'Fantastic Hope' is a new anthology filled with various sci-fi and fantasy tales that has been edited by authors Laurell K. Hamilton and William McCaskey.


I knew I had to read this because it contained a brand new Anita Blake story.. and I'm a huge fan of Jean-Claude and the other great males from the series. Touted as being a collection deigning to focus on the positive sides of life, while still mixing things up with the darker aspects I typically enjoy, I was eager to try it out.

At first though, I wasn't sure happy endings were for me. As I slogged my way through the stories at the beginning of the collection, I found myself frequently putting the book aside to do anything. It just made me tired. I was bored, but wanted to persist.. in the hopes they would improve and it did have some great quotes.


"He had the kind of face you wanted to throw a coffee cup at. Even if you like coffee as much as I do."
-('Twilight Falls' by Jonathan Maberry)


"My father always used to say you can't beat the stupid from people, but it sure beats listening to their stupidity."
-('Broken Son' by Griffin Barber)


Just over a third of the way through the book, suddenly that's exactly what happened.

'Heart of Clay: A Dan Shamble, Zombie PI Adventure' by Kevin J. Anderson was a wonderful play on some old ideas. A combination of a pseudo-retelling of a classic and a humorous zombie detective novel, it was warm, inspired, and full of humor.

Likewise, 'Reprise: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Short Story' by John G. Hartness really warmed me to the collection. It's obvious, I'm sure.. that Harker name most of us recognize, is indeed Dracula related. But what a sweet story, despite the awfulness of the topic within. I really enjoyed the intermingling of demonic/angelic mythos as well.

Now, for many years I've been intending to read a Patricia Briggs book and it just hasn't happened. But as luck would have it, there was a short story included by her as well and I couldn't have been happier.

'Asil and the Not-Date' had me off balance from the start. It has such a strange, yet interesting opening. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on and it took me a few pages to get my bearings, but her writing is so smooth. Basically, the main character is being set-up on 'dates' with by an anonymous group. All the information is being exchanged only by emails coming from someone marked 'Concerned Friends.
At the point where we pick up, he's already two dates down out of five and they have been more than interesting, to say the least. From here though, the next one definitely takes it up a few notches and I absolutely loved the story.

Other's included that deserve mention are McCaskey's 'Ronin' - which is a truly unique guardian tale, 'Skjoldmodir' by Michael Z. Williamson and Jessica Schlenker - a heartwrenching retelling of Beowulf, 'Bonds of Love and Duty' by Monalisa Foster, and of course.. 'Zombie Dearest' by Laurell K. Hamilton, which was unfortunately the last title in the book.. but well worth the wait.

​After all, I did get to see Jean-Claude and Nicky was there too. I've always been conflicted about the Anita character and the whole center of everyone's universe angle, but the boys and the unique stories drive me to continue reading the series. When it comes down to it, that's a personal preference issue and does nothing to take away from Hamilton's ability as a writer.

If you're looking for a good collection of stories that you can easily read in chunks around quarantine home-schooling, with positive endings to brighten your days indoors.. look no further. Give this one a try.

Terrific fantasy collection! For me, the absolute highlight is the new story from Patricia Briggs, featuring an adventure starring Asil the werewolf and how a blind date turns out. It's really entertaining, and made me so, so happy! I enjoyed the other stories too, of course, but the Asil story rocked!

I am a huge Laurell K. Hamilton and Patricia Briggs fan so to get to read this book was amazing. I still have some stories to get through but this book offers a bit for everyone who loves fantasy, and emotional rollercoaster rides. Although short they pack a great amount of punch.
Highly recommend. Getting to know new to me authors was great also.

This is an anthology so I am going to do a mini review for each story.

Twilight Falls by Johnathon Mayberry

When a plane is spotted flying over several villages and then people are found dead, the people in charge think someone is spraying chemicals over them. Turns out that the people in the plane weren't the problem, they were actually trying to help but other bad guys got wind of what they were doing and decided to stop them. It was a fun quick story.

