Parallel Worlds: The Heroes Within

The Dresden Files #15.3 - Monsters

by L.J. Hachmeister (Editor and Contributor), R.R. Virdi (Editor and Contributor), David Afsharirad

Heroes and villains are not always on the opposite ends of the spectrum of good and evil. Sometimes, all that separates them is a fine line. The stories within “Parallel Worlds” explore the lives of such heroes and what drives them – and what keeps them from crossing over to the other side.


This anthology includes:

Dead End Rhodes by Sarah A. Hoyt

Look Me in the Stars by Christopher Husberg

The Dead Who Care by D.J. Butler

Myth Deeds by Jody Lynn Nye

The Shadow of Markham by R.R. Virdi

Davy Crockett vs. The Saucer Men by David Afsharirad

Dead Run by Aaron Michael Ritchey

Unnamed by Gama Ray Martinez

Prisoner 141 by L.J. Hachmeister

Valentine Blues by James A. Hunter

The Tragedy of John Metcalf by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

Effigies in Bronze by Colton Hehr

Daily Bread by E.A. Copen

The Demons of Arae by Christopher Ruocchio

A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire by Neo Edmund

Threshold by Todd Fahnestock

The Last Death of Oscar Hernandez by Russell Nohelty

The Magpie and the Mosquito by Josh Vogt

Monsters by Jim Butcher

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Paranormal

408 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2019

About the author

Amazon bestselling author L.J. Hachmeister writes and fights -- although she tries not to do them at the same time. L. J. is a world champion stick-fighter, a black belt in Doce Pares Eskrima and Taekwondo, and is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, but maintains that no opponent is as daunting as the last 30% of a manuscript.

L. J. is a cross-genre author under the umbrella of science fiction/fantasy. Her Cuban roots and LGBTQA+ ties greatly impact her writing, as well as her career as a registered nurse. However, her love for rescuing puppies and working with other animal charity organizations drives her passion to succeed as an author so she can continue to give to animals in need. L. J. is an avid sponsor for "Lifeline Puppy Rescue."

Connect with L.J. at: www.triorion.com

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read the Dresden story for now. 4 stars. I find Goodman Grey intriguing, and his assistant Viti provides an interesting mysterious sidekick too. I feel like Butcher set him up as a potential new main character for another series... hopefully. :) (AFTER he finishes Dresden though, please)

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some ok stories, but nothing to do with the topic of parallel worlds (the main reason I picked it up.)

[Sandra Klipsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swiggity swooty, I came here for the Jim Butcher & R.R. Virdi urban fantasy booty

All the jokes put aside, I was really happy to see a new Dresden short story from Jim Butcher, but sad that R.R. Virdi didn't put in a Graves one. Though the one he did felt like it was really similar to Jim Butcher's. Both are about monsters saving kidnapped kids, and that maybe the supernatural aren't the real monsters, but people can be. Depends on what they do. Those two stories are worth the price of admission and I really enjoyed them. I'm still reading through but 4 dollars for what I've read so far is worth it.

More Dresden, Graves, and urban fantasy next time please.

[L'encre de la magie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je ne note ici que la novella : The demons of Arae"

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impulse from the library. Mostly pretty decent. I think my favorite stories were among the first several... they seemed to get even darker by the end. But none stood out enough to make me want to find more by the authors, sorry.

'The Last Death of Oscar Hernandez' by Russell Nohelty has this line: "But what is the fun in living if you can't do anything fun?"

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those long and arduous reads because I was not familiar with quite a few authors here. My rating is based on the average of the ratings for the 19 stories. I got this book because it contained a story by Jim Butcher and only for that reason, so of course, it was the last one. The theme was maintained throughout the book, which sometimes does not happen in a lot of anthologies. While there were some that did not catch my fantasy I found five (5) of the nineteen (19) to be really good and gave them 5 stars, the rest fell between 1 and 4 for various reasons. This is of course a matter of preference.

