The third story in this volume takes place 16,000 years in the future. When you realize that the
33 stories are ordered chronologically, you begin to grasp the scale of Cordwainer Smith's creation.
Regimes, technologies, planets, moralities, religions, histories all rise and fall through his
millennia. These are futuristic tales told as myth, as legend, as a history of a distant and decayed
past. Written in an unadorned voice reminiscent of James Tiptree Jr., Smith's visions are dark and
pessimistic, clearly a contrast from the mood of SF in his time; in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s it was
still thought that science would cure the ills of humanity. In Smith's tales, space travel takes
a horrendous toll on those who pilot the ships through the void. After reaching perfection, the lack
of strife stifles humanity to a point of decay and stagnation; the Instrumentality of Mankind arises
in order to stir things up. Many stories describe moral dilemmas involving the humanity of the
Underpeople, beings evolved from animals into humanlike forms.

Stories not to be missed in this collection include "Scanners Live in Vain," "The Dead Lady of Clown
Town," "Under Old Earth," "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal," "Mother Hitton's Littul
Kittons," and the truly disturbing "A Planet Called Shayol." Serious SF fans should not pass up the
chance to experience Cordwainer Smith's complex, distinctive vision of the far future.

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