Three stories set in different worlds The first is set in Mercedes Lackey's Five Thousand Kingdoms and a quest by Prince Leopold and Brunnhilde searching for a solution to their prospective life lengths in a greek-style kingdom where they become involved in a Persepone and Hades story which is done well and interestingly. Persepone has more agency in this story than usually.
Cast in Moonlight, my favourite, which tells the early story of how Kaylin and the Hawks first intersected and it made me want to re-read and read anew the series. It's a story that made me want to know more and read on, even if I have read several of the stories.
Retribution by Cameron Haley is an urban fantasy featuring mobs run by magic where Domino Riley takes out an opponent who curses her and then she has to work out how to defeat this curse, while also discovering that the reasons for killing her victim aren't as obvious as first seen.
Good read but the middle story makes it a keeper. ( )

I primarily chose this for the Mercedes Lackey story, but they were all a bit disappointing. Hers felt too quick and simple, no real plot or descriptions. The second one I had trouble following, there was no real world-building and the characters didn't stand out. The third had potential, but I won't continue the series. ( )

This book contains three novellas; they are each very different from the others.

The first is Mercedes Lackey's A Tangled Web, which is a retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone. It's an amusingly writting light fantasy tale, following on from her 500 Kingdoms novel The Sleeping Beauty. It's best, although not essential, to have read Sleeping Beauty so that you understand where two of the main characters arrived where they are. Knowing your Greek myths also helps. Although I do like Lackey's books, hers was actually my least favourite of the three, because for me it lacked depth. It was a pleasant enough way to pass an hour, but not a story I'd set aside time to read again. Although I might read it again if I had time and nothing else with which to fill it.

The second is Michelle Sagara's Cast in Moonlight. It's the prequel to her 'Cast' series and tells the story of how Kaylin Neya joined the Hawks (police force) at the age of thirteen. Like the series that spawned it, it's a relatively dark tale - this one dealing with the kidnapping torture, and murder of children. Hard for it to be light with that subject matter. But the characters are lively and engaging, and there is enough humour to offset the grim plot. For this reason, the story works well, and it's definitely one to re-read, especially if you have also read, or are planning to read, Sagara's 'Cast' books. Which I highly recommend.

The third story was by Cameron Haley, who was an author new to me. 'Retribution' is the story of a gangster sorceress who executes someone who attempted to kill her - just doing business - and ends up trying to avoid his death curse. As a gangster, the main character, Domino Riley, is hardly whiter-than-white. In fact, of the three stories, this is the one with the grubbiest protagonist by a long way. But she's interesting, because it's clear that she has her own morality that she sticks to and she's willing to take risks to uphold. There's a little too much gangster-speak (do they really talk like that? I doubt it, but hey, presumably the author's having fun and in a short story it didn't have time to get too irritating) but for all that, I enjoyed the story, and might well go and find something else by this author.

All in all, worth reading, although the final two stories make up most of the 'weight' and hence the satisfaction. ( )

Okay honestly, I only read the one story and it was awesome. It was Cast in Moonlight and told the early story of how Kaylin joined the Hawks and made her spot in the group. ( )

This 3 story collection I tracked down mostly for the Lackey Five Hundred Kingdoms story. It was a cute retelling of Hades and Persephone marriage. Enjoyable and if you haven't read the stories set in that universe it a nice taste of how they are written. The other two were new to me and at some point I might track down the West series but if I don't I'm not that compelled and the Haley series I finished to see if I would like it and I didn't for the most part. So that one is a skip for me. Overall this is a win for me since I got the book from the library.
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