The Strangest Future imagined by any SF writer... An interstellar empire ruled by the Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon from the planet Norstrilia confers on them virtual immortality. A future in which wealthy humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A future in which great ships sail the stars. A future of wonder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

This work contains the following stories:

• Timeline
• Introduction: Cordwainer Smith - The shaper of myths J.J. Pierce>
• Scanners Live in Vain
• The Lady Who Sailed The Soul
• The Game of Rat and Dragon
• The Burning of the Brain
• The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal
• Golden the Ship was-Oh! Oh! Oh!
• The Dead Lady of Clown Town
• Under Old Earth
• Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons
• Alpha Ralpha Boulevard
• The Ballard of Lost C'mell
• A Planet Named Shayol