The one thing worse than an enemy is a friend turned false.

As a child I always steered clear of science fiction, but in the autumn of 1977 the bow-wave of publicity for the first Star Wars movie had already reached me, so I was eager for anything science-fictional.

An Engineer is no match for a Historian with his dander up!

Sometimes, on our way through the world, we meet someone who touches our heart in a way others don't.

Is it...dead?" asked Tom, his voice all quivery with fright. "A town just ran over him," said Hester. "I shouldn't think he's very well.

But we're alive, and together, and we're going to be all right.

That's the trouble with a story spinner. You never know what's real and what's made up. Even when they are telling the truth, they can't stop themselves from spinning it into something better; something prettier, with more of a pattern to it.