This is the first collection of short stories by Robert Charles Wilson - an author's who's novel length fiction I've been a fan of for some years. In the stories contained within this volume Mr. Wilson continues to demonstrate his excellent writing skills. The downside though is I feel he is more suited to the longer length of the novel.

Each of the nine stories shows a wonderful imagination at work, the set-up for each of the tales is good. Unfortunately though I felt that the tales were just not long enough to explore them with any great satisfaction.

That said there are a couple of excellent tales here, two that suit their length. The first of these if 'The Observers', set in the 1950's a young girl who sees 'aliens' is sent to summer with her uncle in California. As her uncle works at the Mt. Palomar Observatory she meets and develops a friendship with Edwin Hubble. This is a good example of the excellent characterisation the author is capable of and my personal favourite in the collection.

The second of the two that stand out for me is 'Divided by Infinity', a Hugo-nominated story concerning an aging book lover in Toronto. Okay being a lover of books myself may have something to do with my liking here but I stand by my conviction that this is a good story worthy of its award nomination.

This is not a bad bunch of tales by any means, but in future Mr. Wilson would be best concentrating on the length he is more suited to - the novel. And I look forward to the next eagerly.