Lackey, Flint and Freer whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice." Like the actual 16th-century city-state, the authors' Venice of the 1530s is a dangerous place, filled with as many illicit love affairs as murders. Garbage and occasional dead bodies float in the stinking canals. The city is also a target for would-be foreign conquerors: the Vatican, the Holy Roman Empire, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland, and the small city-state of Ferrara, ruled by Enrico Dell'este, who surreptitiously watches his grandsons, Marco and Benito, the story's water-rat heroes. Around Benito, a thief, and Marco, a canal doctor, swirl a host of characters, major and minor: the men and women who ply the gondolas and rafts; the spy Caesare Aldanto, the boys' supporter; plus courtesans, whores, monks, priests, knights, shamans, undines and the demon Chernobog. Meanwhile, the winged lion of St. Mark's, symbol of Venice, is stirring, and its shadow falls on Marco as the city's future ruler.

The future holds endless possibilities…Here are 16 intriguing visions of tomorrowFeatures stories by: Esther M. FriesnerBrenda CooperKevin J. AndersonP. R. FrostMike Resnick and James Patrick KellyLisanne NormanDean Wesley SmithIrene RadfordKristine Kathryn RuschAnd moreFor all of those who thought that by now that they'd be driving along the skyways in their own personal jet car, who assumed that humans would have established bases on the Moon and Mars, or that diseases would have been conqured, the aging process slowed to a crawl, and war eliminated along with social injustice-here are 16 stories of futures that might someday be reality.

Corfu in the 16th century. Key to Asia. Repository of a magic older than history itself. No wonder the demon Chernobog must possess the island- for with it in his grasp, Chernobog can finally crush Venice and defeat his immortal enemy, the Lion of San Marcos, who thwarted his previous bid for absolute power.Now all hope depends on the derring-do of the small band of heroes who fought against the demon before- and the inner strength of one reluctant young heroine. For the ancient powers of Corfu care nothing for either Chernobog's lust for power, or the human desire for freedom.And anyone who would wield the island's primordial magic must pay with a piece of his- or her- soul....