
Part of Series
The stories: "Three Knives in Ithkar" by Gareth Bloodwine - A somber story of an apprentice herbalist who falls in obsessively in love with a pretty shill for a knife-throwing booth. "Were-Sisters" by Ann R. Brown - Two sisters who happen to be werewolves bake yummy deer-meat pastries for the opening of the Ithkar Fair. Unfortunately, another baker has a grudge against them. "The Magic Carpet" by James Clark - A carpet seller has a bad day at the Fair when an item of his merchandise floats. The punishment for magicking sales goods is rather severe in Ithkar. "The Amiable Assassin" by A.C. Crispin - When a young guard, who also works in his mother's laundry talks about 'taking care of dirty laundry' in an alehouse, he is mistaken for an assassin. "Guardians of the Secret" by Ginger Curry and Monika Conroy - I have problems with stories with lines like "Night was squatting once again upon Ithkar" or "Dawn was a vampire lover kissing the slumbering city awake." At any rate, an old perfumer passes on a world-shattering secret (which we never learn) to her young successor (who immediately turns old and ugly). "The Beggar and His Cat" by Gene DeWeese - A beggar indulges in a long monologue about his cat, who may or may not be magical. "Flarrin Red-chin" by M. Coleman Easton - A young woman's dowsing talent manifests itself in a rather unusual fashion. "Covenant" by P.M. Griffin - An artist and a warrior take on the dark god, Thotharn. "What Little Girls Are Made Of" by T.S. Huff - A hugely popular candy-maker makes her annual trip to the Fair and is forced to bargain with a follower of Thotharn for her granddaughter's honor. The story's good except for a slightly unbelievable ending. "Eyes of the Seer" by Caralyn Inks and Georgia Miller - A blind seer loses his gift when a harlot steals his 'amulet.' A tinsmith who wants to apprentice himself to the seer promises to make him a new one. "Fiddler Fair" by Mercedes Lackey - A girl disguised as a boy tries out for the Bardic Guild. When she wins the trial and announces her true sex, the Bards promptly smash her instruments and kick her out of the tent. However, this isn't the end of the story. "The Silverlord" by Morgan LLywelyn - A genetically enhanced white stallion catches the eye of a beautiful race rider. Will they find true love across the species barrier? "SunDark in Ithkar" by S. Lee Rouland - A girl with the magical gift of being able to predict the positions of astronomical objects wants to apprentice herself to an astrologer. Meanwhile the priests of Thotharn (he really has a big presence in this volume) plot to use an eclipse to acquire more followers. "Hair's Breath" by Susan Shwartz - Two married traders and their baby are kidnapped by underwater demons. Fortunately, the husband is a dream-singer with an unusual harp. "The Singing Eggs" by Kiel Stuart - A down-on-her-luck portrait painter acquires a new apprentice, a batch of singing eggs, and an important client. So, what's the catch?
Author

Alice Mary Norton always had an affinity to the humanities. She started writing in her teens, inspired by a charismatic high school teacher. First contacts with the publishing world led her, as many other contemporary female writers targeting a male-dominated market, to choose a literary pseudonym. In 1934 she legally changed her name to Andre Alice. She also used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as pseudonyms. Andre Norton published her first novel in 1934, and was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) association in 1983. Norton was twice nominated for the Hugo Award, in 1964 for the novel Witch World and in 1967 for the novelette "Wizard's World." She was nominated three times for the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, winning the award in 1998. Norton won a number of other genre awards, and regularly had works appear in the Locus annual "best of year" polls. On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, K. D. Wentworth, and Catherine Asaro.