本书为1941年的短篇小说集，收小说七篇。其中，《小径分岔的花园》是侦探小说，讲述一桩罪行的准备工作和实施过程。小径分岔的花园是一个谜语，或者说寓言，而谜底正是时间。

Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop. (TMDB)

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.