Customer Reviews

Mysteria

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had debated about buying this book even though I had been looking forward to its release. Some of the early reviews put me off but I'm glad I finally bought it and read it. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories. I guess I was able to overlook some of the other criticisms of story continuity, etc. I'm sure that this is a challenging type of book to write with 4 different authors having to weave some continuity into several main characters. Suffice to say that I think if anyone is hesitating due to some reviews that they should give this book a chance. I couldn't stop reading it once I got it and was very entertained by all of the stories.

This was a fun anthology. I simply loved it! I enjoyed all the entries but I have to admit Susan Grant's story about the demon was my favorite. I laughed and even shed a tear. I hope these authors get together again and do more stories in this enchanting town.

Welcome to MYSTERIA, a town founded by a group of supernatural rejects after an unexpected random act of kindness by a demon....

Susan Grant opens the anthology with "Mortal in Mysteria" which follows up on Lucifer's punishment of the demon who perpetrated the random act of kindness. The demon, appropriately named Damon, lands naked before Harmony Faithfull, pastor of an empty church in Mysteria. Damon is willing to settle into a mortal lifestyle with Harmony but will Lucifer give up that easily?

"Mortal in Mysteria" is an excellent beginning for the anthology as Susan Grant portrays the town well. Her vivid descriptions of Lucifer's attempts to attack Damon are hilarious. The scene with Annabelle O'Cleary is both humorous and poignant as it demonstrates the resiliency of children, even against flying monkeys!

"Alone Wolf" by MaryJanice Davidson chronicles the story of werewolf Cole Jones' attempt to find his place in this world. Having survived a series of foster homes (some worse than others), Cole finds a home in Mysteria- only to find it inhabited by the prickly ghost, Rae. He meets the love of his life, Char Houtenan, but she has a secret that will limit their time together.

MaryJanice Davidson's entry had a lot of potential with the concept of a werewolf surviving the foster care system and a very entertaining ghost! However, the plotline quickly became confused with a variety of secondary characters who were interesting but diverted too much attention away from the core story. Queen Potameides Naiad was intriguing but the details of her story had little relevance and would perhaps be more enjoyable in a separate, fully developed story.

"The Witches of Mysteria and the Dead Who Love Them" by Gena Showalter is about witch Genevieve Tawdry and her obsession with psychic vampire slayer Hunter Knight. Hunter is also attracted to Genevieve but knows that a romantic entanglement with her will lead to his death. Genevieve is willing to try anything, however, and Hunter will have to decide if she is worth dying for.

Gena Showalter paints a fabulous portrait of a desperate woman. Unfortunately, the character of Genevieve is not as likeable as this reviewer would have hoped. Romeo was an enjoyable secondary character, however, and one this reviewer would like to read more about!

"Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)wolf by P.C. Cast concludes this anthology with the love story of non-magical teacher, Candice Cox, and her former student and werewolf, Justin Woods. Candice wants nothing more than to finish her master's degree so she can escape teaching those horrid high school (team mascot, the Fighting Fairies!) teenagers! Instead, Candice and Justin discover their own brand of magic while finding themselves in the process.

P.C. Cast's story is perhaps the cleverest of the anthology. Candice's references to teaching high school will resonate with anyone who has spent time with a teenager and the vet scene is a classic! The concept of a teacher dating a former student will make some uncomfortable, but Justin is hardly just out of high school and Candice is very open about her own discomfort with the situation.

Overall, MYSTERIA had some excellent moments but at times appeared as if something was missing. Only after finishing it did this reviewer realize that all four stories are drawn from the anthology BEWITCHED, BOTHERED, AND BEVAMPYRED, and this may explain some of the confusion. Fans of this genre will probably enjoy MYSTERIA but this is a rather disappointing effort by four exceptional and very talented authors, all of whom are on this reviewer's auto-buy list.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

What a fun book by a talented bunch of authors! Werewolves, witches, vamps - what's not to love? One can only hope the tales from Mysteria keep on coming.

