I was very disappointed with this collection of short stories. There's only so many times I can take being told that all men are bastards. (Even the man who features in the story she wrote as a birthday present for her husband, and who is presumably meant to be a celebration of him, is a jerk.) I know she can write decent male characters: Fitz, Burrich, Chade, Verity, Wintrow, Brashen, and Paragon are all very well-drawn, and Kennit is a masterpiece. But here we have psychopaths, users, bullies, and just plain arses throughout, with no explanation or exploration, just foils for the women to reject as they Find Themselves (or not).

The three stories written as Robin Hobb, in particular, are very poor. The first is yet another 'spoilt civilised woman has to rough it in the Rain Wilds and Finds Herself' romanticisation of suffering. It makes me long for a story about a back-country woman who despises civilisation having to live in it and finding out all its benefits. And to be fair, in the title story she does try something a bit like this. But it fails because while the main character is obviously supposed to be growing and becoming stronger in herself, all she actually does (and I don't believe this is the author's intention) is exchange one subservience for another.

And as for the final story. It took me a long time to actually get through it. There are no characters, only plot devices – the male villain is a psychopath, which may set up the tension of danger but is a fundamentally limited concept, and the female lead just behaves as stupidly as is necessary to keep the plot going. There's a kid, and, to be fair, it's hard to write a small child, but the woodenness of the boy really doesn't help the story either. And while the idea at the end is quite cool, it fails because it is so obviously physically impossible.

The story I liked best, I think, was the first one – a nice exploration of the clash between human and alien civilisations and values. And there are a couple of nicely disturbing near-future ideas too. But the rampant sexism that runs through the whole of it is just too much of a turn-off for me.