What does it mean for a man to fall in love with an airship? If God walks the streets, how can He be summoned? Does the Devil rely on mechanised bureaucracy to connect to people via phone? Each story feels like a half-remembered piece of folklore. There are twists in the tales, but they're rarely cruel.

Rather charmingly, it has been translated from the original Swedish by the author herself!

The decision to translate my own work was born out of an old dream. […] As a result, I’m more careful with the prose, perhaps less adventurous, because without that gut reaction it’s hard to know exactly how something will resonate with an English-speaking reader. […] Cultural shorthand is convenient but can also make you a little sloppy, so being forced to think about what a throwaway phrase really means jolts you out of writing on autopilot.

Whenever I read a translation, there's always a nagging feeling that the translator might be skipping something important. Tidbeck perfectly captures the rhythms of poetic English.

An absolute dream of a collection.

After a calamitous accident, the Fairy realm is cut off from the mundane world. Only one trickster remains, a sprite by the name of Mainder who is now trapped on our side. All seems to be going well in his little corner of the world, until a plucky team of archaeologists start digging around the shattered ruins of the portal between worlds.

It isn't a startlingly original take on a well-trodden subject; but it isn't intended to be. It's a cosy - slightly sexy - story of people whirling around each other, caught in a mystic tangle of intrigue.

There are some lovely touches and clever little twists on the genre - including how to use a smartphone while trying to find your way through an enchanted forest and the perils of ethical seduction in interspecies romance.

It's well paced and the frequent hops in time help flesh out the story without resorting to tedious exposition. A great debut.