Do Better

Marla Mason

by T.A. Pratt, Tim Pratt

Do Better gathers more than 20 stories set in the world of sorcerer/monster hunter/death god Marla Mason, heroine of the ten-book urban fantasy series that began with Blood Engines (2007) and concluded with Closing Doors (2017), including two pieces original to this collection: “Do Better,” about Marla’s hunt for an escaped demon (and some personal growth), and “The Four Horsepersons of the Eucatastrophe,” which sends Marla on a supernatural road trip with an amoral trickster god who wants to be her best friend. If you like trains to the underworld, inexplicably adorable hellhounds, snake gods, stylish cloaks that are actually malign parasitic entities from beyond the multiverse, anthropophagic monsters, abyssal squid, assassins who specialize in killing immortals, and impatient women who punch people who really deserve punching, this is the collection for you.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Short Stories, Horror

380 pages, Paperback

Published November 9, 2018

About the author

T.A. Pratt is the pseudonym of Tim Pratt, under which he penned the Marla Mason books.

I've crowdfunded seven projects (four through Kickstarter) successfully in the past few years, and I don't foresee any problems with this one, either. I write novels for a living, and this is a book I'm excited to do. It's always possible there will be bumps and delays on the production process, or an unforeseen illness or other disaster, but if so, I'll keep everyone posted, and we'll get there in the end.

Reviews

[Kristin B. Bodreau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marla Mason will always have a special place in my heart. I started reading about her in Blood Engines because it was offered for free on Kindle fourteen years ago and I fell in love. I've followed her ever since. I've backed every Kickstarter and read every novel and short story in the series. I even recently got "do better" as a tattoo, as our flawed heroine did. Why do I love Marla so much? Because she is absolutely human. She has magic and influence and power. But she's also cranky and irritable and she gets bored and restless, but she wants to fix things. And she fucks up even when she means well. She tries to do what she thinks is right and it often doesn't work. But she keeps trying. And she keeps people around who she knows will balance her.

This set of short stories allows me to dive back into the world of my favorite snarky sorcerer while also learning more about the fascinating cast of characters that pop up in her stories. And they are all as unique and riveting as Marla.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very grateful that Pratt collected all the Marla universe stories into one book and then wrote a few more. Some of these ended up being changed a bit and folded into the series itself. Some don't even feature Marla but the other characters. I enjoyed them all, although I have my favorites. And Pratt made me totally eat my words that he's not strong in the writing romance-based plots too. Marla is a practical woman and not one for a lot of public PDA, but it was always clear she loved her friends deeply and turns out the same is for her romantic partners even though Pratt doesn't dwell on it much during the course of the series.

I definitely encourage anyone who wants to read all the Marla Mason books to also pick up this one. Just one warning: Pratt wrote the intros for these stories for readers who had already read all the books. They contain spoilers even when the story itself doesn't. So if that bothers you, read this last. If it doesn't and you want to kinda follow along with the stories at the same time as the series, you will have to read different stories in all three parts because the first part is the main track of Marla's story, the second is stories with the side characters, and the final is really early material where Pratt was still exploring who the character was.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A number of stories I'd read, as well as some old ones that were less interesting than the newer ones (as one might expect). I think I ended up rereading a few that I'd already read, which was fine, since it had been years, and they were still entertaining.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read any of the Marla Mason books before this one, but I didn't feel lost. Really solid pacing, great relationships and characters, rich history, and, as always, snappy dialog.

[Milady133 · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any anthology, some stories where better than others, but in general I like Pratt's stories. There were some new stories, but others I have already read them in Patreon.

[John Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection, where the low stakes (knowing which characters survive) makes it easy to just enjoy how great these characters are.