Gene Wolfe, whose Book of the New Sun was the most acclaimed science fiction series of the 1980s, offered his second collection of short fiction in 1989 to universal praise. This is a hefty volume of over 30 unforgettable stories in a variety of genres, many of them offering variations on themes and situations found in folklore and fairy tales. Wolfe's de-constructions/reconstructions are provocative, multilayered, and resonant. The literary riches here exemplify the sometimes elusive, occasionally challenging, always rewarding vision of an author whose love of language exceeds the boundaries of genre.