A world where robots and neurotics try to make each other break down first A world where assassins are both the hunters and the hunted in a grisly maze of overkill A world where dreams turn into trips through time to frightening revelation and ultimate horror A world where death is not the end but just the beginning of the strangest and most terrible nightmare of all These are just four of the eleven worlds you will visit ina dazzling grand tour of the talent of Barry Malzberg, the award-winning author of Beyond Apollo, and a writer whose reputation has soared ever higher in the sci-fi firmament. Included are stories that in the few years since their original publication already have attained classic status, as well as superb new works of the imagination appearing for the first time in this enthralling collection. Contents: Preface by Roger Elwood Introduction Initiation Management The Union Forever Reconstitution Final War Closed Sicilian After the Unfortunate Accident The Second Short Shortest Fantasy Story Ever Published In the Cup Death to the Keeper Chronicles of a Comer