suggest reading it. I really enjoyed reading about this series' best girl, aka Nika, and also very much enjoyed seeing Declan's showdown with Brock and Afina (what happened to those two, they have had some serious brain rot since the early books). My only gripe is that with the New York pack showdown Stacia put the blame on Declan, that wasn't cool at all and Declan like always let himself take blame when it was the arrogance and incompetency of Stacia's pack for the situation and Declan was well within his rights to firstly stop his mate from being attacked over and over, then to not let the New York pack try to intimidate and hurt him because of hurt egos. Stacia is supposed to be hyper intelligent but not thinking about how she would react if she was Declan and instead making him feel like the bad guy that got her booted from the pack was out of line and frankly a bit out of character. If Declan was in a coven and he was leaving her alone to leave the state for days coming back hurt, exhausted and absent minded for weeks, she would never let it slide if he just said "coven business" as the excuse, she'd probably let it slide the first time then step in immediately, so negative points to Stacia in my mind, just another reason why Nika is by far best in the series. As for the other stories, they were all entertaining and help figure out why certain things happened in the main series, so give it a read for sure. 3.75/5 for me.
The compendiums are short stories. Each of those have their own ratings.
Lost Souls 4.5 stars Third person from Nika’s perspective as she does a solo mission in Kansas City.
Sitting Pretty 3.5 stars Third person from Toni’s perspective of a day spent babysitting the twins. A side note here-Toni has grown so much! It has been 5 years since we first met the little girl. Gina raised a strong, brave child.
Pack is All 3.5 stars Third person from Holly’s point of view as she observes the fallout of Declan’s actions at the end of Summer Reign. Author’s note says this take place just before Sitting Pretty, so why not have it before it in the book since it was slightly spoiled due to the order of the stories.
Queen for a Night 3.5 stars First person from Tanya’s point of view. Zinnia’s machinations show themselves in Orlando.
Unlike the first volume, each of these stories are important to the overall storyline. This is a must-read since the prologue of the next book in the series, Demon Divine, references the events in Sitting Pretty.
In volume 2 of The Demon Accords Compendium back stories continue for the demon accords universe.
It starts out with Lost Souls, which features Nika, the resident telepath who follows a man who kidnapped a baby. What she finds is a Vorsook, a very powerful alien who can control the minds of almost anyone. Hoping that she can block the alien from taking over her mind she is in for the fight of her life.
Sitting Pretty follows Toni, as she babysits the twins and tries to take them out for a peaceful walk on a beautiful day. As with most things in the Demidova life, nothing is ever as easy and peaceful as one hopes. The twins powers are still a mystery, but insights begin to emerge in this exciting tale.
Pack is All takes place right before Sitting Pretty and takes place between the New York Pack Alpha’s and Declan, who much to the alpha’s dismay has slighted them and the pack by interfering in pack business. Declan, however, feels that as Stacia’s mate he has the right under pack to law to use all resources at his disposal to protect his mate and any family they have down the road. This is a pivotal point for Declan, Statia and Holly and where they may go in the future.
Finally, the compendium finishes up with Queen of the Night which is done from Tanya’s point of view and a trip to Orlando and Disneyland. A demon portal is found in Orlando and needs to be closed. Chris plans a trip to Disneyland for the entire crew to check out the portal and hopefully close it. A glimpse of what we might expect in the Conroe’s next demon accords book is seen here.
I have to say I really enjoyed this second compendium. Although I was really hoping there would have been a chapter depicting the conversation with the mother. That would have been interesting. Also, I have a little bit of a bone to pick with the whole pack discussion that showed up in this book. What is the deal with the New York pack.. They have become complete dicks to Stacia and Declan... Is it cause they technically are another Alpha pair? If that is it, I could see how that would explain some of the tension. Though it seems kind of sad that Stacia pretty much got booted out cause Declan was expressing his right to protect her from magic and was stepping up where her bosses couldn't. I also though her description of his power was pretty mediocre. She would have simply said.. If you fought him, you would die. The pack would die and you wouldn't even leave a scratch on him. I mean from what happened that essentially would have been the result. I mean he had the earth and air elementals. I don't know I just did not much care for that whole confrontation. Also WHY is this becoming more Supernatural Sci-Fi. Why the little grey men!!! Also Telepathic Grey Men COME ON! That whole scenario made me think of the Independence Day Aliens.
Well I hope some day there can be a story from Lisa's perspective. At least that whole conversation about how they got kicked out of the New York Pack.
