A collection of 19 stories personally selected by the author, including two original to the collection, tales that draw aside the veils of mundane reality to reveal the hidden truths of this world and beyond. Stories that transport the reader from the icy Mars of Winterstrike to the searing deserts of Kazakhstan; from the exotic streets of Inspector Chen's Singapore Three to the forgotten waterways and hidden courtyards of Venice. Liz Williams writes science fiction with the rich textures of the very best fantasy, and fantasy with the sensibilities of high-end science fiction. She reveals the world around us in subtly different shades and portrays other realms with a vividness that defies doubt.

"From the moment you open this collection, you leave the Known behind and enter the brighter, darker, more actual possibility that lies just through that door, over that hill..." Tanith Lee

"Williams has mastered the art of writing clearly and believably about weird, alien worlds." The Times

"Liz Williams' writing awakens the mind and transports the senses. When it has you thus distracted it is also stealthily penetrating the secret heart of things." Tricia Sullivan.

"Williams weaves a rich, complicated tapestry that merges life with afterlife, otherworldly with worldly and human with inhuman." Publishers Weekly