'Valentine Blues' by James A. Hunter is my first 5 star-like. A mage, Yancy Lazarus, wandering the country passes through Valentine, a small town that seems too quiet. What finds could compromise him and maybe cause the death of a lot of people. He is that bad guy who cannot help but do the right thing.

'The Tragedy of John Metcalf' by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. Parallel worlds where John is a wizard and a scientist. The wizard laments his lot in life and wishes things had turned out better for him. In a twist of fate he gets his wish, but at what cost? Liked the characters and the fact that it

'A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire' by Neo Edmunds. The legend of Red Riding Hood gets a powerful twist here. I believe this is YA but I could be wrong. Red and her boy Wolfgang are on the trail of a werepire and when they catch up things take an interesting turn that does not really make Wolfgang happy. Good banter throughout.

'Monsters' by Jim Butcher. The story centers around a character we have not seen before and an established character. No Dresden this time, though he is mentioned in passing. Gentleman John Marcone goes to Monster, LLC when he has a problem that he cannot handle himself. Goodman Grey is a professional monster and sees himself as better than some of the bad guys out there. I totally enjoyed this and hope to see Grey and Viti again. The story is topical and done very well with the characters acting in a believable manner.

Heroes and villains are not always so far apart when it comes to good and evil, sometimes that line is paper-thin. This is an exploration of the lives of heroes and what keeps them from stepping over the line and into a darker reality. I think it is worth taking a chance on.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed collection of stories, though most are pretty good. Despite the anthology's name, most of the stories have an urban fantasy flair.

[Mythlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice variety. I particularly enjoyed
Dead end rhodes
Shadow of markham (pied piper
Unnamed
Threshold
The magpie and the mosquito
Monsters

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning array of engaging stories-

I was curious about what I would find in this anthology. There are authors I've heard of and enjoyed in the past, so I decided to pick it up.
Each story so far is unique, whether you wanting a classic sleuth tale set in space with a great twist (Dead End Rhodes) Or what I'm going to refer to as Buffy the Vampire Slayer survives the Apocalypse- (Look Me in the Stars) There is a little something for everyone in here and even if it is not your typical genre it is so we'll written it doesn't matter.

[Jack Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Anthology

Some good stuff here across many genres. The biggest surprise for me was having only heard of one of the authors before. The last story of the collection is from Jim Butcher, and it's nice getting a small bit of Dresden universe while not-so-patiently waiting for his next Dresden Files book.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a very few readable stories in this anthology. The rest were lousy with typos and purple prose, or read like someone's creative writing class project. I am glad I only borrowed it (Kindle Owner's Lending Library) because I would have been seriously annoyed it I had purchased it.

[Helen Robare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book a 4-star rating on the basis of three stories. Like all books of short stories some are home runs (the author hits it out of the ballpark), some are base hits (the author hits it hard enough to get on base), some are bunts (the author has a good idea but it doesn't pan out) and some are foul balls or strikes meaning that they suck).

Three of the stories were home runs, at least two were base hits, and the rest were either bunts or strikeouts.

The 2 home runs were:

1. MYTH Deeds by Judy Lyn Nye. I had read this series as a teenager and young adult. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it back then. Reading this book was like meeting up with my high school friends that I had forgotten in the intervening years and finding that they hadn't changed much at all. The characters in this story were the same characters I remembered and written just as well as they were in the years of my youth. The plot was pretty much the same too but the nostalgia it evoked outweighed that fact.

2. A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire. Excellent retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story this time with a teenage red riding hood and a teenage companion. I was surprised to find that Red Riding Hood was a werewolf and that the villain is a vampire/werewolf hybrid. The banter between Red and her companion Wolfgang was engaging and pretty realistic and the two made mistakes just like any adolescents would do.

