A collection of stories from a master of modern sf, this volume will include a number of original stories alongside stories which have appeared in Asimov's and Amazing magazines but have never before appeared in book form. All the stories are hard sf or intelligent future extrapolation. Several of the published stories have received Nebula nominations and were published between 1987 and 1990. Barnes describes some of the stories as predictions for the end of the world - hence apocalypses - and others as apostrophes, speeches addressed to a non-existent being or to something which cannot understand speech. All are genre expanding, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining.