Anthony Villiers

A small airless planetoid is set deep in the heart of the Flammarion Rift. Due to its location, it is a minor hub of commerce within the Sashuite Empire, and though it is equipped with elegant dining rooms and casinos, luxury suites and expensive shops, Wu and Fabricant's Guidebook claims that Star Well is a dull place to visit and that travelers should avoid layovers if they can. But Wu and Fabricant had not been shown the secret basements, nor told the nature of the things stored there....

What can you do with Yagoots? Yagoots? That's what Pickles and Daisy Smetana, formerly the Toast of the Empire, now the keepers of half an inn on a sleepy (but picturesque) vacation planet, wondered: What can you do with Yagoots? Our hero, Anthony Villiers, sometimes Viscount Charteris and peripatetic player of a most dangerous game, thought he knew. But then, how far can you trust the instincts of a man, however charming, who insists on traveling with a large, furry alien who rides a red tricycle?

You are invited to a ball given by Lord Semichastny at his estate on Delbalso. Be prepared for The Great Trog Chase, a marvel of bureaucratic befuddlement compounded by the appearance of an imposter rivaling Torve himself for Troggish charm, though not unpredictability; The winders of Peelgrunt at Xenakis' Centre (the only place on Delbalso even mentioned by Wu and Fabricant); A family of bourgeois con-artists keeping up appearances as interstellar rug salesmen; and more!