As we have noted before (usually with dismay), the delicate balance of fantasy/reality in SF that makes it reasonable reading is often upset by the introduction of humor. In this collection of short stories, the young author pulls it off with some distinction. The stories are uneven in quality, but from the title story on they are launched with a straight-faced acceptance of the miraculous as working fact. The time range goes from the medieval wizards who conjure up devils (""no future in it"") to a Darwinesque Noah of the future.