In this astonishing, variegated assortment of tales, award-winning author Paul Di Filippo covers all the themes and modes he is best-known for, and ventures into new territory as well. --Visit a hermetic city where beauty is the only currency. --Experience a steampunk fable in which nothing is what it first seems, and a young man's future rests on finding his true father. --Hang out with the techno-savvy, social-media gypsies who form the new elite in the not-too-distant future. --Ride a wild ribofunk express train into the badlands where a man's skin is not his own. --Experience a counterfacutal World War II where victory is acheived by amazing rays. --Vist a haunted Italian city where the Neolithic and the present live side-by-side, and a hero who falls in love with a goddess must battle her ancient foe. --Visit an Orwellian future redeemed only by the imagination and love of a tortured dissenter. These are just some of the uncanny tales contained in this collection, incorporating comedy and tragedy, laughter and tears!