These authors, along with many others, contributed to BEWITCHED, BOTHERED & BEVAMPYRED, published by Triskelion [...], a volume of interconnected funny (in fact, blatantly silly) stories set in a village inhabited by eccentric creatures of many different supernatural persuasions. The second volume will be released by Triskelion in October. The town of Mysteria is a slightly more serious treatment of the same concept, although still with a lot of humor. A wagon train of supernatural refugees from mundane civilization founded Mysteria, Colorado, in pioneer days. Now it remains a place where no people or creatures, however strange, are turned away, as long as they behave peaceably. The tales stand alone, although each contains an occasional allusion to the others. I found all four entertaining and emotionally satisfying. In Davidson's "Alone Wolf," Charlene, a real estate agent with an unfortunate secret built into her genes, sells a haunted house to a werewolf. In Gena Showalter's "The Witches of Mysteria and the Dead Who Love Them," Genevieve, a member of a family of triplets who are all witches, begs a love potion from one of her sisters for a single night of passion with the man she loves, who has so far inexplicably shunned her--with predictably chaotic results, including a fatal encounter with demonic flying monkeys. P. C. Cast's "Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)Wolf" stars a refreshingly mature heroine, high school teacher Candice, age forty, who differs from most residents of Mysteria in being not only non-magic but seemingly anti-magic. She falls in love with a former student in his twenties who happens to be a werewolf. My favorite is the first story, "Mortal in Mysteria," by Susan Grant. Harmony, a young minister, displays never-failing faith and optimism in dealing with her inability to attract a congregation to her newly founded church in the odd but pleasant community of Mysteria. When she prays to God for a sign, a naked man appears out of nowhere at her feet. "Damon" is actually a repentant demon banished from Hell for the crime of repeatedly performing kind deeds. In fact, it was he who rescued Mysteria's founders in the wilderness and guided them to the site of their settlement. He accepts his new mortality with determination to become a good man, a prospect made at the same time both pleasant and tormenting by the mutual attraction between him and Harmony. Naturally, Satan won't leave him in peace and sends assorted monsters and subdemons to attack the town. (That's where the demonic flying monkeys come in.) Needless to say, Harmony and Damon eventually find happiness together. A thoroughly fun and sweet tale! If the other three stories (although they're good, too) had impressed me as much as this one, my rating would have been a 4 or 5. I like the premise of a town inhabited mainly by supernatural beings, and I'm looking forward to the next Mysteria anthology.

I LOVED this book. I LOVED the ENTIRE book. I read the reviews complaining that P.C. Cast's story was the strongest effort, but I don't know. True the stories were uneven in length, with MaryJanice Davidson's clocking in at under 70 pages, but "Alone Wolf" was just long enough to make sense, entertain and not leave out a thing. I didn't get the sense that she was cramming everything in, and hey, sometimes life happens exactly how the story flowed; quick and dirty. The story fits, and it's pretty hilarious. A baking river nymph? A handyghost? Terror triplets(well, 12 years old is a terror time in itself)? A night mare?(I especially laughed out loud with her).

While I did like P.C. Cast's offering, I especially loved Susan Grant's "Mortal in Mysteria". Who knew that life lessons in faith and belief fit in so comfortably with a steamy sex scene and sexy ex-demons? I'm kinda hoping for a Damon myself! Actually all the men sound pretty hot in Mysteria and I think I'll check out the western part of the U.S.! I'm eagerly awaiting another installment of stories from the fascinating and very funny town of Mysteria. Bring on the elves, faries, and pink pollen!

I initially purchased this anthology because I simply adore each of these talented authors. I ended up being enchanted by this world and was pleasantly surprised that each story was cleverly interwoven into the next with many characters appearing throughout the entire book. I especially liked PC Cast's story about the non-magic, fortyish Candy Cox and her 26 (and a half) year old werewolf lover Justin. Here's to hoping that there will be a Mysteria II...

Ever since discovering MaryJanice Davidson in the anthology Cravings, I have purchased everything of hers I can get my hands on. I picked up this anthology based solely on her name and was pleasantly surprised by every story in the bunch! I've got 3 new authors to add to the auto-buy list. I love anthologies for just this reason.

All the different authors who contributed a story for this book did a fantastic job! I couldn't put it down.

I bought the book not realizing that I already read all four short stories in a previous anthology. I wished the book informed me of this, oh, I don't know, somewhere on the cover, before I threw my money away.