Lovely, as expected. Hogarth does some gorgeous stuff - this is on the lighter side, but still involves some seriously life-altering events and choices. I was puzzled that Ran's story made no mention of the youths - but I guess they're too adult to impinge on him much. And Solanth's story brings the two together a bit. Those three, and a couple others, are set on the Chatcaava Throneworld; there are several other stories set on Escutcheon. All of these stories are pivot points for the characters - building blocks for more stories to come. So yay for more stories to come, and I'm so glad I got to read these. _Not_ a place to start in this universe, though - these interactions are based on some very complex events in the previous books. I was confused in the first story - need to reread Healer's Wedding to remind myself of the confrontation that's discussed here. The rest of it was general enough I didn't feel confused - but then I've read all the books, most of them multiple times. They reward rereading, as will this. ( )