Indiana Jones, The Librarians, Warehouse 13...
Dark and filled with adventure.
Cannibalism, meat suits, demons, curses, and cat people.
I am loving this read.
8 bite sizes stories that you can finish in just one sitting.
I don’t know anything about the video game, but the book is fantastic.
It was definitely one of those “by the cover” reads. No regrets!

Old School Fun

Normally a tie-in doesn't work very well if you've never played the tied-in video game. Here, though, we have an origin story prequel, so it predates the video game action and the book doesn't depend on knowing anything at all about the game beyond the fact that it involves a group of daredevil adventurers in a British Department of Antiquities who fight supernatural evil.

Thought of, then, as a multicharacter anthology, with a different character featured in each story, and some overlap as the Brigade is formed, this book was a satisfying hoot. It's uneven, of course, and probably not all of the stories will be to the reader's liking. But there was a nice range of styles and approaches, some very solid hits, and not much, for me, in the way of misses. This had a pulpy, moody, old school feel that I enjoyed.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Like all anthologies of short stories written by different authors some are far better than others.
They were all enjoyable though.
Hence giving 3 stars but maybe should be 3.5

The Department of Antiquities is in the market for people prepared to endure strange occurrences, fight unknown foes , and risk their lives on a regular basis. Be prepared to never look at life the same.
This title is supposed to be a lead-in to an upcoming video game by giving backstories to various characters, but also be enjoyable to others. David Moore succeeds with the clutch of authors who provide a nice set of origin tales that entertain.

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title.

I'm not much of a gamer, so I don't know the first thing about Strange Brigade, which makes me an odd choice to read a tie-in book . . . but I couldn't resist the concept of a Department of Antiquities that is tasked with confronting ancient and terrible evils.

Fortunately, The True History of the Strange Brigade is more an origin story than a tie-in, so no prior knowledge of the franchise is required to enjoy it. David Thomas Moore has gathered an impressive array of authors, who have contributed an eclectic range of genres.

"And Was Jerusalem Builded Here?" by Cassandra Khaw serves as an absolutely killer opening to the collection, a creepy tale of Victorian horror with the darkest of morbid imagery - eyes the color of linen and soot, hair the hue of menstrual tissue, and more. A stunning read.

"Ripples In A Polluted Pool" by Jonathan L. Howard merges pulp adventure and sci-fi horror, with a unique take on symbiotic parasites and hive mentality, with a truly chilling question of fate left open at the end.

"The Professor's Dilemma" by Tauriq Moosa returns to the Victorian horror theme, layering in some archaeological adventure, with a story that offers some dark, intriguing insights into the members of the Strange Brigade.

"Nalangu's Trials" by Gaie Sebold and "Where You Bury Things" by Guy Adams were two stories that didn't really work for me, distractions that caused me to put the book down for an extended period of time before coming back to it.

"Peccavi, Or If Thy Father" by Mimi Mondal got things back on track with the story of a family curse, of a young woman struggling against death, in a well-written story that surprised me with the way it developed.

"The Island of Nightmares" by Patrick Lofgren was a very cool story about a mysterious island, cannibals, monsters, and a mad villain. A truly heroic adventure.

"Tessie's Song" by Joseph Guthrie was the pulpiest adventure of them all, and yet one of my favorites, a perfect way to end the collection on a high note. What begins with the undead in bar ends with a pterodactyl attack and a rescue from an island of dinosaurs.

Aside from the soft spot in the middle, The True History of the Strange Brigade was a fantastic collection that delivered exactly what I was looking for. Some great characters, fun monsters, over-the-top adventure, and solid writing.

This book was a collection of short stories. They are about the characters in a video game. So if you have no interest in the game it's really a strange read. The short stories were ok some were a little too much for me. I really didn't enjoy the book because I was unaware it was about the characters in a game.

