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    Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy
    Unavailable
    Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy
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    Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy
    Audiobook16 hours

    Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy

    Published by Macmillan Audio

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Featuring original stories from 20 authors, this dark, captivating, fabulous and fantastical collection, Naked City, is not to be missed! Edited by award-winning editor Ellen Datlow.

    In this thrilling collection of original stories some of today's hottest paranormal authors delight, thrill, and captivate readers with otherworldly tales of magic and mischief. In Jim Butcher's "Curses" Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs' "Fairy Gifts," a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. In Melissa Marr's "Guns for the Dead," the newly dead Frankie Lee seeks a job in the afterlife on the wrong side of the law. In Holly Black's "Noble Rot," a dying rock star discovers that the young woman who brings him food every day has some strange appetites of her own.

    Contents
    Curses, by Jim Butcher
    How the Pooka Came to New York City, by Delia Sherman
    On the Side, by Richard Bowes
    The Duke of Riverside, by Ellen Kushner
    Oblivion by Calvin Klein, by Christopher Fowler
    Fairy Gifts, by Patricia Briggs
    Picking Up the Pieces, by Pat Cadigan
    Underbridge, by Peter S. Beagle
    Priced to Sell, by Naomi Novik
    The Bricks of Gelecek, by Matthew Kressel
    Weston Walks, by Kit Reed
    The Projected Girl, by Lavie Tidhar
    The Way Station, by Nathan Ballingrud
    Guns for the Dead, by Melissa Marr
    And Go Like This, by John Crowley
    Noble Rot, by Holly Black
    Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, by Jeffrey Ford
    The Skinny Girl, by Lucius Shepard
    The Colliers’ Venus (1893), by Caitlin R. Kiernan
    King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree, by Elizabeth Bear

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateJul 5, 2011
    ISBN9781427214218
    Unavailable
    Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy

