Shifting Shadows

I want to start by saying I'm not a big reader of short fiction, and on the whole I tend not to bother with any novellas, short stories or anthologies that are companion to an existing series. Part of this is due to my preference for full-length novels, but I've also not had the best experiences when it comes to the short format. Characters are world building are important for me, and with only a few exceptions, most short stories don't go as in-depth into these aspects as I would like. Also, I always end up forming attachments to only a small handful of characters whenever I read a series, and I don't often find myself as interested in companion novellas/shorts that feature the perspectives of other minor characters and people in a series' "universe".

That said, I had a really good time with Shifting Shadows. I've really fallen in love with the Mercy Thompson series in the last couple of years, which sparked my interest in this book despite it being an anthology. Aside from four new additions, most of the stories in here have previously been published, though I never felt the need to read them due to the reasons stated above, so I am reading everything with fresh eyes. Sure, as with any short story collection there are ups and downs, but overall I was very impressed with this book, and it probably ranks as up there as one of the best urban fantasy anthologies I've ever read.

Here's a more detailed look at the contents:

SILVER

According to the description, this is one of the new stories, written as an "origin" tale of sorts for the werewolves of Mercy Thompson's world. We've always been told Bran and Samuel are old, but now we realize just how old. We're talking possibly around the time Christianity first came to Wales. This story also has a bit of romance and sadness, detailing how Samuel and his beloved Ariana first met, but to me its true importance in the fact that it fills in a lot of history to help readers better understand the werewolf mythos as well as Bran and Samuel's familial ties. A great starter to this anthology, and highly apt.

FAIRY GIFTS

Unfortunately, after this comes a few stories that I just wasn't as fond of. Thomas Hao was a vampire character I barely remember from his appearance in Frost Burned, though he may have been in any of Patricia Briggs' other books/spin-off series, but since I haven't read anything other than Mercy Thompson I really wouldn't know. I like the "western" feel of this story, but other than that I have to say it was pretty forgettable. I was scarcely able to follow along with the story with its confusing back-and-forth time jumps, and I felt like I was dumped into the middle of a situation without knowing what was going on or who everyone was and why they mattered. Going back to my opening paragraph, this story is a pretty good example of my issues with series companion short stories.

GRAY

The stories in here are arranged in chronological order based on the timeline of the Mercy Thompson series, and at this point we're still in pre-Moon Called territory. Which is probably why I still found myself asking "Who are you and why do you matter again?" I feel a little guilty that I don't remember who Elyna is, or even if I have encountered her before in any of the Mercy books. This is another one about vampires, but it's also a ghost story at its heart. The story itself isn't half bad, but again I would rather be reading about characters I'm more familiar with. This is definitely not one of my favorites either.

SEEING EYE

This story features Tom and Moira, two characters from Hunting Ground, book two of Briggs' other series Alpha & Omega – which I have not read. But despite not being familiar with these characters, the author did a good job of really fleshing them out and I actually found myself curious to find out more about them beyond the events of this story. We have a perspective character here who is a witch, which was a treat. The plot also had a clear beginning and end, with the build-up and climax and everything good in between, so I didn't feel lost at all. I loved how this story had a bit of mystery and sleuthing by the characters, and a sweet romance that ends up blossoming between them.

ALPHA AND OMEGA

I've always wanted to check out Alpha & Omega, though to be honest, I don't know if I feel more or less enthusiastic about picking it up now, after reading this story. I was happy to meet up with Charles (yay, finally a character I recognize again) but I don't know if I like the way he was portrayed here, or how Anna was portrayed either. Which is a bit ironic, I know, given how this technically gave rise to the series of the same name. It's always grated on me a little, how the werewolf characters in the world of Mercy Thompsonfrequently let their wolf side take over all common sense and turn the human into chauvinistic testosterone-fueled meatheads. In this story, we are repeatedly told that Anna still has fire in her, despite being beaten and broken by her abusive pack, but it feels like whatever strength in her that's fighting to get out is constantly being smothered by Charles' overbearing need to own her and protect her. I realize this all fits in the context of Briggs' "pack magic", but it just always rankles whenever I see an over-possessive male and a helpless female that needs him to do the rescuing.