3. Monsters by Jim Butcher. I'll admit, I bought this book because there was a Jim Butcher short story involved. I love the Harry Dresden Series and since I found out that two new books are due out this year, I've been feverishly trying to find all the books and read all the short stories I can find. However, to my surprise and disappointment, this story did not star harry. In fact, Harry never made an appearance. My interest peaked, however, when John Marcone entered the scene. :) This book deals with Goodman Gray who I believe was introduced in the 15th book "Skin Games". He is a shapeshifter who can assume any form so when Marcone asked him to investigate a child selling group, he was willing to oblige. Unlike, Harry, Gray has no compunction about gratuitous violence no matter the cause.

The ones I did not like...foul balls/strikes
1. Valentine by James A. Hunter. Reminded me too much of Children of the Corn only not written anywhere near as well as Stephen King did it.

2. Prisoner 141 by L.J. Hachmeister. I'm not a big fan of Science Fiction anymore and when an author tries to pair it with fantasy, it just isn't my cup of tea.

3. The Dead Who Care by D.J. Butler. This could have been a good story if the author would have continued in the vein the first few pages started out as. However, it began to fizzle about halfway through and the ending was lackluster and a letdown.

The rest of the stories I either finished but they didn't leave an impression or they didn't catch my interest by the 3rd page and I gave up reading them.

[Helen Robare]

Like any book of short stories, some are Home Runs (the author has hit it out of the ballpark), some are infield or base-hits (the author gets you on base so it's pretty good), some are bunts (the author has a good idea but doesn't utilize it) and some are foul balls (the story just plain sucks).

First of all, I have to say, that it was good to revisit my adolescence and early adulthood reading with Robert Lynn Aspirins M.Y.T.H. series story. I had forgotten how much I liked those books. And this story took me right back in time to when the world and the future were still ahead of me. Now? That future is the past for me as I'm entering "the twilight of my life". What a wonderful feeling. The story was pretty good too. :) To be honest, it was like meeting up with my high-school friends that I had not heard or thought of in years and finding out that they were just as I remembered them. This one was a home run!

I have to confess that I bought this book as soon as I saw the name Jim Butcher. I LOVE his Harry Dresden series and with two new books coming out this year, I am feverishly trying to get my hands on any books or short stories that I don't already own. :) However, to my surprise (and yes) disappointment, this book was not about Harry Dresden. BUT I was glad to see Marcone make an appearance. (Again, to be honest, I feel that he isn't explored enough as a character in the series. But then again, he's a bad guy and the series is about Harry and his gang of heroes). This story is about a private investigator named "Goodman Gray" and his secretary "Viti". Gray is a shapeshifter in that he can make himself look like anyone. He is hired by Marcone to make it clear to an underground syndicate that Marcone will NOT tolerate the selling of children. What ensues is a story written only as Jim Butcher could in the best tradition of Harry Dresden. NOTE: Goodman Gray is NOT Harry and does not have Harry's aversion to bloody violence and hurting others. (Another surprising home run).

The Dead Who Care by D.J. Butler was also a home run! I will have to look up his books and maybe buy them. This story deals with a man who gives a ghost hitchhiker a ride to a battlefield.

All of the rest of the stories were (for the most part) base hits. Some I just didn't like and couldn't get into so I didn't bother finishing them. At my age, I'm getting to where I don't want to waste time on reading something I don't like. I used to have to finish a book if I started it but, I can now stop and go on to read something I want to read that holds my interest. I figure if I live another 20 years and I read 150 books a year, I only have a total of 20,150 books that I will be able to read...and that's if my eyes don't give out. So, I'm not going to waste my time if a story or book doesn't interest me. :)

[Julianna]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
I opted to only read the Dresden Files short story for now. I'm not giving the book a rating, because I don't think it would be fair to rate the entire anthology based on just one story in it.

“Monsters” is a short urban fantasy story in the Dresden Files universe that takes place sometime after Skin Game. It is written from the perspective of shape-shifter Goodman Grey who was introduced in that novel. Much like Harry, who is Chicago’s only professional wizard, Grey considers himself to be a professional monster and owns the business Monsters LLC. He’s approached by Gentleman John Marcone who is in need of his services. Some undesirables who are sexually trafficking children kidnapped from Mexico have moved into Marcone’s territory, and John wants them gone. However, due to the sensitive nature of the matter, he doesn’t want to be connected to it and hires Grey to handle it instead. With the help of his loyal secretary, Viti, the pair set out to take down the operation and rescue the kids.

