The Santaman came reeking of love into this place and we did not know him . . . "There are common themes in Ken's work. Of love and faith and a world full of half-understood legends; beliefs dissolving around you. Of people, plunging forward, trying to do the right thing. Of trying to find a way forward, even if we don't really know if the Santaman will ever come again, and we aren't quite sure we believe. Of finding hope, where all was lost. If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold And Clear deals with all of these. It is strange and wondrous and compassionate and gorgeous, and I hope you love it, too." —from the introduction, by Tina Connolly, author of Ironskin