Very variable quality of work in this. Read it for the J.D.Robb and Laurell K. Hamilton stories, but really didn't like the other two. My three stars are a combination of four for the stories I like and two for those I didn't. I'm not a fan of stories that are entirely removed from my reality - space, strange alien languages. I can't usually relate to them. Four thousand year old witch queens are beyond me. ( )

Enjoyable, Krinard's Kinsmen look interesting. ( )

I gave this book a C on my personal book rating scale. What can I say about this book. Well, I think it suffers from what other anthologies suffer from...too little pages not enough story.
The JD Robb story was about 90 pages long. I felt the story was good and complete. Perhaps it is because I have read so many other Eve and Roarke books that the lack of background on the characters was ok with me.
Kinsman by Susan Krinard was perhaps the weakest of the stories. at 87 pages the story introduces several alien species, different planets and a whole new galaxy and I just felt that there was not enough background to allow the reader to stay connected with all the different species and what their capabilities were. I have noticed that there is a full novel on the Kinsmen..I might try it to see if Krinard's world makes more sense.
Maggie Shayne's story was not bad but it did leave some unanswered questions.
Laurell K Hamilton....what can I say about her other then when you get to put a short story in an anthology it should be an actual short story and not two chapters or so from an upcoming book. ( )

This book was good but i only got enjoyment out of JD Robb who was the reason i bought the book and then i ended up enjoying Maggie Shaynes story too! A good read for a mix of authors. Gives you a chance to experience new authors with out wasting money.

This anthology was basically an introduction to the publisher's popular stable of current romance/sci-fi/fantasy authors. I knew that, it was what I was looking for, and it served its purpose. The Robb "Eve Dallas" story was adequately written, but poorly plotted. The others were just unmemorable. All are stand-alone pieces, except for the Laurie K. Hamiliton entry, which is the first half of a novel that became, I understand, NARCISSUS IN CHAINS. This was crass--I don't like pieces of novels unless they are explicitly presented as an advertisement; this was not. ( )