Kitty’s Greatest Hits by Carrie Vaughn

We have finally reached the end of our Kitty Norville read along that began in January. Because one can never have enough of Kitty Norville, we end with Kitty’s Greatest Hits, which collects together all of the short stories and novellas in Kitty’s world, and gives us two new stories, one of which is what happened to Cormac and Amelia in prison!

Title:  Kitty Saves the World
Author:  Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville anthology
Publish Date: August 16, 2011
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased

Publisher’s Description: The first-ever story collection from the New York Times bestselling author, including two all-new works!

Kitty Norville, star of a New York Times bestselling series, is everybody’s favorite werewolf DJ and out-of-the-closet supernatural creature. Over the course of eight books she’s fought evil vampires, were-creatures, and some serious black magic. She’s done it all with a sharp wit and the help of a memorable cast of werewolf hunters, psychics, and if-notgood- then-neutral vampires by her side. Kitty’s Greatest Hits not only gives readers some of Kitty’s further adventures, it offers longtime fans a window into the origins of some of their favorite characters.

In “Conquistador de la Noche,” we learn the origin story of Denver’s Master vampire, Rick; with “Wild Ride,” we find out how Kitty’s friend T.J. became a werewolf; and in “Life is the Teacher,” we revisit Emma, the human-turned-unwilling-vampire who serves the aloof vampire Master of Washington, D.C.

This entertaining collection includes two brand-new works: “You’re On the Air,” about one of Kitty’s callers after he hangs up the phone; and the eagerly awaited “Long Time Waiting,” the novella that finally reveals just what happened to Cormac in prison, something every Kitty fan wants to know.

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Kat Mandu says…

In this collection of supernaturally-charged-up characters, Kitty’s not the only voice needing to be heard. This book is filled with stories involving Rick, Cormac, Amelia, Emma, and several others in the Kitty-verse.

I really enjoyed this anthology. It shares some of the juicy details you don’t get to hear through Kitty’s point of view, even though she asks nicely sometimes. Rick’s backstory is told and there’s a couple steamy stories featured too. Even Cormac’s adventure is prison is explained at last, not to mention a story including him and a younger Ben O’Farrell.

Overall, definitely worth a five.

I hope you all enjoyed Kitty as much as I did!

Invested Ivana says…

Kitty’s Greatest Hits give readers a great selection of stories, both in the Kitty universe and of some of our favorite characters.

Of the stories not about Kitty and her friends, I really loved The Book of Daniel and A Princess of Spain. At one point in the novels, Kitty is speculating on what historical figures might have been supernatural creatures. The biblical Daniel, of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, is one on which she speculates. Could Daniel have been a lion shifter? That might explain why the lions didn’t eat him.

A Princess of Spain tells us the story of Arthur Tudor, the sickly older brother of Henry Tudor — Henry VIII. What if Arthur’s sickness was a plot in vampire machinations? Arthur’s wife, Catherine of Aragon, and Henry discover the plot and “save” Arthur from the wicked vampire.

I also love the “origin” stories of Rick and TJ. Conquistador de la Noche reveals how Rick — Ricardo de Avila — was turned vampire in Mexico long before most European vampires came to America. Wild Ride assures us that T.J. chose to become a werewolf, but was too dominate a wolf to be comfortable in most packs.

And, of course, Long Time Waiting is the brilliant story of Cormac and Amelia’s fight against the demon haunting the prison, and how they became partners in Cormac’s head.

Actually, there aren’t any bad stories in this collection. Even the short short ones are fun. My only complaint is that I would have preferred the stories be presented in chronological order, rather than in publication order, or there was some notation of when each story took place in the timeline of the novels. That would have been helpful.  I also would have liked to see some stories about General Sherman and Odysseus Grant. 😉

I’m very glad all the stories were collected into one volume, and that Marguarite Gavin narrated them all. Having a consistent narrator for the entire series is fantastic.  Gavin does an excellent job.

I’m super glad I took the time to reread the entire Kitty series. I rated several books higher than I did on my original read, and I’m so glad there was a resolution to the Roman story-line. Kitty is one of my favorite series. 😉

Our reviews in this series…

• Kitty and the Midnight Hour
• Kitty Goes to Washington 
• Kitty Takes a Holiday
• Kitty and the Silver Bullet
• Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand
• Kitty Raises Hell
• Kitty’s House of Horrors
• Kitty Goes to War
• Kitty’s Big Trouble
• Kitty Steals the Show
• Kitty Rocks the House
• Low Midnight
• Kitty Saves the World

Other reviews…

• Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!
• Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
• Red Hot Books

If you like this book…

…you might try Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series, Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series, or Eileen Wilks’s World of the Lupi series.