Parallel Worlds: The Heroes Within by L.J. Hachmeister

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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.



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