Superb collection of short stories from the desk shared by Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm.

I adore the Six Duchies books by Robin Hobb, but not so fond of the style of Lindholm - even knowing they are the same person. The writing styles are very different, and Hobb (as I think of her) explains this well in notes throughout this collection.

But these shorts were great. Fabulous to step into the familiar world of the Rain Wilds at the early days of the first colonists and for the split that forme3d Bingtown's conception, and into the Six Duchies clearly before the events in Assassin's Apprentice - referenced briefly by a mention of the village of Forge, so much the key to the story arc in the Assassin books.