This is the first short science-fiction story George RR Martin wrote regarding the Tuf Voyaging series and despite it being in my opinion one of the weakest stories of the series - regarding the magical aspect, because regarding storytelling and plot it is amazing - but it does something amazing: It is not the first story in chronological order but, being the first George wrote, it sets up the mood and the pace for the others and most importantly, it jumpstarts the series and gives the author the inspiration and world creation element he needed to begin the full series with a goal in mind: to narrate Haviland Tuf's adventure.
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I started reading this story yesterday and I hope I'll finish it tonight, If I do I'll post a review tomorrow or on Monday. By the way, I found an online Free PDF of this book in case anyone is interested!