The foreword’s by Brian Evanson and you can read it at Google Books. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but it left me cold and set me up to hate the book. Good thing I had already bought it at that point.

As to your question, did you miss how he wanted to go beyond merely protecting?

I thought it was good, tight prose that brought me in and made me wonder about why I just can’t relate to some people. Protecting my family would not bring me doubt, or did I misinterpret something?

After the irritating foreword and the rural-Utah first story, I was prepared to set LAD down for a few months. But I was holding a sleeping baby and no other reading material within reach so I read the next story, a gem called “Now and at the Hour of Our Death” and was blown away. The book hardly left my hands over the next few days and since finishing it I’ve been pressing it on everyone.

And so, even though Rift is based on that first rural-Utah story, I’m very excited.