It was on a ferry ride to Manhattan that the idea for this anthology was conceived: Sometimes the ground the characters of a story walk on is no more than that; but sometimes the landscape is a character in its own right. Nine writers, including James P. Blaylock, Peter Dickinson, Patricia A. McKillip, P C Hodgell and the editor, Robin McKinley, have written stories where the land is crucial to the tale: the armchair traveller will find the best of fantasy on this grand tour of imaginary lands. 1 • Paper Dragons • [Land of Dreams] • novelette by James P. Blaylock 23 • The Old Woman and the Storm • short story by Patricia A. McKillip 35 • The Big Rock Candy Mountain • novelette by Robert Westall 59 • Flight • novelette by Peter Dickinson 91 • Evian Steel • [Merlin's Booke] • novelette by Jane Yolen 125 • Stranger Blood • novelette by P. C. Hodgell 155 • The Curse of Igamor • short story by Michael de Larrabeiti 169 • Tam Lin • novelette by Joan D. Vinge 199 • The Stone Fey • novelette by Robin McKinley