"The Passing of the Dragon" by Ken Liu is a collection of thirteen stories that explore the boundaries of imagination. In these tales, dragons soar over small towns, mech-animals dream of freedom, and techno-witches weave spells against a world ruled by machines. A painter wrestles with transcendence, an aging scorpion helps his daughter escape tradition, and a consciousness aboard a starship witnesses the death and rebirth of the cosmos. Blending science fiction and fantasy with meditations on identity, memory, and connection, these stories explore the short form.