Short stories which depict worlds full of scientific advancement, genetic and surgical modifications of people, colonization of the solar system and alien contact. But they also show concern for the future of real people. CONTENTS: Swarm (1982) Spider Rose (1982) Cicada Queen (1983) Sunken Gardens (1984) Twenty Evocations (1984) Green Days in Brunei (1985) Spook (1983) The Beautiful and the Sublime (1986) Telliamed (1984) The Little Magic Shop (1987) Flowers of Edo (1987) Dinner in Audoghast (1985)