From the moment Goodman Grey was introduced, I found him to be an intriguing character. He’s not all good, but given that he allied himself with Harry in Skin Game, he’s not all bad either. I like that the idea of where he falls on the spectrum is explored in this story. He admits to being a monster but also says he’s not a bad guy, which is born out in the story. He’s brutal with the traffickers but kind to the kids, saving them. He also works for virtually nothing, which I thought was very interesting. Likewise, Marcone continues to be the enigmatic character, who despite being a gangster, has his own sense of honor that we’ve seen all along in the series. Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It dropped plenty of tantalizing tidbits about Goodman Grey and Viti that I hope to see explored more in future books of the Dresden Files. Star Rating: *****

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say up front - I bought this book because I knew there was a Jim Butcher story in there and I wanted to read that. I don't know if I would have found this anthology if not for him.

The collection is a total of 19 stories. As with any anthology, this one was up and down for me. I did not read the story from the Dresden verse first. I tried just plowing through stories front to back. Then I got impatient and read Mr. Butcher's story. I was missing something - and it prompted me to go back and start re-reading the Dresden Files.

That's a significant part of why it took so very long to finish all the stories in this book. I *did* in fact read them all. I think that matters for an anthology - you can find new authors you really like that way.

Of the other 18 stories there were a few that stood out. I was surprised and delighted to be reminded of the Myth series with Aahz & Company in "Myth Deeds". It's been forever since I've read any of those. "Prisoner 141" was interesting, but it seemed to me more the kind of story that needs discussion when done. "Valentine Blues" was a fun take on an old story. "Tragedy of John Metcalf" was the most true to the parallel worlds theme and it was well done. I really liked the world building of "Demons of Arae" and will probably look up more of that.

There were other good stories in there and a couple that didn't work for me. I know how tough anthologies can be - I would suggest grabbing this one and giving it a shot. You never know what you might find that appeals to you.

[Anders Koskinen · Rating 2 out of 5]

First the good: Christopher Ruocchio’s story “The Demons of Arae” is excellent, as is D.J. Butler’s “The Dead Who Carr” and “The Threshold” by Todd Fagnestock. There are a few other fun stories as well by David Afsharirad and Jody Lynn Nye

Much to the rest of the material is mediocre, or unnecessarily disturbing. This is a very adult book, with multiple stories containing references to various forms of child abuse and domestic violence, some of which are irrelevant to the plot or simply unnecessary.

In addition, this book is absolutely rife with typos which makes for a very distracting reading experience and impedes comprehension. This includes spelling mistakes, random instances of punctuation, and incorrect verb tenses. While I do not fault the writers, I most certainly fault the editors.

I bought this book only because of the inclusion of Ruocchio’s story. While that piece was amazing and more than met expectations, and while there were some other enjoyable stories, in total I am very disappointed with my purchase.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars Overall

As with other short-story collections, with multiple contributing authors, that I've read (or listened to) in recent years, this one follows the same basic pattern of my interest:
- I got the collection to read because at least one novella is part of a larger main series I'm currently reading/listening to; which is usually one of the more enjoyable ones.
- About 60-70% of the stories are interesting enough to read to the end thoroughly; with 15-20% perhaps raising enough interest to look up their related main series (so 2-3 in this case).
- Which, unfortunately, leaves about 30-40% that are either not immersive enough or interesting enough subject/genre for me to do more than "skip-skim" to the end. (usually, the style of writing is off-putting somehow).

Enjoy at your own investment.

