Is the glimmer on the horizon a lake, shimmering under the hot desert sun - or a flying saucer visiting from a distant planet? Are those swirling clouds dust devils or djinn? In Mirages and Speculations seventeen authors of science fiction and fantasy take you on journeys to high mountain deserts, scorching sands, and wind-swept plateaus. Their stories will make you laugh and make you cry, as you visit worlds both futuristic and fantastic, the products of imaginations baked under desert skies until only Mirages and Speculations remain.