The fiction of Lucius Shepard has more to do with Joseph Conrad than Isaac Asimov. Fascinated by deception and decay, and generally labeled a cyberpunk writer, his work transcends the limits of genre fiction.

Beast of the Heartland contains seven tales that explore the darkside where science fiction meets horror. Headed by the award-winning "Barnacle Bill the Spacer, " a story of high-space mutiny, the book includes "A Little Night Music, " a gothic tale of insanity; "All the Perfumes of Araby, " where an adventurer in the Middle East links up with an ancient entity; "Human History, " a...