THE STAR OF DAVID

Hooray, we're finally into Moon Called-territory and familiar ground for me. This is a great story about Adam's fellow army ranger, David, whose tragic history illustrates the awful things that can happen when a werewolf isn't in control of their wolf side. He reconnects with his estranged daughter in this heartwarming tale. My only problem with this story involves some of the implausible and unconvincing aspects of the situation, but given the limitations of the short story format, I didn't let it bother me too much.

ROSES IN WINTER

This is one of the new stories, and it's hands down my favorite out of this entire anthology. In my opinion, it's worth picking up Shifting Shadows for this one alone. Again, I barely remember Kara since she was such a minor character (mentioned in Blood Bound, but never even appeared in any of the books) but I do recall Asil. Though I believe he's a character in Alpha & Omega, he did make a very strong impression on me from his appearance in Frost Burned. But wow. I never imagined I would grow to love his character so much, and it was all thanks to this story. I had tears in my eyes at the end of this one, that's how amazing it is.

IN RED, WITH PEARLS

This was a nice detective story, starring Warren. Someone sent a zombie to kill his boyfriend Kyle, and Warren's not going to rest until he finds out who. Patricia Briggs did a fantastic job making him sound like the cowboy that he is, and I can tell she probably had a lot of fun writing this. We also get to see a few moments of tenderness between Warren and Kyle, but the best part of getting a story from Warren's perspective is being able to experience his anxieties and doubts from inside his head. In the regular series, through Mercy's eyes we see Warren as a happy-go-lucky, fiercely loyal friend. But as this story shows, there's so much more to him beneath the surface.

REDEMPTION

Probably my second favorite story in the anthology, this one features Ben. It's hard to get a bead on his character in the regular series. On the one hand, it's been implied that Ben has a rather distasteful past, and his attitude towards women leaves a lot to be desired. On the other, Adam and Mercy seem to trust him implicitly, and Ben has gone out of his way for both of them on more than one occasion. This story gives the reader a better sense of who he is, and how he got this way. But it's also downright hilarious. You gotta love Ben; he can be a real gentleman when he wants to be, and he takes crap from no one, not even when he's not allowed to swear.

HOLLOW

I was beginning to think we weren't going to get a Mercy story at all, which despite some of the other great offerings in here, would have been disappointing. But fear not, this one's all about Mercy, told from her point of view. And as Mercy stories go, I have to say it's pretty standard – it reads like it could have been a story from one of the novels, but of course it's much more condensed in this form. This meant I enjoyed it, but I admit, it does feel like Briggs crammed this one in just for the sake of having a story told in Mercy's perspective. Just a little.

OUTTAKE FROM SILVER BORNE

Sorry to say, but... there's probably a good reason why this was an outtake and never made it to the final book. Yeah, it gives a bit of closure to Samuel and Ariana's story, but I wouldn't say it's needed in the least to enjoy the story of their relationship. I could take it or leave it. I think it was the right call to leave it out.

OUTTAKE FROM NIGHT BROKEN

On the other hand, I wish Briggs could have worked this one in somehow. I loved this scene from Adam's point of view, at the end of Night Broken in the wake of all the craziness that happened. It endeared me to Adam, and my heart melts for his deep love for Mercy. It might just be me, but this scene would have also made the ending to that book a lot less confusing.

Concluding thoughts: there's definitely a reason why this book is described as "Stories from the world of Mercy Thompson", because as you can see, most of what you see in here isn't about Mercy or even the people close to her. But with the exception of a couple of stories, that didn't really put a damper on my experience readingShifting Shadows. In fact, on the whole I think this book gave me a deeper understanding of the Mercy Thompson universe and made me appreciate it more. I've read similar anthologies and regretted it deeply afterwards, but this is not one of those cases. I highly recommended this for fans of the series, because if someone like me loved it, you probably will too.