The myriad alien civilizations populating far, distant worlds have many good reasons to detest the blight called "humankind" . . .

The only human child living in a work colony on the Martian satellite Phobos, little Margaret Bain has invented six imaginary companions to keep boredom and loneliness at bay. Each an extension of her personality, they are lost to her when she is forced to return to Earth. But they are not gone.

The time

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Atop a twisting,  canyon-climbing road, a witch lurks in a fortress  built strong to keep out dragons and ogres. In  another part of the countryside, a young orphan is  maturing into a beautiful woman in the enchanted  village that is her home. Somewhere nearby, a young man  is seeking adventure after running away from his  family's small farm. Suddenly a strange and  terrible...

In Fish Tails, two of Sheri S. Tepper's beloved characters--Abasio and Xulai (A Plague of Angels and The Waters Rising)--and their children travel from village to village scattered across the sparsely populated land of Tingawa. They are searching for others who might be interested in adopting their sea-dwelling lifestyle. Along their journey they encounter strange visitors from the far off world of Lom, characters from Tepper's nine-book True Game...