A nice short story collection with stories written by both of the author's pen names, Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb.

As an avid reader of Hobb, it was fun to see some if what she has written as Lindholm. Her Lindholm stories are shorter and less meandering than her work as Robin Hobb, but still have her deft and skillful characterization. The air of melancholy often found in her work as Hobb was a frequent prescence here as well.

The story "Finis" was the weakest and annoyed me by being less subtle than I expect by an author of Hobb's skill, explaining things instead of trusting the reader to pick up the hints. "Cut", dealing with questions of limits on bodily autonomy, was effective, thought-provoking, and disturbing (in a good way!).

The three stories under the name Robin Hobb (two of which were not really "short"stories, at around a 100 pages each) all dealt with women coming into their own, fighting against the restrictions put on them by the world and by the men in their lives.

"Home-coming" tells the tale of the first settlers of the Rain-Wilds, told through the diary of the main character Lady Carrilion. If you are familiar with Hobbs work, you understand how the Rain-Wilds works. If you are not, the setting must seem very mysterious. I'm almost a bit sorry that I already was familiar with it.

All in all, a robust and enjoyable short story collection. Suitable for both old and new readers of Hobb and Lindholm alike.