Randall Garrett 1 hr 11 min read

Seven centuries after the Second Empire rose from the wreck of the First, its nobles come to grasp that this empire is nothing like its predecessor.

Randall Garrett's 1959 story opens in a grand imperial-SF register, following an expedition bent on plundering a golden empire's riches. Clever, richly told golden-age SF with a famous sting in its structure. Read it for an ingenious tale best entered knowing as little as possible, let it unfold on its own terms.

In its time

Published in 1959, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 11 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Kelly Freas