Like his previous book The Void Captain's Tale, Child of Fortune takes place three or four thousand years in the future in an era called the Second Starfaring Age.

The book is presented as an autobiographical tale, CHILD OF FORTUNE, A Historie of the Second Starfaring Age by Wendi Shasta Leonardo, and it includes an introduction written by the fictional narrator.

[4][5] The wanderjahr is typically a fairly long journey that only ends when the wanderer adopts her adult name (her freenom) and chooses her life's work.

Moussa falls in love with the leader of the Gypsy Jokers, Pater Pan, who teaches her the art of ruespieling (story-telling) and gives her the name Sunshine.

After the abrupt disappearance of Pater Pan, Sunshine leaves Edoku with a wealthy Child of Fortune named Guy Vlad Boca.

They sample the hedonistic life of the Honored Passengers aboard the interstellar Void Ships and eventually arrive on the planet Belshazaar.

[2][6] A short review in the Los Angeles Times was guardedly positive: "Entertaining if you read it in long stretches, but picking up the rhythm of the in-house jargon, a pastiche of German, French, Spanish and Hindu (I believe) takes some getting used to.