The book is a collection of 18 short stories, written in the last decades (60s onward). Not all deserve 4 stars, but I gave it for the overall collection and, well, because I happen to like the authors style. I own the german edition, translation is solid, though. ( )

http://www.leftfield.org/~rawdon/book... ( )

Having loved A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon the Deep, and as a lover of short story collections, I had high hopes for this collection. While there are 2 or 3 interesting stories, and at least 1 very good one, the majority were bland and at some times rediculous (one of his earlier works showcased herein utilizes a tedious phonetic gimmick). I began and did not finish 2 or 3 stories. If you're a VV fan, you may like this as long as you know what you're getting into. Again, there are some quite good stories, so it may be worth it to the dedicated fan. ( )

Wonderful! ( )