Not In This Lifetime by Sharon Shinn

What if you were to remember all of your past lives and the same guy kills you in each of your lives? That's what happens to Sasha in this story. Sasha remembers some of the people who have been in her life during her past lives and she's friends with them in this life. So when she spots the man who kills her and she knows will kill her in this life, she goes about trying to change the outcome this time.

Mr. Positive, The Eternal Optimist by Larry Correia

Chris is from the future and is sent to do things. Like if you could go back in time and kill Hilter, would you? So Chris has a mission to shoot Stanley in the heart for some reason but Stanley puts up a good fight and Chris ends up liking him but still he needs to finish his mission. This one had an ending that went in a way I wasn't expecting. Interesting idea.

No Greater Love by Kacey Ezell

Jennilee and Anna were forced to stay in a cave Dalton left and pushed carts through the snow with their meager belongings on them but Jennilee's father had told Anna who was about to give birth, he would be back. Anna was married to Jennilee's father. When Anna dies after giving birth, Jennilee knows she can't stay there so she follows the trail her father is on only to get hurt. A woman comes to her rescue but things are not right or normal with this woman but she is able to save them both but not in a normal way. This was a really fun story. Not what I was expecting at all.

Broken Son by Griffin Barber

Sent to a space station penal colony for a few years, Borges makes the best of his time in the mines. He must be wealthy because he is given special treatment and one of the other inmates who they refer to as the broken says he can hear a song coming from somewhere else. So when a scientist comes aboard to check something out, he introduces her to the broken and the broken makes contact with another life form who informs them what happen to them.

Heart of Clay by Kevin J. Anderson

A dragon with a gambling problem lost the Excalibur sword in a gambling bet and now there's a bunch of supernaturals looking for it. Someone was also killing Golems and they couldn't seem to figure out why until the end of the story. With so many different supernatural creatures in this story it was fun to see what would happen next.

Reprise by John G. Hartness

Quincy, the son of dracula watches a group of young people trying to summon a demon and spots a young woman who looks like the woman he loved and lost. He's taken with her and watches her and even talks with her. When he finds out what she and the others are up to it's almost too late to send the demon back to hell before it gets out and kills indiscriminately. But he's the son of dracula so thankfully things work out.

Asil and the Not-Date by Patricia Briggs

Asil was a wolf shifter and he knew that at some point his wolf was going to get free and probably kill someone. He was depressed but when the emails about going on dates started to anonymously come to him, it peeked his interest so he kept going on dates. Asil liked Tami even when he found out she was a white witch. A witch had killed his mate so his crabby wolf wasn't too happy about her being around him. Tami and Asil helped one of her clients when they found themselves in danger but then there's a big twist to this one and I liked it.

In The Dust by Robert E. Hampson

This story took place throughout a couple's journey first as kids, then teens and then as adults with their own kids. I never knew where this story was headed until the very end which was nice. I liked this one and liked how I had to read the story and pick up on little things in order to see where this one would end up.

Fallen by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

I had a hard time figuring this one out at times. It was hard to tell where Estafen was, where he had been and what was going on. He wanted to change the way things were where he was but everyone and everything around him was making that difficult. When I was done, I finally figured out that this was a religious piece and that's probably why I had a hard time deciphering it for it to make sense to me.

Working Conditions by Patrick M. Tracy

Sam had recently been turned into a vampire and Delia owned the convenience store he worked at. She was a little afraid of him but he was just a lonely, young man that she was still friends with. When he bit her to save her life from terminal cancer, she knew he was one of the good guys and she made sure he had a place to work. This was a short, sweet story.

Last Contact by M.C. Sumner

When an alien ships hovers over a city, a detective shows up and tells Samuel that they want him to meet with them. Samuel is a paleoichthyologist or someone that studies extinct fish. He was taken to where the ship was a a kind of transport box was there to take him to the ship where he met and talked with the alien. The alien talked and answered questions and then had a question for him. This was interesting and thought provoking. Definitely one of my favorites.

Ronin by William McCaskey

This story is told from the vantage point of a stuffed teddy bear. I liked this story. The bear had fun with a boy that grew up to have a child of his own but the man had a lot of problems that the bear really couldn't understand. The bear can enter dreams and see what their nightmares are and help them through their fears. This story broke my heart but it was really good.

