Best recommended to those familiar with the series to which these stories belong. For outsiders like me, there are too few enjoyable on their own. I did like Orullian and Salyards, which I already knew, I enjoyed Ward and Williams, but not enough to look for the the series, and remembered why I want to read Staveley. I also absolutely loved Bakker, which surprised me, since so far I avoided his series for being too sluggish and philosophical, as countless reviews accuse - but to my amazement I was mesmerised by his story and immediately became a fan. The rest of the stories, I did not like at all. ( )