Territorial

Otherworld Stories #0.14

by Kelley Armstrong

Karl Marsten before the events of Bitten.

Available free online

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Werewolves, Shapeshifters, Short Stories, Supernatural

15 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Reviews

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Karl's (I heart Karl) POV. How he met up with Daniel Santos before Bitten. I found it HILARIOUS how conscientious Karl was trying to be towards the woman whose jewels he was trying to lift.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Karl and glad to get to see more of him.

[Maud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why bit this one felt a bit dull and slow. I would have liked to see the story continue on a bit longer, see how Karl would react to what Daniel offers him.

[Nessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve previously read books 1 to 9 of their series many years ago, loved them all. It’s only recently that I’ve watched the TV series called Bitten which is based on the books which has made me want to come back and finish reading the series as well as all the short novels that have been written in addition to the full length novels.

So this short story with Karl in it was a nice quick easy read, bit too short for my liking but it gives us a further insight to the character of Karl.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story for fans of the Otherworld series.

Territorial is a wonderful addition to the series, one I wish had been longer. I’ve always considered Karl Marsten to be an interesting character, yet these few pages made him even more wonderful in my eyes. Whilst it’s not a necessity to read, it is certainly more than worth it.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story! This reminds me why I liked Karl Marsden in Bitten.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A free short story, 0.13 in the Women of the Otherworld urban fantasy series and involving Karl Marsten, a mutt.

If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the Women of the Otherworld books on my website.

My Take
Oh, too funny. Armstrong starts off with Karl expressing his sexual interest in a fellow partygoer...an interest that quickly disintegrates under conversation. A lopsided one.

Armstrong makes good use of Karl's radar going off to provide background on his father and his death, the problems of a mutt, and the battles used to enhance reputations, using third person protagonist point-of-view from Karl's perspective.

I gotta agree with Cindy. Apologizing is no good if you keep doing the same thing.

It's all a buildup for events in Bitten , 1. Foreshadowing.

The Story
The pleasant build-up of attraction that's dashed, even as his father's strictures on manners runs through Karl's head.

Should he? Or shouldn't he? A question that's answered when an unexpected nemesis appears with an invitation.

The Characters
Karl Marsten is a rogue werewolf and international jewel thief. His father, Josef Marten, preferred quiet burglary.

The Stonehaven Pack is...
...led by Jeremy Danvers. Elena Michaels is a Pack werewolf with whom Karl has manipulated a friendship. Fellow Pack members include Peter Myers.

Malcolm Danvers is Jeremy's jerk of a father. Wally and Ray Santos are/were part of Malcolm's posse. Daniel Santos is Ray’s youngest son with a taste for satisfying three of his werewolf hungers at once—violence, food, and sex.

Cindy Mays is a wealthy and pretty partygoer.

The Cover and Title
The cover is black, red, and white in blocks of color showcasing Cindy as a silhouette in white enhanced by the red of her lips and the sexy black halter dress she's wearing along with a tiger pendant, stretching her arms over her head. A spare abstract of a wolf in red outlined in white is behind her with black filling the rest of the background. Left justified and beginning at Cindy's waist is the author's name with the title below it in white.

The title is all about Karl's "Territorial" desires.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karl Marsten's POV just before the events of Bitten happen. Being on my second read of Bitten and having watched the show, I already have a fairly "ok" feeling towards Marsten: he's a thief but he's not a monster. But this novella does cement this ambivalence towards him: he's not insulting, he's not evil (his morals are a bit off but as a Mutt he can't do much but steal to live), he cons people but he doesn't harm them and actually makes sure they're safe..and his feelings towards Elena are confirmed to be more friendly than anything else (he uses the word "sister") which is refreshing considering most mutts see Elena as a prize of sorts. Idk, I wouldn't necessarily read a whole book about Karl, but 15 pages felt like the right amount. It's hard to rate a 15 pages book but tbh this deserves 4 stars because the writing is good, it's a nice free short story (you can download it online for free) that gives you insight into a character and tbh I am rediscovering my love for kelley armstrong so any material to add to the universe of Women of the Otherworld is more than welcome!

[the judgy reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three reasons to read Territorial:

1) I did not anticipate liking Karl's POV, but he is surprisingly endearing because of how courteously he treats the people he's trying to rob.

2) I've seen bits and pieces of Karl's backstory in other books, but his POV brings those elements to life in a way the other characters talking about it couldn't.

3) This first-hand account of his state of mind right before the events of Bitten is interesting. It's a more detailed explanation of what he was going through and why he did what he did.

[Anniken Haga · Rating 3 out of 5]

A glimpse into Karl's life before the events of Bitten. While his story is told in one of the later books, I liked how this one gave a more personal account of his relationship to his father, as well as to Elena and the Pack. I like Karl, and so getting this story which makes him more "human" regarding the events in Bitten, was a nice extra.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Short PDF story found on author’s website under Extras.

A very confusing chain of events about Carl Marsten before the book ‘Bitten’. He’s a smooth jewelry thief and ladies’ man who has a bad night.

