The four books which make up this volume were first published individually. "As the stories grow into one story, so one's awareness of the emblems and symbols deepens!

Garner binds the reader to him and he shows us the author working with language to make his book as his characters worked with stone and iron.

Not a word is wasted." - "Times Literary Supplement". "The Stone Book" - "Expect a lot and you won't be expecting too much of "The Stone Book".

It is a miniature masterpiece and, like all great miniatures, is staggering in what its limits contain." - Signal. "Granny Reardun" - "A brief, distinguished, satisfying book." - "The Observer". "The Aimer Gate" - ""The Aimer Gate" and its companion books deserve to last as classics in their kind - compact, concentrated, yet giving that impression of ease and simplicity which is the mark of a craftsman." - "The Sunday Times". "Tom Fobble's Day" - "The writing is marvellously precise, metaphorical and compressed, using each word to do the power of ten." - "The Guardian".