having just read the hunger and other stories, i was expecting a lot from yonder, and while i liked it, i felt the stories weren't as consistently strong as they were in beaumont's first collection. there are some really fine stories here, but some of the longer ones are just too long. i agree with an earlier review that pointed out that the shorts are often the best this book has to offer. i'm going to give it a 4 rating on the strength of "the new sound", "fritzchen", "place of meeting", "traumerai",and "last rites"