Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Tom Kidd

Megan Lindholm (Wizard of the Pigeons) writes tightly constructed SF and fantasy with a distinctly contemporary feel. Robin Hobb (Assassin’s Quest) writes sprawling, multi-volume fantasies set in imaginary realms. These two writers, apparently so different, are, of course, the same person, each reflecting an aspect of a single multifaceted imagination.

Inheritance gathers the best of Hobb and Lindholm’s shorter fiction into one irreplaceable volume containing ten stories and novellas (seven by Lindholm, three by Hobb), together with a revealing introduction and extensive, highly readable story notes. The Lindholm section leads off with the Hugo and Nebula-nominated novella “A Touch of Lavender,” a powerful account of love, music, poverty, and addiction set against an extended encounter between human and alien societies. Other memorable entries include “Cut,” a reflection on the complex consequences of freedom, and the newly published “Drum Machine,” an equally absorbing meditation on the chaotic nature of the creative impulse. Two of Robin Hobb’s contributions revisit the world of her popular Live Traders series. “Homecoming” enlarges the earlier history of those novels through the journal entries of Lady Carillion Carrock, while “The Inheritance” concerns a disenfranchised young woman who comes to understand the true nature of her grandmother’s legacy. And in “Cat’s Meat,” a long and wonderful story written expressly for this collection, an embattled single mother reclaims her life with the help of a gifted—and utterly ruthless—cat.

Inheritance offers the best of two separate but related fictional worlds. Whatever their differences, the Hobb and Lindholm stories have certain crucial elements in common: their intelligence, their attention to detail, and their instant, almost effortless accessibility. Together, these beautifully crafted tales constitute a unique—and important—collection that offers both offers both intellectual pleasure and pure narrative excitement on virtually every page.

Both Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm will be signing all copies of the limited editions.

Inheritance will feature a full color dust jacket (a different one for each edition), full color endsheets (exclusive to the Deluxe Limited Edition), and a pen and ink illustration at the heading of each tale.

Limited: 800 numbered (from 201-1000) copies, fully bound in cloth, with the trade edition dust jacket, signed by authors
Deluxe Limited: 200 numbered (from 1-200) copies, bound in leather, with a different dust jacket design and exclusive full-color endsheets, signed by authors

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
“This compelling collection includes contributions from two pseudonyms of Margaret Lindholm: bestseller Robin Hobb (Dragon Haven) and lesser-known but critically acclaimed Megan Lindholm. An introduction that explains how both pseudonyms came to be gives a fascinating glimpse into the author’s mind. Lindholm’s tales sometimes mask deeper themes or play with one significant moment, while Hobb’s narrators are often naïve and her prose extravagant. Under any name, Margaret Lindholm’s assured prose has an unerring ability to tug on the reader's heartstrings.”

From Booklist (Starred Review):
“As Hobb/Lindholm says in the introduction, there’s a lot of common ground in the frameworks of stories by both sides of herself, but what’s fascinating is how different the alter egos’ worlds are. Lindholm writes of internal landscapes haunted by the drudgery of being, in which the extraordinary happens to ordinary people but does not always bring them all they’d hoped for. Hobb, although she certainly doesn’t neglect the internal landscape, sets off on much more epic journeys… An engaging, entertaining introduction to both sides of the author’s work.”

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