A lot of the stories in this collection are not de Lint's strongest (as he readily admits in the introduction), but it was still a good read. Having read the first collection of de Lint's early short stories I can definitely see his evolution and improvement as a writer, as we get a handful more of his published stories (Borderlands mostly, which are always a charm) but it's still very clear that he hasn't quite found his voice yet. I skipped over most of the science fiction stories at the end (not because they were weak, but because sic-fi isn't really my jam), but many of the urban fantasy and "real" world-based stories were starting to sound like the Charles de Lint that I know and love. There's one final volume of the early short sotries that I have yet to read, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing the final bridge between the developing and more mature author. ( )