The first time in book form for seven extended short stories from one of the key figures in SF. Bruce Sterling has consistently proved himself to be one step ahead of the game, always one of SF's trendsetters and in these stories his skill is shown off to superb effect. The book includes the three linked stories DEEP EDDY, BICYCLE REPAIRMAN and TAKLAMAKAN that build into one of the most entertaining and thoughtful visions of the world in the mid 21st century. Sterling writes hard SF but also brings to his books astonishing wit and spot-on-target social commentary - a vision of a world running on empty. From his early novels, to his groundbreaking anthology of cyberpunk and the collaboration with William Gibson that defined the genre of Steampunk Sterling has been a mould breaker; these stories, published between 1993 and 1998 show why.