A shipwrecked sailor hunting for a way home from a land of talking animals. A rebel desperate to carve out her own path in a steam-powered city. A casualty from the trenches of World War One looking for a reason to live. A time traveller seeking knowledge in the past while trying to protect history from the future.

Meet all these people and more in fifty-two short stories, ranging from the ancient past to the far future and into words utterly unlike our own.