Kelley Armstrong

Women of the Otherworld — (2001-2012) Publisher: An addictive, deeply enjoyable thrill ride on the frontier of the feral and feminine... a debut novel of astonishing imaginative power from the future queen of suspense. Elena Michaels slips out of bed, careful not to wake her boyfriend. He hates it when she disappears in the middle of the night, and can’t understand why any normal woman would crave the small hours of the morning, the dark unsafe downtown streets. But Elena’s skin is tingling, the pent-up energy feels like it’s about to blow her muscles apart — she can’t put it off any longer. She loves to run at the edge of the city, but she doesn’t have time to get there. She has to slink into an alley, take off her clothes and hide them carefully, and make the Change. Elena’s trying hard to be normal. She hates her strength, and her wildness, and her hunger for food, for sex, for running in the night, for the chase and the kill. She wants a husband, children... even a mother-in-law. Or at least that’s what she tells herself. And then the inevitable happens. The Pack needs her. The Pack she loves and hates is under siege from a bunch of disreputable and ruthless mutts who are threatening to expose them all, breaking all the rules that have kept them safe. The loyalty of her nature calls her home, and into the fight, which tests just who Elena is: the wild woman or the wistful would-be human.

NOVELLAS:

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Bitten

Kelley Armstrong is a very competent writer and her command of the urban fantasy genre is also really good. She knows how to manage dialogue and keep pace with both action and character development. So, Bitten, the first book of the Women of the Otherworld series, should be a great book, right?

Ok, I despised Bitten because the main character, Elena Michaels, is such a ridiculous brat that I simply couldn't stand her. Armstrong has created such a completely unbelievable character that I was happy when the book was over and the totally predictable ending brought my suffering to a close. Elena just didn't seem to fit an urban fantasy novel, but felt like the sort of paranormal romance characters that normally repel me. I just can't stand the strong-willed, independent, defiant females who turn into a puddle of mush for the ultra-handsome maverick male who they've been hurt by in the past and still can never stop loving. BARF!

So, Kelley Armstrong is a really good writer, but her main character, the focal point of the Women of the Otherworld series, is so repellant to me that I won't read anything else associated with it.
—John Hulet

Waking the Witch

Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong is a fine addition to the Women of the Otherworld series. It relays the adventures of Savannah Levine, whom we met as a precocious orphan in earlier novels and who is now a grown woman. The mystery is strong, compelling, and reasonably twisted; the plot is well paced and packed with action; and the characters and their stories are, as always, strong. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel.

What’s not to like? Well, to be brutally honest, while I enjoy reading the novels of Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series, the world setting has always struck me as a bit contrived. For instance, when female witches have children with male sorcerers (protagonist Savannah is unique as the only such offspring we know of), their offspring clearly have a huge power advantage over witch-only or sorcerer-only babies. And yet witches and sorcerers do not procreate, supposedly because of a history of enmity and war. And this is true despite the fact that sorcerers (always male) are cruel and powerful enough to force themselves on the less powerful witches. Too, I don’t really buy into Armstrong’s explanation of why there is only one female werewolf in this world.

If these types of small issues with world setting distract you as a reader, then this may not be the series for you. But if you enjoy good stories about memorable characters, then I would recommend this series and this book. Waking the Witch is self contained enough that you can enjoy it even if it is your first introduction to Armstrong’s Otherworld. —Stephen Frank

Counterfeit Magic

This year Subterranean Press has published several novellas written by authors who’ve been on my radar but not necessarily at the top of my To Be Read stack. These little books are a perfect introduction to such writers because they’re easy to read in a few hours and I can get the “feel” or “flavor” of the authors and their worlds without spending a lot of time engaged in a longer novel, one that may not even be the end of the story.

Kelley Armstrong’s Counterfeit Magic is a perfect example. This 140ish page story takes place in Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld setting and features some of the characters from that world. Though I haven’t read anything by Armstrong before, I had no trouble jumping right in and immediately connecting with the same characters that Armstrong fans already love: Paige, Lucas, Savannah, and Adam.

The quick plot ostensibly involves a murder mystery at a supernatural fight club where Paige and Savannah infiltrate by setting up Savannah as a fighter. Those scenes were fun and the novella offers some sexy full-page black and white illustrations, some which portray Savannah in the boxing ring (see a few of them here).

But the real plot goes deeper and affects the characters more personally. Some of the “bad guy’s” reasoning seemed a bit illogical, and the tension wrapped up a bit too quickly, but I didn’t really mind this in a novella. More importantly, even though these characters were new for me (and the story was short), Kelley Armstrong succeeded in making me care about their lives. I liked them from the start and am interested enough in their past and future histories to pick up a few more Women of the Otherworld novels. —Kat Hooper

Hidden

Upon receiving a review copy of Kelley Armstrong’s Hidden, I realized that I had only read a few books in her influential WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD series — and that the ones I had read weren’t the ones starring werewolf couple Elena and Clay. However, I had no trouble becoming engrossed in Hidden and understanding what was going on.

Elena is unusual in Armstrong’s universe; she’s the only known female werewolf. She and Clay are married and raising precocious four-year-old twins, Kate and Logan. The children show signs of potentially becoming werewolves as they mature. Elena and Clay both had troubled childhoods and have never really experienced a traditional family Christmas, and this year they’re determined to create one for the twins.

But their idyllic trip to rural Ontario is soon disrupted by a murder mystery. The dead man was savaged by a large canine, and there’s a werewolf sniffing around Elena and Clay’s vacation home who seems to be hiding something. This is a novella-length book, but Armstrong packs plenty of twists and red herrings into its short length.

The title, Hidden, can be taken as a reference to an aspect of the mystery’s solution… but it also applies to the secret of Elena and Clay’s lycanthropy. As Hidden begins, the kids don’t yet know that their parents are werewolves or that they too may become werewolves. It’s a subject of heated debate between the couple, and by story’s end, they reach a decision and implement it. The resolution of this plotline is sweet and heartwarming — and will probably be even more meaningful to readers who’ve been following Clay and Elena all along.

Hidden features six illustrations by artist Angilram. They’re all well-done, and some of them are simply adorable. I especially loved the one featuring Kate running to hug a particular wolf and the one where the two wolves are nuzzling in a snow-filled wilderness. —Kelly Lasiter