Published simultaneously as Desolation Road, the Empire Dreams collection was intended to exploit the author’s nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1985. It collects the following stories:

Vivaldi Visits to Remarkable Cities
Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh
Scenes from a Shadowplay Radio Marrakech
King of Morning, Queen of Day
The Island of the Dead
Empire Dreams (Ground Control to Major Tom)
Christian The Catharine Wheel (Our Lady of Tharsis)