Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson)

by Patricia Briggs

"Mercy Thompson's world just got a whole lot bigger ... A collection of all-new and previously published short stories featuring Mercy Thompson, "one of the best heroines in the urban fantasy genre today" (Fiction Vixen Book Reviews), and the characters she calls friends ... Includes the new stories ... "Silver" "Roses in Winter" "Redemption" "Hollow" ... and reader favorites "Fairy Gifts" "Gray" "Alpha and Omega" "Seeing Eye" "The Star of David" "In Red, with Pearls" "--

"Shapeshifter Mercy Thompson has friends in high places--and in low, dark, scary ones. And in this must-have collection of stories, you'll meet new faces and catch up with old acquaintances--in all their forms... In a time of fresh starts, Mercy is asked to use an old talent--ghost hunting--in the all-new story "Hollow." You'll learn what happens when an ancient werewolf on his last legs befriends a vulnerable adolescent ("Roses in Winter") and how Mercy's friend Samuel Cornick became a werewolf ("Silver"). The werewolf Ben finds "Redemption," and Moira, a blind witch, assists on a search in "Seeing Eye." From Butte, Montana, the copper-mining town that vampire Thomas Hao calls home ("Fairy Gifts"), to Chicago, where the vampire Elyna buys and renovates the apartment she lived in while human ("Gray"), you'll travel the roads that originated with Mercy Thompson and the fertile imagination of Patricia Briggs. Roads that will lead you to places you've never been before.."--

• ISBN10: 0425265005
• ISBN13: 9780425265000
• Publish Date: 2 September 2014 (first published 1 September 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 450
• Language: English

Reviews

[Danielle Ackley-McPhail]

Love this universe

Patricia Briggs is a master storyteller. Even these short glimpses into the Mercy Thompson world were rich and detailed and consistent with the overarching storyline. Thank you for creating characters I can care about and giving them such rich, if at times tortured tales.

[Heather]

I’d seen this book around at the library and was waiting to read it when I ran out of the Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha and Omega series.

I finally decided to listen to it when I realized that it has “Alpha and Omega” in it. That is the story that starts the series and isn’t included in the books. I’m not usually a big short story fan but I really like this world.

Some of the stories aren’t directly related to the book series. Some look at the world from the viewpoint of minor characters.

See rest of the review at http://www.spiritblog.net/?p=8775

[littleread1]

All these shorts added a lot to the Mercyverse and supplemented some of the side characters. It was awesome!

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts:
1. Just as good as any Mercy Thompson book. I can't get enough of this world.
2. Wished there was a couple more Mercy stories.
3. The Charles and Anna story will always be my favourite.
4. I love the characters so much more now.
5. If you're obsessed with Mercy pick this book up!

[EBookObsessed]

The Mercy Thompson series are told in the first person by Mercy. A few of these stories are fill in scenes from her books that didn't fit since there were told by Mercy. So it gives you extras views but it will give spoilers if you haven't reached those stories yet.

We also get to spend time with Warren and Kyle as well as Ben. It is nice to get a little deeper into these characters. Ben is challenged to not swear for a month and it is quite entertaining to see him almost struggle to speak without his expletives. There is a back story on Samuel and Ariana.

As you can probably guess, Alpha and Omega is the novella which began the Alpha and Omega spinoff series. We never spent much time with Charles in any of Mercy's book but we kind of knew him as Bran's scary powerful and unsocial son. I hadn't jumped on his spin off but now I have picked up the first three audiobooks in this series and am looking forward to those.

The remaining stories involve vampires, ghosts, witches and fae which will all follow the world building rules which is presented in the Mercy Thompson series. These were all very entertaining stories. It reminded me of Stephen King novels when he would give you a full back story on a character who was just crossing the street (and about to be killed), but by the time King killed off the guy, you were so intrigued and invested in this guy you were sad he died. I enjoyed these little peeks in the windows of others who live in Mercy's world.

I found it interesting that Patricia Briggs gives a brief description of what prompted the story or what guidelines she was presented in the previously published stories. For example, for the story Gray , she needed to write a story featuring a color and a holiday. It is interesting the stories that are created for the different anthologies that these stories were originally part of.

THOUGHTS:
I am a big fan of Patricia Briggs' writing and Mercy Thompson and friends. So I enjoyed all the stories presented in this collection. If you are looking for a new paranormal/urban fantasy author, this would be a great way to check out Patricia's work without making the full commitment to an entire series.