[Jaellayna Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with any multi-author collection, some were better than others. I especially enjoyed the variety of stories and the imagination that indicated. One of the problems with this book - and a big part of the reason I gave it a "2" - is the sloppy editing. Countless typos throughout, most of them obvious. A simple spell or grammar check would have taken care of more than half of them, which is why I use the word "sloppy." I know that typos happen, but in this book there are so many that I was distracted from reading. I wonder if the editor (Hachmeister) or others working on this book published these stories without even noticing they were drafts and not finished manuscripts. (though in this case I would wonder why the authors had not submitted cleaner manuscripts) Anyway, back to the stories themselves: They invite the reader to join a "what if" exploration.

[Elizabeth Belyeu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was much larger than I expected, and kinda took me forever to work my way through! Any short story collection is going to be a mixed bag, but most of these were at least worth reading, with some real gems in there. I'm sorry to say that my ebook copy was riddled with typos that eventually got very distracting. One story even had the title repeated in place of the author's name. These folks really needed a decent proofreader.

The best stories, in my opinion: Monster, The Magpie and the Mosquito, Effigies in Bronze, Valentine Blues, Unnamed, Look Me in the Stars.

The worst: Davy Crockett vs. the Saucer Men, A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any short story collection, there’s a mixture of the good, flawed, and boring here. Unfortunately most stories fall in the meh to boring range for me. As with many others who’ve reviewed, I picked it up for the Dresden Files story, which did not disappoint. If you’re also a Dresden fan, I recommend the following stories as also worth checking out:
Dead End Rhodes
Threshold
Valentine Blues
Myth Deeds
The Tragedy of John Metcalf

Also, the editors did not do a good job. Typos, bad grammar, and they even left one of the stories out of the table of contents and the later page numbers are off. Not sure how much editing was actually done on the stories themselves either.

[Amy Falken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got It For Jim Butcher Story- Discovered So Much More!

I grabbed this title to read the story about Goodman Gray, and I discovered a whole bunch of writers and great stories! Great reading while under COVID19 Stay Home order. Hey, with books like this, I don't know if I even want to go back to work! Dresden fans, check out Yancey Lazarus! Would love to see a story where he and Harry meet!

[Heather McLaughlin]

DNF

I had this book for months. And I couldn't finish it. Some of the stories I read were good. Some weren't. But it wasn't compelling enough to remember to pick it up and read it. Some of that was it was a physical book. I'm doing worse and worse with those. I really like my ebooks, especially as my eyes get worse. But I read Dean Koontz's latest and couldn't put it down. So, not just that. I might try again if I get a hold of the ebook. In general I like short stories.

[Red Risa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good

I was able to read this anthology for free via Kindle Unlimited. I mostly wanted to read the Jim Butcher story, which in my somewhat biased opinion, was the best of the the bunch.
I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of the writing. Though I only recognized a few of the other writers from other compilations, I made note of a few authors I may want to check out in the future. Happy reading!

[Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually got this for one story only, and of course it's the Dresden Files one.

Introduction by L. J. Hachmeister - 3⭐
The stories cover a variety of secrets. In the end, though, they represent us, and the heroes - and worlds - inside us.

Dead End Rhodes by Sarah Hoyt - 4⭐
Criminal Borgers who transform human into cyborgs create an anomaly. The protagonist works for one such borged victim, who has assumed Nick Rhodes, master noir private detective, as his identity investigate a missing persons case in this surprisingly great story which would have been perfect if the "noir" feel was taken to its logical conclusion.

Look Me In The Stars by Christopher Husberg - 1⭐
Ruminations of the last survivor on Earth, who blogs her lonely thoughts over a long period of time. Was a chore to finish it.

The Dead Who Care by DJ Butler - 2⭐
Average story about a man who gives a ride to a ghost, who has unfinished business.

Myth Deeds by Jody Lynn Nye - 2⭐
Employees of MYTH have two missions in this slapstick science fiction adventure.

The Shadow of Markham by RR Virdi - 3⭐
Judged by the color of their skin, an Umbra Elf unsung hero is treated badly by Markham. Would have rated this higher if there weren't a few grammatical errors.

Davy Crockett vs the Saucer Men by David Afsharirad - 3⭐
Four friends are fooling around when they discover that a flying saucer has landed on Earth. Fun, but not memorable.

