Habitual Heroes is a collection of eight short stories and four novelettes by Elliott Kay, including stories from the Good Intentions Series, the Poor Man’s Fight Series, and Wandering Monsters. It was published on December 27 2021.
General[]
Habitual Heroes is a collection of short stories and novelettes by Elliott Kay, including stories from the Good Intentions Series, the Poor Man’s Fight Series, and Wandering Monsters.
Compared to the earlier collection Small Victories, the stories are generally longer, making the collection as a whole longer despite having five fewer stories. The stories also are mostly but not completely in chronological order, unlike the previous collection that was strictly in chronological order. All of the stories can be read independently of each other, and are only connected through the shared characters.
Despite the cover, the collection does not include any crossover stories.
Stories[]
- Good Intentions
- “Outsourced” (novelette)
- “Clear Communication” (short story)
- “Supportive Relationships” (short story)
- “Legitimacy” (short story)
- “Proper Focus” (novelette)
- “Guardians” (short story)
- Wandering Monsters
- “Don’t Overthink It” (short story)
- “Justice” (short story)
- Poor Man’s Fight
- “Field Testing” (novelette)
- “Perspective” (short story)
- “An Honest Business” (novelette)
- “Soft Targets” (short story)
Publisher’s summary[]
Life after an interstellar war doesn’t get much quieter with the arrival of “peace.” It doesn’t get any easier for those who stray into the magical shadows of Seattle or for a crew of monsters on the run, either. Before long, heroism can become a tough habit to break.
Publisher’s warning[]
HABITUAL HEROES contains stories from the series Poor Man’s Fight, Wandering Monsters, and Good Intentions. Collectively they include explicit violence, explicit sex, explicit language, explicit economic discontent, sorcery, lies, fluff, breaking and entering, premeditated public indecency, analysis of adult film, impersonation of a cow, angel gossip, punching, kicking, stabbing, shooting, defenestration, casual sex, assertive sex, sex in a stranger’s office, sex under the table, awkward shopping encounters, unsafe starship hallways, a jerk throwing a rock at a cat, the same jerk getting stomped for it, outdated sports merchandise, kidnapping, intimidation, judgmental peers, college hook-ups, persistent enabling, incomplete college notes, polyamory talk, hiding things from Mom, Tacoma traffic, snarky book titles, price gouging, the social and emotional trauma of a superior sense of smell, sorcerous inadequacy, rampant speculation, orc civics lessons, passive aggression, insubordination, ambushes, abusive leadership, misuse of medical equipment, betrayal, conspiracy, corruption, looting, espionage, baiting, social engineering, running in socks, weaponized shrooms, home invasion, a surprise snake, and failure to disclose the cult origins of used furniture.
Publication history[]
The book was published as an ebook on December 27, 2021. All of the stories had been written and published as Patreon rewards.
The book does not contain two previously published Patreon stories, since they are not fully canon within the Good Intentions series: “Can’t Stab Everything” and “Like a Professional”.
“Justice” was originally published on Patreon as “Monster Justice”.