It took me forever to get through this book and I got through the last few short stories so fast when I just listened to the audio book. I usually don't pick up anthologies of any sort and I guess that's really what threw me off. It's not bad at all, though. Wish I had just listened to the audio book version sooner. This novella gives all the much needed background for many of the characters as well an an epilogue of sorts at the end for all the main characters. It gives insight as to what each main character's life was like before the series began. Wolf's backstory was probably the most interesting to me and The Mechanic was probably my favorite pre-series short story. The epilogue is definitely worth the read. For anyone that felt we didn't get enough about the character's relationships with side characters in the main series might want to pick this up.