Wow. THE INHERITANCE & OTHER STORIES is exactly the kind of old-school short-story collection one would withdraw from the public library as an adolescent, sit down and read cover to cover, and become spellbound by the possibilities of the literary genre. Megan Lindholm, also writing under that name of Robin Hobb (they are one and the same), has made a perfect collection of 10 short and long pieces, doing it all the right way.

There’s a straightforward preface where she explains the personae of her two authorial selves, and each story opens with an introduction providing greater insight into the writer’s mind. These elements, which I feel are essential to such collections, make the reader feel like the book is really a distillation of the writer’s best work, as opposed to a hastily assembled grab bag of some stuff to which the publisher just happened to have the rights.

From the opening “A Touch of Lavender” (writing as Lindholm) to the closer “Cat’s Meat” (writing as Hobb), the author’s remarkably spare, but emotionally evocative style grabs you, holds you close, and tears you through the twists and turns of her impeccable plotting. That opener is a real stunner, first published in the November 1989 issue of ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION magazine. For collectors, the title story makes its U.S. debut, and there are three new stories: two from Lindholm, and one from Hobb (the final piece, which is also a great entry).

You won’t find tedious, purple descriptive prose here. Instead, Lindholm builds the house of her plot one sentence at a time, with each phrase serving as a nail to keep the structure steady — no wasted words, no flights of fancy. It’s solid writing, pared down to the bare essentials, and it makes her stories captivating.

The raw emotions of the opening and closing tales are deeply felt, and provide a clue to the personal and intimate style of this excellent fantasy writer. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, a collection like THE INHERITANCE would be an excellent place for you to start. —Mark Rose

Buy it at Amazon.