This book goes hand in hand with a video game called Strange Brigade and it basically tells the story of how this group of people came to work together. The Department of Antiquities, also dubbed the "Strange Brigade", is tasked with going up against the supernatural and evil that threatens our world. Each of these 8 stories focuses on a different member of this mysterious government group and how they were inducted into the organization. The book kicks off with a bang, literally, with the story of Gracie Braithwaite, a young woman in England who goes to work in what she believes is a normal run of the mill factory, but in reality, is a den of human-skinning demons. So, she does what any sane person would do in that situation: blows the whole sucker up. Thus, her place in the Strange Brigade is solidified. After that, the stories seemed to go downhill in my opinion. The next story, following a mind parasite which leads to obedient, meek, hive minded individuals was pretty interesting (very Invasion of the Body Snatchers-esque), but the rest of the stories just bored me. You had ghouls, pterodactyls, a vengeful tiger goddess, all the makings of what could've been really interesting stories, but they all just hit below the mark. It got to the point where I was just reading them to finish the book because I'm not one of those people who can leave a book unfinished. I was hoping for a lot of Indiana Jones-meets-Supernatural vibes, but really I got a lot of stories about people trekking through jungles with a dash of something unnatural going on.

I thought this book was interesting. Each author has produced the backstory for a different character, which leads to what, at times, seems a little disjointed.

The True History Of The Strange Brigade a fantasy book of short stories featuring the beginning stories of the Strange Brigade. If you're a fan of the games or just enjoy short story supernatural fantasy i encourage you to pick it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing - Abaddon Books for the digital copy of this galley.

On August 28, 2018, the video game The Strange Brigade will be available. This book contains the stories or mentions of the adventurers who make up the Strange Brigade and what they were doing just before being recruited into that band of fighters of monsters and demons. Formed in England, probably during the reign of Queen Victoria, each recruit to DA-01 has a useful skill for the fights ahead. I watched video of the play of the game, but this review is of the short stories only.

Gracie Braithwaite - factory worker - "And Was Jerusalem Builded Here?" by Cassandra Khaw. Gracie feels gratitude when she is given a job in a factory. Her family will at least have money to live on even though she is required to lodge at the factory. Her troubles start when she begins to figure out where the product is coming from that she is sewing together.

Captain Francis Fairburne - British Secret Service Bureau - "Ripples In A Polluted Pool" by Jonathan L. Howard. When a traitorous SSB agent is killed Fairburne sees something crawl out of his mouth. Who controls these creatures?

Professor Archimedes DeQuincey - British archeologist - "The Professor's Dilemma" by Tauriq Moosa. The professor is determined to return to Iraq for the dig even though his father has disappeared.

Nalangu - an African tribal woman - "Nalangu's Trials" by Gaie Sebold. Nalangu has the gift of seeing things unrevealed to others. She undergoes four years of training to become a Sister of the Night.

Mr. Bey - "Where You Bury Things" by Guy Adams. Mr. Bey volunteers to join the Strange Brigade after his adventure in Alice Springs.

Anjali Singh Rathore - "Peccavi, Or If Thy Father" by Mimi Mondal. A blood curse is on the children of the Kishangarh Maharaja. Both of Anjali's brothers have died and she is fighting for her life.

Lieutenant-Commander Hachiro Shimizu - ship's captain in the Japanese Imperial Navy - "The Island of Nightmares" by Patrick Lofgren. A secret island contains an ark filled with monsters to be unleashed on the world. Hachiro is rescued by the Strange Brigade.

"Brash" Conaghan - American cowboy - a mention but no story for Brash.

Tessie Caldwell - Texas - aviator - "Tessie's Song" by Joseph Guthrie. Lady Webster from the Department of Antiquities (DA-01, Strange Brigade) recruits Tessie to be a reconnaissance pilot for Strange Brigade missions. Her first one is to rescue the members while her plane is being attacked by a pterodactyl.

I was pleased to find that all the stories were well written and when combined gave me a lot of background information about the Strange Brigade, its history and the types of missions the members would be involved in. This will be a great way for players of the game to give the characters a lot of depth. The cannibalism in one of the stories made me cringe, but it certainly did get the point across about how far the ruler had fallen in his humanity. Altogether an interesting peek into the recruitment of those who will become members of the Strange Brigade.