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    Reviews for Naked City

    3.5/5

    25 ratings19 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      Okay, I read 6 of the 20 stories and I'm not really feeling inclined to read anymore of it at this point. I'm considering this one "read but dnf", but I will update if I decide to dig into any of the other stories. This collection of 20 Urban Fantasy short stories is described on the back of the ARC as "A spine-tingling collection..." I hope they changed that in the published version as this is urban fantasy, not horror. It was also frustrating that there was absolutely no description of what each story was about. The reader just went into each story blind. Personally, I like knowing what the story is about before I start reading. My copy was an ARC so I hope that was added before it was published. I don't usually read anthologies unless they contain stories related to the series I read or intend to read. There was only one story (Jim Butcher's story) in this book that related to a series that I am aware of and the headline authors on the cover are really the only ones that interested me. There were no other authors that I currently read or am that interested in reading in this collection. I was expecting to see more well-known authors in urban fantasy represented, but the authors listed on the cover were the only ones I really recognized as being urban fantasy. I'm sure other people may recognize the other authors, but for me it was a little misleading. Of the stories I read, the Patricia Briggs story was my favorite. Jim Butcher fans will probably appreciate the Dresden Files story. Here are the ratings for each of the stories I read and I will update if I read any others.Cursed by Jim Butcher - 3 stars - Related to the Dresden Files series.How the Pooka Came to New York City by Delia Sherman - 3 starsOn the Slide by Richard Bowes - 1 star (did not finish - something about time travel - it lost me after about 9 pages)The Duke of Riverside by Ellen Kushner - 3.5 stars - An interesting story, but I didn't really see much "fantasy" in this one.Oblivion by Calvin Klein by Christopher Fowler - 2.5 stars - meh.Fairy Gifts by Patricia Briggs - 4 stars - I don't know if this story relates to any of her books, but iron-kissed fae are mentioned and I think Iron Kissed is the title of one of her books. Possibly a loose connection? Not sure, but I like the story and plan to read more of this author.
    • 3/5
      This collection is put together nicely. The stories are well written, though most of them are not to my taste. I've never been a Twilight Zone fan and this collection is in that flavor, but without the explanation at the end. Many are dreary and hopeless, some are profane and some just don't make any sense to me. However, there are treasures in it as well. I always enjoy Jim Butcher's stories and this one doesn't disappoint, especially if you like baseball. An author new to me, Patricia Briggs, will be receiving more of my attention. Her story, "Fairy Gifts" is about as perfect a modern fairy tale as I've read, also a pretty good mystery. Another author, John Crowley, wins my vote for best short story in the collection. It is perfectly timed, imaginative and fun.
    • 4/5
      I'm pretty sure at this point I'm giving every single anthology the same review. Some were awesome, some were not. This book was heavily weighted towards the awesome.I reluctantly adored Elizabeth Bear's endcap story. As does pretty much everything Jim Butcher writes, his was a compelling read. I think Holly Black's short was the highlight of the book.The stated intent of this anthology was urban fantasy, and I think it did was it set out to do very, very well. Charles Delint, no matter how much I adore him, is not the only way to do urban fantasy and this book set out to prove that thesis and did.
    • 2/5
      This paperback has over 20 stories. The ones by Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, and a few others were enjoyable additions to their respective canons. But a lot of the stories are little more than extended scenes, or meditations. Rather than building worlds, they show it through a glass darkly, with a lot of questions unanswered. I enjoyed many of the stories. But after several in a row that I really did not like, I stopped reading.
    • 4/5
      Naked City by Various AuthorsThis is a book chock filled with the stories of today’s best and brightest speculative fiction authors. Since it would probably be unproductive for me to synopsize each story, I will say that there are several that I enjoyed very much. “Priced to Sell” by Naomi Novik a hilarious light story which deals with the harshness of selling real estate in New York to Vampires, Pookas and various other things that go bump in the night. “Noble Rot” by Holly Black was another of my favorites; a story dealing in Ghouls and the choice one Ghoul makes for someone.. “And Go Like This” was a fun somewhat confusing read with a surprise ending.Patricia Briggs story was a surprise for me since I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would and Jim Butchers story will hold interest for those who enjoy the Chicago Cubs.While this was an enjoyable read for the most part-it is not a necessary book for those following any of the author’s series,
    • 3/5
      A very nice anthology, many different types of stories. I have read a number of the stories, but not all of them. I find myself reading them in between longer novels that I read. Of the first 7 stories I read, I enjoyed 4 of them. On the Slide - was reminiscent of the show Sliders but was to disjointed for me. And the story Oblivion by Calvin Klein just left me hollow. The story Duke of Riverside was OK. But also not for me. How the Pooka Came to New York was a well told fairy tale, I liked it. All in all, I will probably read all the stories at some point, and may update my review, but as for now, I will have to leave it at 7 read.
    • 4/5
      Somewhat mixed batch of urban fantasy. The stories I liked I really liked. The stories I didn't take to were still well written, just not necessarily my cup of tea. Particularly enjoyable (and why I purchased to begin with) were Patricial Brigg's "Fairy Gifts", and Jim Butcher's "Curses". "Priced to Sell" by Naomi Novik made me smile - who hasn't tuned in to one of those high dollar real estate shows on occasion? And I wouldn't have minded reading more about Stewart and Jackie in the closing entry, "King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree", by Elizabeth Bear.Other entries were on the noirier side of the urban fantasy street, and as I prefer my fantasy slightly cheerier... they weren't bad, just creepy. On the whole, a worthwhile purchase.
    • 3/5
      This anthology has something for everyone that likes urban fantasy. I greatly liked most of the stories, some a lot and others I didn't like so well. A few I didn't think fit this genre, but then again I'm sure others would disagree with me on that point. Some of my favorites were the stories by Jim Butcher, & Patricia Briggs to name a couple. I think Priced to Sell by Naomi Novik was probably my favorite story in the anthology. If you are into Urban Fantasy you are sure to find at least one story here to suit your taste and may find a new author or 2 you will have to track down.
    • 5/5
      I can’t tell you how excited I was to get Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy. It sat on my To Be Read shelf for a while, as I finished up other commitments, and it taunted me, whispered to me, enticed me the whole time. There are some great authors included in this collection and I couldn’t wait to dig in.It certainly gets off to a good start! In “Curses” by Jim Butcher, Harry Dresden — the only Wizard listed in the Chicago Yellow Pages — is approached about removing a very old curse from a local sports team. I have a tremendous crush on Harry Dresden and I enjoyed the story immensely — it’s exactly the sort of local flavor I love in the Dresden Files stories.My favorite story of the bunch was “Priced to Sell” by Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series. I was completely unfamiliar with Novik’s work, although I will certainly be adding it to my watch list. This is a story of the cut-throat Manhattan real estate market. Tough enough, in this economy, but even tougher when your clients are vampires, goblins and other magical creatures. You know it’s going to be trouble when the condo board isn’t concerned that your client’s a vampire, they’re just worried that he’s less than 100 years old.Another favorite was “The Projected Girl” by Lavie Tidhar, an Israeli writer. In this story, Danny becomes fascinated with an old magician’s journal and seeks to solve the mystery of his vanished assistant. It’s an interesting story and Danny, just thirteen years old, is still young enough to get caught up in magic tricks.Finally, “Noble Rot” by Holly Black, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, was the special surprise waiting near the back of the book. Agatha is a girl with a secret, taking care of a dying rock star. I loved this story, even if it made me a little queasy.There are other stories — good, great and fair-to-middling — and in general I really enjoyed the book. I love the way it shows a broad range of urban fantasy; there’s a huge variety of settings and fantasy figures. Editor Ellen Datlow does a great job of giving the reader just the right mix, so that no matter what you favor, there is bound to be a story that appeals to you. Even the stories I really didn’t care for (“The Way Station”, “Fairy Gifts”) were good quality, if not my particular cup of tea.All in all, this is a great collection of stories that will be popular with any urban fantasy fan — it really lived up to my initial excitement.
    • 4/5
      This collection is sure to introduce you to a new author you will love. There is a story here for every fantasy lover . There were a couple of my favorite authors like Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and Elizabeth Bear. However, there where a few authors I had not read but will be searching out like Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Naomi Novik and Holly Black. I will admit that I did not like some of the stories in the book, but even the ones I did not like were well written and very interesting. The book itself was well edited, they chose a diverse group of stories but it all fits together very well. This is gritty urban fantasy with some horror thrown in. I think one of my favorite things about this anthology is that it is not afraid to cross some boundaries that society has about sexuality and race. “The Duke of Riverside”, and “Priced to Sell” are not to be missed stories in this collection.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyed several of these stories. "Urban fantasy" has become synonymous for paranormal thriller/romance, but despite the silly title and cover art, Datlow embraces all fantasy in urban settings, collecting stories ranging from gritty to sweet, spanning genres and countries (we even get a few secondary-world fantasies, whose absence always bothers me in fantasy short story collections).

