McKinley and Dickinson collaborate on five agreeably eerie fantasies that begin and end in fire. “Phoenix,” set in modern Great Britain, expands the Egyptian myth as McKinley has done for other well-known folk tales. “Hellhound,” possibly written as a salute to the authors’ own hellhounds, features a dog of unearthly prowess and a cemetery haunted with evil zom bies. A young boy is transformed into a powerful magician in “Salamander Man.” “Fireworm” transports readers back to ancient times when men lived in caves and any threat to the clans’ fires was a death sentence. “First Flight,” an exquisite tale of dragons and boys, will leave readers begging for a sequel. lmp

Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson, the team behind Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, collaborate again to create five captivating tales incorporating the element of fire.

In McKinley?s ?First Flight,? a boy and his pet foogit unexpectedly take a dangerous ride on a dragon, and her ?Hellhound? stars a mysterious dog as a key player in an eerie graveyard showdown. Dickinson introduces a young man who must defeat the creature threatening his clan in ?Fireworm,? a slave who saves his village with a fiery magic spell in ?Salamander Man,? and a girl whose new friend, the guardian of a mystical bird, is much older than he appears in ?Phoenix.?

With time periods ranging from prehistoric to present day, and settings as varied as a graveyard, a medieval marketplace and a dragon academy, these stories are sure to intrigue and delight the authors? longtime fans and newcomers alike.