Skjoldmodir by Michael Z. Williamson and Jessica Schlenker

A mother of a son who was born not quite right, living in a village where the villages grew to fear and ultimately hate Grendel, the son, the monster as he was called after he got older. A mother who could do nothing but move on after her husband was killed in battle and try to keep her son safe even though nothing could keep them safe from the hateful villagers. This was such a sad tale.

Bonds of Love and Duty by Monalisa Foster

The Donai were genetically engineered soldiers but in her lab they were just children or soon to be children in the gestation pods. She escaped with Andret, the oldest Donai soldier and some of the babies still in tubes. They landed on a far away planet and he kept the tubes filled with his kind safe until other Donai came looking for him.

Zombie Dearest by Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake was in her office when a man and woman walked in and accused her of getting their daughter pregnant. Turned out a zombie that Anita raised had sex with their daughter and when she put him back in the ground, the woman found out she was pregnant some time later. She gave birth to a normal baby but now she was laying in a hospital room dying from something the doctors couldn't figure out. So Anita finds out what's was wrong with the young woman and goes about fixing it. This is actually the story that I was most wanting to read. I got the book because of this author and am glad that I read this and the other stories.

Disclosure: I was given an ARC of this ebook via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have had the pleasure of getting an advanced reader copy of Fantastic Hope, the new paranormal anthology that was released on April 7, 2020. This arc was provided via Netgalley, the best place for reviewers and avid readers to get and review new books. This anthology is a great way to be introduced to a wide variety of authors and writing styles. You may just buy it for one author and find a whole new library to read during this uncertain time. With a wide variety of bestselling authors this anthology has a lot of bang for your buck.

While I could go crazy with this book review and write pages upon pages and bury you in paper, time is at a premium. This anthology is a great way to get acquainted with a number of authors and their writing styles. You may buy it for the latest in one series and end up with a new series to read, to love, and maybe even obsess about. These authors each have unique backgrounds and those backgrounds inform each story with details that will delight readers, . Rather than going through each story and providing spoilers that might make longtime fans and new readers alike angry, I will cede this space to a part of the Foreword and the words of the editors.

"It’s a place where the hero wins, the bad guy is punished, and the monsters are only real while you’re reading the story. You can close the covers and be safe. Unlike the real terrors of the world online and in the news lately...welcome to a collection of stories where you can find hope, happy endings, loyalty, freedom, love, all the positive things that make the best of us. Welcome to thrilling adventures and a modern take on two-fisted adventure stories...Have faith in yourself, in the people who love you, in magic, in religion, in Deity, in science, and in things harder to label with just one word. Believe that there will be smiles after the tears, joy after the pain, and that it will all work out, that good will triumph and evil will not win forever...You’re holding people’s dreams in your hands, dreams made real for you to read and share. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did." Laurell K Hamilton

"Laurell is a big proponent of people doing their therapy and working through their shit. We sat over lunch and talked about the depressing stories that seemed to be everywhere, in the news and in fiction, and lamented that there weren’t more uplifting stories... Laurell and I are both survivors and we know that the world is not all unicorns, rainbows, and glitter. but we also know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that the darkness can be pushed back, even if it starts with a spark....I hope that in this book you find a story that speaks to you that reminds you that tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities." William McCaskey

Believe again. Dream again. Know that you have the power to do the impossible and conquer your demons. Start a new relationship with favorite authors and new voices. Start here.






