This little mini-collection of two short stories - or, as I suspect, a short story and a novelette - is a quick, easy read. I'm not too inspired by "Aviva and the Aliens" to be honest, in which a palace cook is briefly abducted in order to prepare a meal for some rather off-putting aliens. I did enjoy "Rivka in Port Saltspray" though, mostly for the emphasis on communication. Rivka rescues a woman in distress, and they share stories but not a language, so the two of them trying to understand each other with limited vocabulary was really cleverly done. It reminded me of that Star Trek: TNG episode... oh, what was it. "Darmok," that's it - Shaka when the walls fell. (I remembered the phrase before the title!)