      My favorites here were the sweet or humorous stories - "Priced to Sell" by Naomi Novik, chronicling the real estate market in a supernatural Manhattan, probably gave me the most joy. "And Go Like This" by John Crowley is short and awesome.

      Book gets a demerit for Patricia Briggs' "Fairy Gifts," which I couldn't finish because I was upset by an incredibly offensive portrayal of a character with Down's Syndrome. Maybe she was going somewhere not awful with that, but I couldn't wait around for it to happen, particularly as it was accompanied by questionable portrayals of Asian American characters and some pretty darn awful writing. (Based on Datlow's blog, I'm speculating this story was a last minute addition from a big-name author, since her preliminary Table of Contents omits it.)
    • 3/5
      Given the number of authors involved, I should have anticipated that these would be short stories -- as in actually short. I foolishly didn't, though, and was surprised when I first sat down with this book. I generally don't enjoy short stories, and this isn't something I would have ever purchased on my own. However, it was a nice introduction to authors I've never read before. While I do agree with a previous comment that the stories were "well written if uninteresting," I think a book like this is a good way to explore the genre.
    • 3/5
      This is an urban fantasy anthology anchored by some of the genres most notable authors. Fans of urban fantasy will enjoy these reads that range in humor and intensity. This is a great read for those who love the genre and want a break from the length of a longer novel. Similarly, those new readers new to urban fantasy can sample some of these authors and decide if they want to pursue some of their larger works. Highlights include stories by Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, and Holly Black. I give it three stars
    • 4/5
      I found I enjoyed most of these stories at varying degrees. Each story was very short, no more than 40 pages, and most shorter than that. It was more like a sampling of authors. But it made me interested in some new ones. Stories I especially liked:How the Pooka Came to New York City by Delia ShermanThe Duke of Riverside by Ellen KushnerFairy Gifts by Patricia BriggsUnderbridge by Peter S. BeagleThe Bricks of Gelecek by Matthew Kressel (though I do not know if I would actually label this one urban fantasy)Guns for the Dead by Melissa MarrNoble Rot by Holly Black
    • 3/5
      I received my copy of Naked City from Librarything's Early review program. I have not read anything from some of the authors included in NAKED CITY the stories were kinda short and I liked some more then others but found overall that it was a good variety. I think any Urban Fantasy fan will find something in NAKED CITY that they will enjoy.
    • 3/5
      Right away, I read the stories by my favorite authors and I was very underwhelmed. Jim Butcher's Dresden story revolved around baseball, of which I am not a fan. I get the moral of the story, but wrapped in baseball history, memorabilia and fannishness, it fell flat with me. Patricia Briggs' story was a stand-alone set in the same world as her Mercy series but offered no compelling characters or moving tale.As with any anthology, the stories will be hit or miss. As disappointing as I found the aforementioned pieces, others (like Novik's very amusing "Priced to Sell") were a definite hit. With over 500 pages, if you like this genre, you're sure to find something that you enjoy too.
    • 3/5
      I was excited to get the ARC of a book that's headlined by both Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs. I've got to say that I wasn't really impressed with either story. Jim's Harry Dresden story tackles the Cub's Billy Goat Curse, so being a Cubs fan, I was really forward to it. There's absolutely no action and the only magic is along the lines of a tracking spell. Patricia's story of a vampire rescuing a sidhe in mining tunnels was rather cold. I had no feelings or empathy for any of the characters.There are a few good stories in this anthology, but the stories are too short to do much in the way of character development. I had a difficult time getting through the book.
    • 3/5
      The stories were all high quality, but many of them shaded too much into horror for me. I particularly enjoyed Curses by Jim Butcher, How the Pooka Came to New York City by Delia Sherman, the Duke of Riverside by Ellen Kushner, Priced to Sell by Naomi Novik, and And Go Like This by John Crowley.
    • 3/5
      There is often quite a bit of variability in anthologies and this one is a not an exception. I was left unimpressed with many of the stories, most surprisingly Jim Butcher's and Naomi Novik's - baseball and real estate were just boring to me. My favorites included Fairy Gifts by Patricia Briggs, Underbridge by Peter S. Beagle, Guns for the Dead by Melissa Marr, Nobel Rot by Holly Black and The Skinny Girl by Lucius Shepard. The rest were reasonably well written if uninteresting.