Pretty good, and I'm hoping there'll be more Diana Tregarde stories. ( )

I had never read anything by Mercedes Lackey before, so I figured this collection of novellas would be a good place to start instead of jumping into a series. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing and how much I enjoyed the stories. The three stories all featured a female protagonist who is capable of performing magic. They were all intriguing and well written with different settings both in geography and time.

I enjoyed the first story the most where the protagonist was a Harvard college student who was helping the police investigate a missing girl. What I liked most about it was the collection of characters and how Diana, the story’s protagonist, used these non-magical people to help her in her investigation. The second story, with a Native American ghost controlling a woman was also neat. The least of stories was the final one where a Wendigo was taking over a video game and threatening to enter the real world. In that case, believability was a serious issue and I had a hard time buying into the story, but I still enjoyed reading that one as well. I give this collection a thumbs up and would definitely read Mercedes Lackey again.

Carl Alves - author of The Invocation ( )

This is a set of three urban fantasy novellas by Mercedes Lackey. The first (and longest) is the first new Diana Tregarde story in years, and it is set when Diana is just starting college. All three stories have introductions by Mercedes Lackey, giving a short rundown of certain world-chronology elements (mostly detailing the differences between the time frame of the story and the present day; there are quite a few!).

All in all a fast and enjoyable read. ( )

I really have missed reading ML's strong women. Once again, she reminds us not to bring a knife to a gunfight. You know, unless you've brought a gun, too. No spoilers, but think about how often in her books people who "dabble" in magic get their butts handed to them on a regular basis... she hasn't altered that philosophy.
I hope that writing these three shorts hasn't gotten the characters "out of her system" and that she revisits them again, someday. ( )

Nice entries in 3 series. The early Diana Tregarde is very informative on her early years. ( )