Nicely told historical short about a dinner party in an ancient (now destroyed) city in Africa. The speculative element comes in when a fortune-teller is persuaded to join the party. Leprous, off-putting, he gives a potted future of Audoghast that tells of its eventual destruction. There's nothing especially groundbreaking here, I don't think, but the prose is easy and gentle and has an appealing feel to it. I don't know that I've read any of Sterling before - I've come across this story in a Best of volume - and his writing style seems enjoyably undemanding, so maybe I'll look up more of him in the future. Irritating that the only named female character is a whore, though.