It was first published in paperback by Zebra Books in September 1979, and reprinted by the same publisher in 1981; a Canadian reprint was issued by General Paperbacks, also in 1981.

[1] The book collects eleven short stories and novelettes and one essay by various fantasy authors, together with a foreword in two parts and a "special word" by Offutt.

The anthology was reviewed by David Dvorkin in Science Fiction & Fantasy Review, November 1979, Orson Scott Card in Science Fiction Review, February 1980, and Lin Carter in The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 6 (1980).

[1] The book was nominated, together with the succeeding volume, for the 1980 Balrog Award for Best Collection/Anthology.

This article about a collection of fantasy short stories published in the 1970s is a stub.