Fave scene: Elena’s necklace.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl is being Karl, plotting a jewelry theft, when he runs into Daniel, who recruits him for his little revolt. Also includes Karl remembering his father's death at the hands of the Pack (i.e. Malcolm).

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved Karl in the tv show so was happy to read a short from his POV, the ending definitely has me excited to read Bitten. How funny that Karl was trying to be a gentleman to the woman he was planning on robbing.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief but alright read that explains more of Karl's background and why he hates the pack. It's free on the author's website.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enter Karl - a werewolf who's also a jewel thief! I loved this one.

[A M H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice flashback info for Karl's past and motivations. It was also cool to get his point of view.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl Marsten before the events of Bitten.

Heather's Notes
Good story, gives some insight on Carl's thought process.

[Girlgeorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Online short that again I felt wasn't quite up to the author's usual standards. This one tells the story of how Karl came to be in the company of Daniel in the events preceding Bitten.

[Lilian Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short story. Can’t wait to read more on the main character.

[Judy Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting to see into Karl’s mind. He’s definitely a character with depth, I’ve only read Bitten so I’m excited to see what he brings to the rest of the series!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story that first introduces us to Karl, a mutt werewolf who only wants to be able to claim a territory for himself which he can defend for himself. Karl and his father both make a living through thievery however his father Josef prefers quiet burglary vs. Karl's chosen method of steal items (usually jewelry) right off the person wearing it without them even noticing. Karl has a target in mind, a girl at a party with a tiger head pendant. He is able to easily lure her away but an interruption from Daniel, a pack werewolf, causes difficulties to arise. But can maybe a deal be struck?

This is set even longer after the last short story involving the werewolves as a series of events have now become past memories, these include Karl's father was killed when Karl was sixteen, when his father was murdered by pack werewolves. So Karl had sworn revenge "against
the Pack, only to have Malcolm and his posse leave the group, as Malcolm’s son, Jeremy, took
the reins of leadership. So Karl had turned his attention to Malcolm himself. Then, just as he’d been about to declare himself ready for the confrontation, another mutt had killed the aging champion. Wally Santos was long dead, killed by the Pack. So only Raymond remained. Karl had taken out Raymond, but had gotten no satisfaction from the kill—hadn’t even taken credit for it."

At one point the storyline goes back and forth talking about Karl and his father but switches over to referring to one by their last name Marsten which I found to be overly confusing. Also the flipping back and forth between reality at the present time and past experiences/memories made me somewhat certain what happened when.

[gremlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is interesting, but more Karl remembering his past than a story.

Since it's been a long time since I read Bitten, I don't remember how this related to that. I don't even remember Karl before he met Hope.

But having just read Thirteen, this was good background info about something that came up during that book that I hadn't understood.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl has a rich and drunk woman on his arm but his eye is on her jewellery. However he has second thoughts about the robbery when he picks up the scent of a werewolf that he has already killed. These are the events directly leading to Bitten and shows how Karl ended up involved.

This is really a filler short story but it was quite interesting to see how Karl ends up in a rebel plot. I would have liked it to be extended to include a discussion of the actual plans to see Karl's reaction to what was going to happen.

I was amused by how badly he was messing up his date though! He is a lot smoother when he meets Hope!

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story about Karl Marsten, who -in the midst of a jewel lifting operation- gets a blast from the past. There is a set up for Bitten in the story, but the most important thing is the little insight we get on Marsten's youth and his thought's on his father.
Loved it. But hey: it's Karl Marsten, so what's not to love?

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really Karl's biggest fan, but this story gives you a little look at where Karl was before Bitten. If you've read the entire series, then you already know all of this from Karl and Hope's books. Yes, it gives a little sympathy to Karl, but you should have learned that even Clay is over Karl's actions by the time we need to deal with him. Overall, it was good backstory, if you read the stories in order.

[Beate · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a huge fan of the books, I'm sure this is a good read. But if you're like me, only picking up the books to stay ahead of the TV series, then this might not be the most important read for you. Though if you already have, it'll take you all of five minutes to read, so I'd recommend reading it. If for nothing else, than to get some character back story to Karl.

[Courtney Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a free short story on Kelley Armstrong 's website. did not really enjoy this one as it was about Karl who os a character I have not come to like. however, as always I love learning the back story and this one is worth the read if you can read it before reading Bitten. If you read it after it will to shed some light on why Karl is involved the way he is.

[R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here we have Karl lamenting over being less likely to be granted territory as a mutt with Elena gone and the start of Daniel's revolt. Karl is supposed to be on the job, eyeing a necklace worn by the girl he's charmed. He has little to no attention focused on her or the job though as he keeps tripping down memory lane. Not really anything new or noteworthy here.

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story about how Karl got in with Daniel and the other guy, from Bitten, and remembering how his dad was killed, while walking a mark around town because of a tiger pendant-he'd given Elena a wolf pendent in hopes of help in getting territory and such. Great story!!!