After reading the three books in the Old Kingdom trilogy, I became more intrigued about the future of both Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom. To be completely honest, I wanted more "trips" to the world halved by science and magic that Garth Nix so cleverly crafted in the first three books; you know, even just 'canon' information about the geography or history of the place would be okay. Thinking that I'd gain a few more glimpses of the realms through this anthology, I excitedly secured a copy. I later found out that there's only ONE story connected to the trilogy...though, after reading it, I was not disappointed at all.

The novella "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case" is the official sequel-of-sorts to the last book of the Abhorsen trilogy and first fiction presented in the anthology. It's undoubtedly my favorite among the bunch (with the obvious reasons). It's nice to see a piece written from the POV of Nick Sayre; I'd been very intrigued by this character because I know there's so much more about him aside from just being the avatar of Orannis the Destroyer. The novella is a fast-paced read, and I sort of liked the very subtle teases about a possible Lirael-Nick romance (well done, Nix! Haha).

I quite enjoyed the D&D-ish adventure game "Down to the Scum Quarters"; the modernized version of Hansel and Gretel "Hansel's Eyes"; and the war story "Charlie Rabbit" (which reminds me of the movie The Grave of the Fireflies), and a story about lightning and auras, "Lightning Bringer". Of course, like all other collections, there are a few stories inside that are not as good as the others.

As a whole this is an entertaining and satisfying read. :)