George Alex Effinger's first short-fiction collection in nearly 15 years, these nine tales are set in Budayeen, the walled city in the sand, a city of dark shadows and even darker inhabitants, where a Raymond Chandleresque vision has been created-hardboiled, noir, futuristic-but with a twist. The sights, smells, and denizens of Budayeen are brought to life-from the city's sordid, decadent underbelly to the glamorous excesses of the sex industry. This collection includes four tales of Marîd Audran, the protagonist in Effinger's three highly acclaimed Budayeen novels. Also included is Effinger's best-known story, "Schrödinger's Kitten," in which a young girl's dreams portend myriad possible quantum futures, all focused on her encounter with a would-be rapist.