This book contains seventeen SF stories, all previously published in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction.

In "Erosion" (reprinted in three Year's Best anthologies), a cyborg road-tests his new body before leaving Earth for the stars. "The Golden Record" sees future collectors competing to retrieve 20th century space probes. In "The Hastillan Weed", conservationists battle an alien plant spreading across the English countryside.

The remaining tales range from post-apocalypse archaeology to galaxy-spanning bureaucracy, via wacky inventors and lovestruck corporations. The collection concludes with an Afterword discussing the inspirations and background behind all the stories.