#netgalley #LaurellKHamilton #FantasticHope #lkh #AnitaBlake #WilliamMccaskey #vampirehunter #supernatural #JonathanMaberry #Sharonshinn #LarryCorreia #KaceyEzell #griffinBarber #GriffinBarber #KevinJAnderson #JohnGHartness #PatriciaBriggs #RobertEHamilton #LEModesittJR #PatrickMTracy #MCSumner #MichealZWilliamson #JessicaSchlenker #MonaLisaFoster #Zombies #ghosts #necromancers #magic #vampires #witch #JoeLedgerRogueTeam #JoeLedgerRogueTeamInternationalAdventure #TwilightFalls #NotInThisLifetime #MrPositiveTheEternalOptimist #NoGreaterLove #BrokenSon #HeartofClay #Reprise #AsilandTheNotdate #inthedust #Fallen #workingConditions #lastContact #Ronin #skjolmodir #bondsofloveandduty #zombieDearest #donShambleZombiePI #MercyThompson #AlphaandOmega #MonsterHunterInternational #grimnoirchronicles #deadsix #SagaoftheforgottenWarrior #DragonAwardwinner #quincyHarker #sagaofrecluse #militarythriller #romance #paranormalromance #urbanfantasy #newsfromtheedge #geeks #doctoriteinwhat? #gunsmith #shapeshifter #anthology #shortstory #novella #whattodowhenunderquarantine #Stuckathome #booktoread #lateststory #apocalypse #magic #dreams #hope #sciencefiction #fantasy #horror #betterfuture #betterpresent #happyending #magicalthinking #dragon #dystopian #goodconquersall #heros #villians #impossible

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I am sometimes a little hesitant to pick up short story collections since I have had mixed luck with them in the past. When I saw the group of authors that contributed to this collection, I knew that I had to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this group of wildly varied stories. I loved the fact that there was a little bit of everything in this book and had a great time reading all of the stories.

Twilight Falls by Jonathan Maberry - 3.5 stars
This was entertaining. This story was about a group of three men on a mission. There is a group that believes that in order to save the world 90% of its population needs to be exterminated. The trio goes to investigate a wiped-out village and stumble upon something they didn't expect. There was a lot of action and some pretty big surprises in this story.

Not in this Lifetime by Sharon Shinn - 4 stars
I really enjoyed this story. Sasha remembers all of her past lives and her past friends which she seems to keep finding in each life. She also remembers how she dies in each life. There is one thing that she doesn't seem to remember though.

Mr. Positive, the Eternal Optimist by Larry Correia - 4 stars
This was a fun little story. Someone is trying to kill Stanley and he isn't just going to let it happen regardless of how polite his assassin might be. There was a lot of action and the twist at the end was well done.

No Greater Love by Kaey Ezell - 4 stars
Jennilee stays behind with one of her mother's who is in labor while her family continues on their dangerous journey. Jennilee is just a teenager but it is up to her to help her mother deliver her baby and keep them safe. When things go horribly wrong, she makes the only decision she can and is still able to protect her family.

Broken Son by Griffin Barber - 3 stars
This is a futuristic story where prisoners are sent out into space to work. A scientist has a theory that could change everything and goes along with a crew to investigate. It was interesting to see exactly what their discovery was able to do.

Heart of Clay by Kevin J. Anderson - 4 stars
I have read the first book in this series so I was familiar with the characters. It was nice to see Dan and his crew solve the case of the murdered golems and find a missing sword. The Renaissance Faire was filled with interesting characters and it was fun to see how everything fit together.

Reprise by John G. Hartness - 4 stars
This is a Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter short story. I haven't read any of the books from that series but would definitely give them a try after reading this story. This story follows Quincy Harker as he tries to stop what is going on in the local park while coming to terms with seeing a ghost from his past. I liked the characters a lot and found the story very interesting.

Asil and the Not-Date by Patricia Briggs - 5 stars
This was a great story! I love Asil and the idea of him going out on these not-dates brought a smile to my face. Tami was an interesting character. There were some pretty big surprises in this story and I loved that in the end, Asil was a hero. There was even a hint of humor to go around.

In the Dust by Robert E. Hampson - 4 stars
I thought that this story was very well done. We see Winnie and Jenny at key points in their life starting in their childhood. Winnie likes to tinker in the old museum while Jenny seems to have more going on in her life but they have a wonderful connection. There is a pretty big surprise in this story which I thought was very well done.

Fallen by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. - 2 stars
This one was kind of confusing. The story jumps around a lot and I had a hard time keeping up. We see the main character, Estafen, in a lot of different situations but things often switched abruptly.