Dead Run by Aaron Michael Ritchey - 3⭐
Dystopian AND depressing.

Unnamed by Gama Ray Martinez - 4⭐
Unnamed heroes fight mystical creatures that are coming back into earth as Legends awake. Gripping, exciting and fun.

Prisoner 141 by LJ Hachmeister - 3⭐
Prisoner 141, used by the administrators as a bomb disposal expert, has a tragic history.

Valentine Blues by James A Hunter - 2⭐
The town of Valentine needs a hero as a Pied Pier type dude breaks the town's drought but their Mayor kicks him out without paying him and now Valentine's kids have turned into cannibalistic killers!

The Tragedy of John Metcalf by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne - 2⭐
Magician Assassin escapes to a parallel world, with tragic consequences.

Effigies in Bronze by Colten Hehr - 2⭐
It's hard to be a warrior when one has a conscience.

Daily Bread by EA Copen - 4⭐
A magician with some Angelic blood tries to atone for the sins of his past.

The Demons of Arae by Christopher Ruocchio - The Mouth of Hell - 2⭐
Felt very Warhammer 40K in style and tone, almost had me swearing "Foul Xenos"


A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire by Neo Edmund - 1⭐
YA trash with the obligatory love triangle and lots of cringe dialogue. To put this into perspective, I'm not expecting literature but this was so bad it makes Twilight seem good.

Threshold by Todd Fahnestock - 2⭐
Interesting story, but feels like the prologue to a novel as it leaves many unanswered questions.

The Last Death of Oscar Hernandez by Russell Nohelty - 3⭐
Everyone snaps sometime, and when Oscar Hernandez snapped for the last time, it was the act of great defiance of a man who just wasn't going to take it anymore, dammit, just like when the lead character in the movie "Falling Down" got fed up when the fast food person wouldn't serve him a breakfast meal at 11.01am because it was one minute past. That kind of feeling. Oddly satisfying. Yeah.


The Magpie and the Mosquito by Josh Vogt - 1⭐
A tale of two thieves in a city with a semi interesting magic system and too many unanswered questions to sustain anything but the barest cursory interest.

Monsters by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files)- 5⭐
Let's be real, many of us got this collection for this ONE Jim Butcher story because it features a very interesting character from Skin Game, and one of my personal favorites. Consider this exchange, and the rest of the story is just as good.
"Are we not bad guys?"
"We are not bad guys," I said.
"In what way does that not make us 'bad guys,'" Viti asked. "Explain it again."
"If it helps," I said, "think of us as worse guys."
"In what way?"
"Meeting those guys in a dark alley would be bad," I said. "Running into someone like you or me would be worse."

Basically, Gentleman Johnny Marcone hires Monsters LLC to take care of a problem, because when you have to take care of bad guys you hire the worse guys, one of which happens to have a heart of gold. He would totally fit in with Wreck It Ralph's good bad guys crew.

[Red Tide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection

Good stories and good writing. Not a fan of Sarah Hoyt but her story was pretty good. Every story was either very good or great. The Jim Butcher "Dresden" universe story would have made the book worthwhile by itself.

I may have to look for other collections.

[Evil Secret Ninja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate this book there were some stories I really liked and some that I did not like so much most did not have a whole lot to due with parallel worlds. I was hoping to find some new authors I I think I did so it was worth reading.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half was not good - lacking in every way. Second half was much better, with some quite good stuff. But I was here for the last story - Dresden Files. It was good, from a different perspective, but not essential. Readability 5. Rating 5.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best stories:

Monsters - Jim Butcher
Shadow of Markham - R.R. Virdi
Daily Bread - E.A. Copen

Good stories:

Effigies in Bronze - Colton Hehr

Everything else --

[Curtis L Robb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series of short stories

Not all great but most really good. It was overall a good read and anyone looking for something a little different would enjoy it

[Collier Jennings · Rating 1 out of 5]

When only two stories in your anthology are interesting, you’ve made a mistake. Also: the title is GRAVELY misleading.