I have listened to this entire series by audiobook. Lorelei King brings Mercy and the gang to life for me. She has a very natural narration style and gives voice to a cast of characters. This was my first time listening to Alexander Cendese, but I thought he did a wonderful job narrating for Samuel and for David.

Received a review audiobook from Brilliance audio in exchange for an honest review.

[MurderByDeath]

Outstanding collection of stories from the Mercy Thompson Universe. There isn't a bad story in this book; it felt like every single one was written with thought and care.
 

— Update on re-read:
The re-read rabbit hole I fell into this weekend included a need to re-visit Briggs' Alpha and Omega series, and what better place to start than the beginning?

I've re-read this story many times, and it always holds up; it's almost exactly the right length - another chapter's worth of details would have been welcome, but the story didn't suffer from the lack either.  The plot is complete, the characters well-drawn.

I can't imagine a day when I'll stop enjoying this story.

[Melanie]

I loved the glimpses into secondary character's lives and their POVs. My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Silver - Narrated by Alexander Cendese
Brand new story
This story takes place many, many years before Moon Called. It is the story of how Bran and Samuel become werewolves. During this time, they also meet Samuel's future fae mate, Arianna. This is a heartwrenching story. Arianna's father is not a nice man. The witch that turns Bran and Samuel is not a nice woman. There is death and pain. If it wasn't for the fact that this was a prequel of sorts, it would've been even harder to listen to. I would say that this story doesn't really end happily, but we know that there is a HEA, even if it is hundreds of years in the future.

Fairy Gifts - Narrated by Alexander Cendese
Originally published in Naked City
This story takes place many, many years before Moon Called. It has completely new characters, so they are less developed than the ones we know and love. It takes place in Butte, Montana, Patricia's hometown. Thomas is a Chinese-American vampire, who was used a thug for his father. He comes across a fae girl that was chained in the copper mining tunnels. The two work together to break their respective bonds. Not a bad story, just short and less developed that I'm used to from Briggs. This was my least favorite story in the book, though it still isn't a bad story.

Gray - Narrated by Lorelei King
Originally published in Home Improvement: Undead Edition
This story takes place before Moon Called. It is another story with completely new characters and takes place in Chicago. Elyna is a vampire who has gone back to her old apartment in a city that is held by a much more powerful vampire. She has left her seethe and wants to just be left alone with her ghost of a husband in their old apartment. Many people have tried to renovate this apartment, but the ghost will not allow it. Elyna is able to convenience some off duty policemen to help with construction. Things get interesting. Elyna is a "nice" vampire in a world where vampires are not known for their morality. Although I the story is short, the characters are not extremely developed, and the story is somewhat predictable, I enjoyed this story.

Seeing Eye - Narrated by Lorelei King
Originally published in Strange Brew
This story takes place one year before Moon Called. Tom and Moira are a werewolf and white witch that we meet in Hunting Ground. It is the story of how they meet. Tom's brother is kidnapped by a group of notorious black witches. He is sent to Moria to help find his brother. Moira takes the case, even though she doesn't like to leave her house and she is blind. Something about Tom calls to her and the head black witch is the reason she is blind. I really loved this story. It shows how much her disability does not make her weak. Tom is very loyal, not only to his brother, but also to Moira.

Alpha and Omega - Narrated by Lorelei King
Originally published in On the Prowl
This story takes place during the same time as Moon Called. I've read this story and listened to it narrated by Holter Graham, who is the normal narrator for the Alpha and Omega series. I love this story, mainly because I love Charles and Anna. Anna is has been a werewolf for three years and was turned against her will. She know almost nothing about what she is. She doesn't have any idea how important she is to other werewolves. When she has proof that her pack is killing children, she finally calls the Marrok. Charles is the Marrok's enforcer and is sent to check things out. Great story and the start to the spin of series of the same name.

The Star of David - Narrated by Alexander Cendese
Originally published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
This story takes place the Christmas after "most" of the events in Moon Called. We meet David in Moon Called. He is a lone wolf who was turned in the Army with Adam. He small "pack" of human mercenaries, many of which are part of his actual family. In this story, his estranged daughter calls him to help her with one of her "kids". She is a social worker and one of the foster kids is in the hospital under sketchy circumstances. She suspects that the child is not quite human and that her father could help him. There is definitely something supernatural afoot. It was a great heartwarming story that you would expect for a Christmas story.

