The first short story collection from David D. Levine takes us far into the future of our own race; across the galaxy with an itinerant salesman trying to score the big sale with overly polite, chitinous aliens; to alternate realities where the horses in the local horseshow are unicorns; to China's ancient past, where a priestess of Kwan Yin saves a military unit from destruction with the ingenious use of a magical bracelet, and much more. David's breadth of knowledge reaches wide, his character ring true, and their situations are often surprising, comical and sometimes heartrending.