Working Conditions by Patrick M. Tracy - 4 stars
This was a really quick story about a young man that never misses a day of work. Now that he is a vampire, it changes a few things in his working environment. I enjoyed this one quite a bit and really liked the twist.

Last Contact by M.C. Sumner - 4 stars
This was a very interesting alien story. The main character is faced with a very difficult decision that can change his life forever. I really liked the descriptions and how everything played out.

Ronin by William McCaskey - 3.5 stars
This was a fun little story about a warrior that I never expected. The story did go in a direction that I didn't expect which was a big plus. I did enjoy this one quite a bit.

Skjoldmodir by Michael Z. Williamson and Jessica Schlenker - 4 stars
I really liked this story. I hate to admit that I have not read Beowulf but it seems that this is a Beowulf story from another point of view. I felt for this mother and everything that she has been through. Her love for her son was very evident. This was very well done.

Bonds of Love and Duty by Monalisa Foster - 4 stars
This was a really big story. I loved the idea of these created soldiers. This is a story of survival and fighting until the end. I thought that Andret and the wolves were all fantastic characters. This was a very entertaining read.

Zombie Dearest by Laurell K. Hamilton - 4 stars
I love Anita Blake in all of her necromancy glory. This is a story of one man that was raised from the dead a little too well and the impact that has left. I thought that this was an exciting story that would work very well for new readers and fans of the series.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I had a lot of luck with almost all of the stories in this collection. I enjoyed reading the stories of the authors I was already familiar with such as Patricia Briggs, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Kevin J. Anderson and finding a few new authors that I would like to read more of in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.

I lean more towards fantasy than sci-fi in my reading preferences, and it showed in the stories that I seemed to enjoy more. I wanted to read this because of the short story by Patricia Briggs (love her series!) and I was not disappointed.

I also wanted to see what the characters in Laurell K. Hamilton’s world are up to, even though I stopped reading the Anita Blake series awhile back. Loved the series, but there didn’t seem to be much of a story advancement in the books with all the sex scenes (and I read erotica and romance, so it’s not like I don’t like reading about sex!!!) I enjoyed Zombie Dearest, and since there was no sex in it to keep it clean for the anthology, there was actually a story there.

Some of the other fantasy stories that I really enjoyed and want to read more from the authors because of their writing were; Not in this Lifetime by Sharon Shinn, Mr. Positive the Eternal Optimist by Larry Correia, Heart of Clay by Kevin J. Anderson, and Reprise by John G. Hartness. And the sci-fi stories that I really liked were Broken Son by Griffin Barber, Last Contact by M.C. Sumner, and Bonds of Love and Duty by Monalisa Foster.

All the other ones were enjoyable, except I really couldn’t get into Fallen by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

A very good short story collection that makes reading a story or two before bed an enjoyable thing to do, and perhaps you’ll find a new author… or five!

"A collection of sixteen sci-fi and fantasy stories edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton and author William McCaskey.

A child’s wish for her father comes true. The end of the world has never been so much fun. Conquering personal demons becomes all too real. It’s not always about winning; sometimes it’s about showing up for the fight. It’s about loving your life’s work, and jobs that make you question everything.

In this anthology, seventeen authors have woven together brand-new stories that speak to the darkness and despair that life brings while reminding us that good deeds, humor, love, sacrifice, dedication, and following our joy can ignite a light that burns so bright the darkness cannot last.

Laurell K. Hamilton and William McCaskey are joined by Kevin J. Anderson, Griffin Barber, Patricia Briggs, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Monalisa Foster, Robert E. Hampson, John G. Hartness, Jonathan Maberry, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Jessica Schlenker, Sharon Shinn, M. C. Sumner, Patrick M. Tracy, and Michael Z. Williamson in this collection."

Here for Patirica Briggs, everything else is just icing on the cake.