Roses in Winter - Narrated by Lorelei King
Brand new story
This story takes place between Bone Crossed and Silver Borne. This story has Asil and Kara, a young girl who has been a werewolf for a few years, but under her human parents care. Kara comes to Bran's pack to see if she can learn to control her wolf. Asil has been with Bran's pack for many years and is waiting for Bran to kill him before he goes crazy and starts killing people. It is great to see the interaction between Bran and Asil, Asil and Kara, even the little bit of interaction with Devin who spends very little time in human form. Seeing the Moor in the role of mentor is not something you would expect. It is also great to see how Asil is willing to protect Kara. He even starts looking at how he might have to fight Bran and Charles to keep Kara alive, if things go bad. I think this is my favorite story in this book.


In Red, with Pearls - Narrated by Alexander Cendese
Originally published in Down These Strange Streets
This story takes place between Silver Borne and River Marked. This is Warren and his partner, Kyle's story. Warren is working for Kyle as a PI. A zombie shows up and tries to kill Kyle. Warren calls Elizaveta to help him clear up the evidence. Nadia is family to Elizaveta and her apprentice. She helps Warren to find out who and why someone would want Kyle dead. It is as suspenseful as you can make a short story can be. I really enjoyed it.

Redemption - Narrated by Lorelei King
Brand new story
This story takes place between Frost Burned and Night Broken. It is told mostly from Ben's POV. He is one of my least favorite of Adam's pack, though the snark between him and Mercy is always fun to read. We learn more about his past and how he came to Adam's pack. This story takes place in his office setting. Ben is a computer nerd. The secretary for Ben's group is getting harassed at work by someone in a completely different department. Everytime this guy comes over, Ben goes over and starts complaining and sends her to go do something for him. This story is great because I really came to like Ben. Especially has he tries desperately to not use foul language so that he can get some really expensive Scotch from Adam for a bet. Not only do we learn a lot about Ben, he learns a lot about himself. This is my second favorite story in this book.

Hollow - Narrated by Lorelei King
Brand new story
Takes place after Night Broken and stars Mercy. You can't have a Mercy world anthology without a Mercy story. A woman has asked Mercy to help with a ghost. This woman has been helping a rich, reclusive with his landscaping. When she goes into his house, she sees the ghost that has caused him to become a hermit. Most ghosts are pretty harmless, but this one is much more harmful. Mercy seems to be able to find danger is non-dangerous missions. While the suspense in this story is pretty predictable, it has a nice romance between the new characters.

Outtakes - Narrated by Lorelei King
Brand new snippets
Silver Borne - This is to give Samuel and Arianna their happy ending. Their story does end well in Silver Borne. This story shows that they do get their happy ever after and gives even more of their history.
Night Broken - This story takes place towards the end of story and is told from Adam's POV. Mercy is recovering in the hospital (there are spoilers in this outtake for Night Broken, but her being in the hospital at the end of a book is not a surprise). There is great interaction between Adam and Coyote. You also see how much Adam loves Mercy and what he is willing to do for her.

Overall, I loved this anthology. I'm a huge fan of characters in stories, especially secondary characters. Short stories like this from long running series are a great place for authors to give us insight into those secondary characters. Many of the UF stories, like Mercy Thompson, are written in first person POV. These stories are able to give a glimpse into those other character POV's. This books is a must have for Mercy fans.

Narration
It is no secret that Lorelei King is one of my all-time favorite narrators. She does a great job with both men and women's voices. Her tone, pace, and level of emotion for all the different characters is always on the mark.

Alexander Cendese is new to me. At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about him. As I listened to him read the story, he really grew on me. I do wish he was a little better with women's voices, though he seemed to do better with some stories/characters better than others. His tone, pace and emotion were all really good.

I like to thank Brilliance Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five Caffeinated Reasons to snag a copy of Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson

1. If you love the Mercy Thompson series, you will love how Briggs’ weaves in tales about secondary characters, fleshing them out, sharing their beginnings and increasing our knowledge of their world.

2. The stories are placed in chronological order and with each tale Brigg’s gives us the details on why she wrote it, for whom and when it took place. I found these little commentaries fascinating.

3. Each novella is well developed with a beginning, middle and end. Even though they were short, I was satisfied at the close of each.

4. Non-Mercy readers can still enjoy these stories and get a taste for both the author and the Mercy Thompson series.

5. The collection contains tidbits of information including those secondary characters you were curious about and more. I have not read Briggs’ Alpha and Omega series, but she shares a short story that had me buying book one, and I actually squealed with excitement.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review.This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer