Here are nine tales of Henghis Hapthorn, foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in the planet's penultimate age. Included are the six stories that ran in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (and were previously collected in The Gist Hunter and Other Stories), leading up to the events that began the first Hapthorn novel, Majestrum, plus three more.

Praise for Matthew Hughes:

"Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself" - George R.R. Martin

"Heir apparent to Jack Vance" - Booklist

"Hughes's boldness is admirable"- New York Review of Science Fiction

"Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable"- Publishers Weekly

"A towering talent"- Robert J. Sawyer

"A treasure" - David Gerrold