This is a collection of story stories so there will be variety of tones, styles, and levels of familiarity. That is just a fact of a decent multi-author collection. While I have not edited a story collection for publishing, as a librarian I have made 100s of book lists and and suggested read-a-like lists. Part of their purpose is to appeal to a range of people, in this case a fairly large range because it's fantasy fans. Fantasy is a VERY diverse genre and I think that Hamilton did a good job including some big name favorites and finding interesting well written shorts from new writers (or less known at least). I'm confident in saying that any fantasy fan picking up this collection will find more stories that they enjoy than those they don't, but while the note of hope ties them together it might have a bit more darkness than some more sensitive readers want to deal with at the moment. For others who enjoy darker worlds, it will be the perfect escapism stories for this time of social isolation.

What a wonderful anthology! The stories are extremely well written, imaginative, and interesting. While I am a huge fan of a few of the writers, the anthology introduced me to several authors I had not read before. Shortly after finishing, I did a quick search to add several of their works to my "to be read" list. A wonderful dip into urban fantasy, sci-fi, and alternative realities.

A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC and an opportunity to read and review the book.

I have a hard time with short story collections. I want to love them but for some reason it seems like they never reach what I want them to be. This book was no exception. A few of the stories were well written but I was left wanting more. Everyone is different when it comes to shorts so I would still recommend it.

Notable collection of witty crime short stories based in various urban fantasy alternate realities. Revisit some favorite series and enjoy some new tales from other authors (I particularly enjoyed the Sharon Shinn contribution).

17 sci-fi and fantasy short stories that focus on hope. I was excited about the Alpha and Omega short story by Patricia Briggs so the other 16 stories were an unexpected delight! Usually, when I’m reading an anthology, I skip some stories but not in this case. I have several new to me authors to start reading now.

I loved reading this anthology! I mainly read it for the Patricia Briggs story and the Laurell K. Hamilton story, but this collection of stories about hope, it was pretty uplifting to read, and there were some new to me authors that I'm going to have to check out! All the stories were great, but I'm going to mention the ones that really caught my attention.

I think some of my favourites include the reincarnation one, the weird guy trying to kill the random guy, this space one in prison, and the space one with a child growing up. The second two, I would really love to be series, because these worlds sound incredible, and I want to dive into them and learn more!

Yeah, from Patricia Briggs, we get the story of another one of Asil's dates, and then I went back and read the first one. Poor dude, he doesn't have much luck it seems, but this was an excellent and unexpected story! We skipped the 2nd, though there were references to it. And given that it was a story, well, things happened at this one, as well. I wonder if we'll get a story for the final two, or just the final one, because we need to know who is behind the dates!

The Anita story, we got to take a closer look at what happened when Anita raised the hyper-realistic zombie. I forgot which full length book that event took place in, but yeah, it's coming back to play, and it brings up more questions about what she's able to do, and was a really great read!

Loved this collection, and I can't wait for more from these series!

This was pretty darn cool! Patricia Briggs story was by FAR my favorite set in her shifter world, a little something different and completely delightful by Larry Correia, John G. Hartness,'s story was as always - fabulous AND BONUS! I got to meet a bunch of NEW authors I wasn't familiar with! WHOOT!! This was pretty great!

I read this collection for the new Alpha and Omega short story by Patricia Briggs and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a great set of short stories and introduced me to a lot of new (to me) authors! I liked the theme and some of the authors did some truly spectacular world building within the limits of such a short format. I have a lot of new series to start reading thanks to this collection.

Fantastic Hope by Various Authors, a very well done book of fantasy short stories. If you enjoy any of these authors then even if there is a story you don't like you very well may end up with some new favorite authors like I did.

I wanted to read Patricia Briggs' short story in this collection, and it was awesome. I will only say that Asil has another blind date...and of course it goes really wrong. I look forward to more Asil, and more dates.

One of the other stories I really liked was the one by Larry Correia, with a character who is there to shoot a guy in the heart, but he is really upbeat and enerous with his compliments to the guy about his attempts to get away. I also liked Kevin Anderson's zombie detective story. I think I would have liked it more if I knew the characters better, but I'm probably going to look for more with the zombie detective.

This was a great set of stories. I usually skim anthologies and cherry pick what I want to read after a few paragraphs of each story. I didn't do that here. All of the them were good. One in particular absolutely delighted me as it was a sequel to a story in another anthology.