Man will forever seek his destiny, no matter what his vehicle. In the past, science fiction has served as one such vehicle, combining phantasmagorical illusions with sensationalism. But science fiction has been realistically grounded and forced to evolve with the problems of today. Choosing this course, it has shifted its emphasis toward a bizarre mix of biochemistry and religion, reaching a maturity which few literary genres have yet displayed. This new science fiction represents a subtle union of these two, precision and sharp technicalities meeting with the mystical reverence of the occult. This anthology confirms this union. Roger Elwood's collection of never-before-published stories are fascinatingly entwined around this central theme of biochemistry, subtly laced with the hidden mysteries of the occult. R. A. Lafferty's "And Walk Now Gently Through the Fire" is an absorbing encounter between the ancient Queer Fish (the Ichthyans) and their evolutionary counterparts, the Odd Fish. A chilling dip into the occult. "Caught in the Organ Drift," a splendid contribution from Robert Silverberg, explores the possibilities of a society where man's vital organs are draftable for transplant from the nation's young to its senior citizens, the leaders of the society. In "A Sense of Difference," Pamela Sargent examines the loneliness of a "family" of clones, a group derived from a single individual through a type of asexual reproduction. The conflict centers around the struggle of one of these clones to overcome his alienation both from his fellow clones and from his colleagues at the university he attends. Also included are contributions from such well-known science fiction masters as Ted White, Barry N. Malzberg, Joan C. Holly, Robert Bloch, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Philip José Farmer and K. M. O'Donnell. The entry of this anthology into the depths of biochemistry and its mingling with religion and the occult signal a new age for science fiction, a new vehicle through which man may continue his speculation of destiny.