Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology

I love good SFF stories and animals of all sorts, and I read straight through this anthology in just two evenings. Here we have animals both mundane and magical in a mix of SF and fantasy settings. assembled by a top-quality author list in service of a very good cause, Lifeline Puppy Rescue. I have my favorites, but there are no weak links here. This is a collection to savor.“The Gold Standard” is a solid adventure tale. Our outlaw protagonist doesn’t like dogs, and the feeling is mutual. Will it still be so after he’s forced to take a dog on a mission to re-steal stolen gold? That depends on whether he survives… This is one of the tales taken from a larger universe, in this case AJ Hartley’s Will Hawthorne novels. Another, and one of my favorites here, is LJ Hachmeister’s “Kitcoon.” Hachmeister weaves humor and caring into a gritty, grimy tale of a desperate fugitive – Rex from her Triorion universe – who’s not about to complicate her flight by adopting the cutest animal in SF since the tribble.Jim Butcher always has a way with animal tales, and I particularly loved his entry. In “Fugitive,” Mouse, the magical Good Boy, and Cerberus (a.k.a. Spot) of the underworld must join forces when two old enemies unleash the fearsome Nemean Lion. The two dogs must risk their own existence to save kidnapped children, foil the schemes of an evil wizard, and protect little Maggie Dresden.A corn maze, strange-looking human apparitions, and a dog that died years ago populate Alex Erikson’s thoroughly creepy “Howl-O-Ween.” In D.J. Butler’s “Dog,” two friends in a rough city pick up an injured Lab out of pity and bring it home for the night. Is the dog really an ordinary Lab, though? Eliza Eveland, in “Safe Place,” introduces us to Brick. Brick is an aging warhound who (from his point of view) escorts his beloved elven servant Isaac out of their home castle and for a lovers’ tryst and instead find danger the intelligent dog must improvise a way out of. In “The Unlikeliest Places: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Short Story,” by John G. Hartness, a vampire hunter picks up a small, unwanted, and initially irritating companion just as he’s trying to focus for battle. In “The Unexpected Dachshund,” lonely colonists on a distant world with limited resources spend their last credits to adopt an odd-looking dachshund puppy.Faith Hunter offers “Georg and KitKat Save the Witches,” which she describes as “a short story set in the Jane Yellowrock world, but from the critters’ point of view.” The tone is set by the line “KitKit had allowed George the Stupid-Dog to communicate head-to-head in the cat way. Cat familiars were not allowed to share with stupid dogs, but it had to be done to protect so many foolish human-witches.” In Hailey Edwards’ “Keeting it Real,” a canine-shifter babysitter keeping watch on an unpredictable, trouble-loving parakeet familiar runs into a vampire boyfriend and a night of combat. A cat familiar meets a mummified dog in Helpful, and they go on a mission that the embroils them with witches, wizards, and a dangerous amulet. “A Cry in the Night” by prolific fantasy novelist Lucienne Diver finds two Colorado wolf rescuers and their adopted “pack” facing off against an animal that shouldn’t exist. In R.R. Virdi’s “The Kindness of Cats,” we learn that our seemingly aloof cats are more than humans think, and have a mission of kindness we never realize. This is the tearjerker of this collection, and you will never forget the way Shola works to keep her human safe and rescue more. “Junkyard Rex,” by Sam Knight, is set in the Abandoned Lands, a desert fragment of the old United States, where DNA experiments have caused creatures from lost ages to roam alive. A lonely salvager, miles from anywhere, discovers a creature that he could sell for a lot of money. Or it could kill him. Or…?These and other tales (note I avoided the pun) make up a splendid collection of stories about animals and the way humans interact with them. There’s variety enough for every taste, and I nod to editor Hachmeister for pulling together this collection. You’ll never look at our companion creatures, real and imaginary, the same way again.

4 stars - It was really goodThe rating is only for the story The Memory of Witches by Patricia Briggs.This story takes place during Chapter 3 of Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson #11).I am so happy we finally got a short story from Sherwood Post’s POV. He has been a very interesting character in this series and I loved seeing him grapple with his memory loss and magic. This scene takes place during the events of Storm Cursed and is Sherwood following Mercy around Elizaveta’s house to look at the black magic that had been done.We see Sherwood grappling with his lost memories and talking with his wolf about the situation. He is afraid to let the magic binding his memories go but when he sees Mercy in danger from black magic he instinctively breaks the barrier on his memories. I liked finally getting to learn a little about Sherwood and why he finally gained all his memories. I also found it interesting that this is technically the first mention of the Singer, who appears in Wild Sign (Alpha & Omega #6).Overall, this was a great additional POV for the events in Storm Cursed. I loved getting to learn a little more about Sherwood and see him bond with his rescued kitten.Trigger Warnings; torture (animal and human); death (animal and human); memory loss;

Nice book

I bought this anthology specifically for the Patricia Briggs story, though I am familiar with some of the other authors, and as an animal lover, especially a dog lover, I’m happy that it’s raising money for a puppy rescue. I’ll come back and edit this review once I have a chance to read the rest of the stories (see full list below).A Memory of Witches By Patricia BriggsThis story is about Sherwood Post and how he came to have Pirate. Though we originally got the story through Mercy’s eyes, this time the story is told from Sherwood’s POV, and it fills in a lot blank spaces. Almost anything I could say here would be a spoiler (with the viewpoint change, the author puts a few twists on that original story) so I’m just going to say that if you’re a Mercy Thompson/Alpha &Omega fan, this is a must read.The Gold Standard A Will Hawthorne Tale from Bowescroft By A. J. HartleyHowl-O-Ween by Alex EricksonDog by D. J. ButlerSafe Place by Eliza EvelandGeorge and KitKit Save the Witches by Faith HunterKeeting it Real by Hailey EdwardsHelpful by Jennifer BlackstreamFugitive by Jim ButcherThe Unlikeliest Places by John G. HartnessForever and A Day by Kelley ArmstrongThe Unexpected Dachshund by L.E. Modesitt, JuniorThe Kitcoon by L. J. HachmeisterA Cry in the Night by Lucienne DiverThe Kindness of Cats by R.R. VirdiJunkyard Rex by Sam KnightNine by Seanan McGuire

This collection of short stories is a bit like an appetizer for the worlds that the authors can and have created. Each deliciously different and yet paired with your appetite for fantasy with supernatural care. I love that this was created as a benefit for an animal charity in the mundane world. The characters are appealing, the stories full of twists and if you are new to the genre, a wonderful introduction to the author's styles. Oh my I hope there is a second series. I just might treat myself to the hard copy. This is too good not to have multiple copies.

Read the genre you love and help rescue puppies at the same time, whats not to like. Great stories, some of which you wish weren't short stories, especially Junkyard Rex by Sam Knight towards the end of the book, I could have done with that being a full story and eagerly await the publishing of his forth coming novel 'A girl and her Velociraptor'.

Enjoyable collection of tales. Some of my favourite authors in there, and not surprisingly, those were the stories I enjoyed the most. However I also made note of a few that I would like to read more of. There were some editing issues in some of the stories.I liked that this supports an animal rescue.

This is an excellent anthology. There was not a single story that I did not like. I know and have read the work of approx 80% of the authors that contributed their short stories to this book. l know that percentage will raise having found new authors' work to explore just by the virtue of their stories here. Even if you don't like animals or don't care about saving puppies, this book is worth buying. For me, the puppies were the cake and the stories were the devilly delicious icing on top.

Honestly I only got it for Patricia Briggs as I love her books and Sherwood is my favourite character.