Um Jogo do Universo de Eric Nylund.
O matador é Germain e o dragão celestial aparece quando ele está jogando um jogo de cartas sem nome com seus companheiros Virgínia e Quilp:
It was Quilp's deal. His shaking hands threw me two blank vacuums, a pair of planets, a gas giant, and a binary star, which gave me the beginnings of a system.
[...]
Discarding my pair of vacuums, I hoped for another planet, a comet, or even an asteroid to complete my system. Instead, I got a black hole and a section of the celestial dragon for my wishful thinking. That left a single pair of planets—a lousy hand—but that wouldn't stop me from bluffing. Another round of betting and cards remained. I felt lucky.