Another set of awesome short stories from the Demon Accords Universe. In this volume, we get four more short stories and they are from the present and coming arc in the Demon Accords series.
I don't want to spoil the stories and since they are shorts, I will just repsent a quick overview of each here
"Lost Souls" is a short story from Nika's point of view. We get to see Nika in action and damn, she's one hell of a force of nature!
"Sitting Pretty" is a tale about Toni babysitting the twins and sets up a mystery about the fetish Chris gave her which now seems to have a demonic taint attached to it. Is it a trap for Chris? Why what and how? Read the story!
"Pack is All" is a tale about Stacia, Declan, and Holly. Some developments here will ramifactions coming in the next book and are a bit shocking!
"Queen for a Night" is a take from Tanya's point of view. You'll get to hear 1st hand what it's like to drink the blood of the God Hammer, among a few other items in the tale!
This Compendium Volume 2 (and Compendium Volume 1) were great hold-overs for the coming book, Demon Devine. But I am ready, so come one Mr. Conroe--- finish Demon Devine!
It's kinda unfair that I like this book more I'm giving this book one more star than Compendium Volume 1, and for the worst reason. John Conroe has left gaps between books. Events that the characters refer to and you the reader say "What? I've read them all and this is a mystery to me". This Compendium has several of those stories that are missing between the last few books. So lets get this straight. The author gives you less (of the main books) and charges you the same price. and then asks to to pay more for the missing pieces (found here), and I reward him with praise (extra star). This scam works. I gave it an extra star because it liked it more, and I liked it more because it had those bits and pieces that I was missing to get the full story. Instead of being mad like I should be for getting played like a chump, I'm all grateful that I found the missing piece like I'm Indiana Jones or some shit. You win again Conroe! you win again. I'm trying to be mad at you but I'm more disgusted at myself.
Have you ever wondered what is going through Nika's mind, Is Toni really old enough to babysit, what happened to the future bride from snake eyes, and mommy Tonya can't do it all or can she? These stories are a great break from the normal voices we hear in Johns books, not saying I don't miss Chris and Decland. And we get another teaser from zone wars.
I really like his series, and only wish there was more - but apparently there's another in the next few months. Wasn't sure about spin-off stories, and yes, they borrow heavily from the novels, but he gets away with it very well; the stories give glimpses into characters we already know, and for the writer they're probably an interesting exercise. I even wondered if some were scenes he cut from the books, or changed point of view on in rewrite. Either way, they're well worth reading.
The Demon Accords is absolutely one of my favorite series and I anxiously await the next book in this series. These little Compendiums are just what I need to tide me over until that happens, I sincerely hope that Mr. Conroe continues these tidbits in between books👏😉
I don't normally bother with collections or short stories from authors, but I love Conroe's work. I really enjoyed both volumes and highly recommend them. The writing gives some new content, some fresh perspective and some humor. After I finished this, I actually went back and re-read the entire series. If you have a chance, read the series as a whole, it's well worthwhile.
This is another collection of short filler and background stories. They add to The Demon Accords series nicely. It's always fun to get additional background on characters that show up in main stories but don't always have their origins or character growth fleshed out.
John Conroe's writing and world get better with every book. These compendiums are both amazing (volume 1 and 2). I feel other authors should do the same, really flushes out the world and the characters.
Most short Demon Accord stories plus Zone World segment. Two novella size of this type so far. Don't like difference in New York pack. Eases pain of waiting for next novel
It’s always a pleasure to read Conroe’s work, and it’s a bonus pleasure to experience more of his characters, especially from new perspectives. When those perspectives are from the characters themselves, well hey: outstanding stuff. Extremely recommended.
Giving us small bits from other characters points of view deepens the overall story arc. I especially enjoyed the stuff from the telepaths point of view
Good stories. Great writing. These are fast paced, fun stories that read easily and keep my interest even when I have lots of other things on my mind. A great distraction.
All of these stories are see in the current timeline so feels more like a bridging novel. Still interesting to see the differing viewpoints and see some old characters return to the story.
I've enjoyed this series, despite Conroe's writing foibles. Many, many questions about the copy editing. I finally gave up on the audio editions, which just add weird narration idiosyncrasies to the mix. Sounds pretty negative, and certainly could be better - but I haven't missed an episode.
Great set of stories filling in some gaps from the series. If you are a fan, you'll love the stories. If not, read the series from the start instead. I think Conroe is having fun writing these short stories.
Short stories that, unlike volume I, did give some preliminary information for upcoming books. 2 of the stories provided some extra information that seemed missing when reading the Demon Divine book. Just fun to read more about the characters.