Unfortunately, the praise gets to be redundant and--may I say it?--almost hollow, without the balance of some thoughtful criticism. Personally, I wouldn't have much negative to say regarding Tolkien's work, but I found very little that was genuinely fresh or enlightening in this collection of "meditations." I did discover an interest in some of the authors included (not a bad reason for their involvement in the project) and in earlier 20th century writers that I have never familiarized myself with. Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison, Fritz Leiber, and Mervyn Peake are only a few of the old standbys mentioned repeatedly.

Although interesting, a quick read, and well-written, this collection might best serve those curious in unearthing the inspiration beneath some of their favorite authors. I was hoping for something with more vitality, but overall I'd recommend the book.

Harriet Klausner

3 stories by Stephen King: "The Reploids", "Sneakers" and "Dedication".

3 stories by Dan Simmons: "Metastasis", "Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell" and "Iverson's Pits".

1 story by George R. R. Martin: "The Skin Trade".

While the stories by King and Simmons are more or less short, the story by Martin is long, taking up almost half of the volume.

The only (almost) original story is "Metastasis" by Simmons, where a medical experiment lets a man see strange violet creatures (usually invisible) feeding on human beings like vampire slugs, causing cancer.

"Sneakers" is a ghost story, while "Dedication" is about urban witchcraft and "The Skin Trade" is a story about werewolves and investigation.