It's rate that I'm not working on a novel.  Short stories often happen between novels.  Consequently my output is fairly small.  But I love the tale-telling concept, the notion 'that I can spin a yarn, rather than construct something architectural and precise.' So writes triple Hugo Award-winning author C.J. Cherryh in the introduction to this book, the first comprehensive collection of her independent short fiction.  For though C.J. is primarily known for her novels, its clear from the more than two dozen brilliant and varied stories collected here, as well as her commentaries about them, that she loves the short forms and truly enjoys her forays into them.We welcome you to join this expert far-traveller in realms of her imagination, where you'll visit: 'Cassandra'-the Hugo Award-winning tale of a woman cursed with a unique, prophetic madness.  'Threads of Time'-an unforgettable reminder that when you play tricks in time, Time itself may play the greatest trick on you.  'The Last Tower'-in which an old man discovers how an 'ally' may topple defences an enemy could never breach.  Sunfall-in which six mighty Earth cities laden with the grandeur of history confront their fates in the far future light of our own dying sun.  And may other magical, alien, and future worlds, in a volume which incorporates all C.J Cherryh's previous, long unavailable collections, individual short stories which have never been compiled before, and a never before published novella written specifically for this book.  So board this spaceship where your tour guide is one of the most gifted and brilliant of all science fiction and fantasy writers, and embark on a journey fuelled by the imagination of the incomparable.