Collecting 23 stories written from 1958 to 1991, this volume by a prolific British novelist (L)r. Gruber's Daughter) is a true mixed bag. More about ideas than characters, these are highly cerebral tales that share a measured brevity, a leaning towar...
Fidus Octavius, an officer in the revived Roman Empire, now in decline, is sent to command the garrison at Palmyra, and when it is cut off from the rest of the Empire, he sets off into the desert in search of redemption...