diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b86c124dd10e1ca4bad8b2484237f992724e929a..60b9cae5a8217c1bdc7dfc941e7b9ea417b6edcf 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ os:
 language: go
 
 go:
-  - 1.11.x
+  - 1.12.x
 
 env:
   global:
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 1f573bf5b65e9254e0efd745bfdb92e9a17be2d8..3d2cb74310f10d3f2c46bc45edc2a94e6c626199 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20190717185122-a985d3407aa7
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20180628173108-788fd7840127 // indirect
 )
+
+go 1.12
diff --git a/mount/mount.go b/mount/mount.go
index 1f97270e221b208f00ab0d486a1f60259289a4f0..7c32a8271b24f773d77a9cdcafb2a1305fdbcc5c 100644
--- a/mount/mount.go
+++ b/mount/mount.go
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ func (d *Datastore) Delete(key ds.Key) error {
 func (d *Datastore) Query(master query.Query) (query.Results, error) {
 	childQuery := query.Query{
 		Prefix:            master.Prefix,
-		Limit:             master.Limit,
 		Orders:            master.Orders,
 		KeysOnly:          master.KeysOnly,
 		ReturnExpirations: master.ReturnExpirations,
@@ -254,7 +253,7 @@ func (d *Datastore) Query(master query.Query) (query.Results, error) {
 		queries.addResults(mount, results)
 	}
 
-	qr := query.ResultsFromIterator(childQuery, query.Iterator{
+	qr := query.ResultsFromIterator(master, query.Iterator{
 		Next:  queries.next,
 		Close: queries.close,
 	})
@@ -269,8 +268,8 @@ func (d *Datastore) Query(master query.Query) (query.Results, error) {
 		qr = query.NaiveOffset(qr, master.Offset)
 	}
 
-	if childQuery.Limit > 0 {
-		qr = query.NaiveLimit(qr, childQuery.Limit)
+	if master.Limit > 0 {
+		qr = query.NaiveLimit(qr, master.Limit)
 	}
 
 	return qr, nil
diff --git a/query/filter.go b/query/filter.go
index 501414d3b89e52492b9971bf6c89c0b46aa7ee00..1935c4888ab74cfb94ed859c7388cddc95290346 100644
--- a/query/filter.go
+++ b/query/filter.go
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ func (f FilterValueCompare) Filter(e Entry) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+func (f FilterValueCompare) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("VALUE %s %q", f.Op, string(f.Value))
+}
+
 type FilterKeyCompare struct {
 	Op  Op
 	Key string
@@ -81,6 +85,10 @@ func (f FilterKeyCompare) Filter(e Entry) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+func (f FilterKeyCompare) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("KEY %s %q", f.Op, f.Key)
+}
+
 type FilterKeyPrefix struct {
 	Prefix string
 }
@@ -88,3 +96,7 @@ type FilterKeyPrefix struct {
 func (f FilterKeyPrefix) Filter(e Entry) bool {
 	return strings.HasPrefix(e.Key, f.Prefix)
 }
+
+func (f FilterKeyPrefix) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("PREFIX(%q)", f.Prefix)
+}
diff --git a/query/order.go b/query/order.go
index 5e0acf1bfac23b49a2f79c5e51d089943d987bc1..19931557e45c896aad3143a1ebbf5d7071950d38 100644
--- a/query/order.go
+++ b/query/order.go
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ func (o OrderByFunction) Compare(a, b Entry) int {
 	return o(a, b)
 }
 
+func (OrderByFunction) String() string {
+	return "FN"
+}
+
 // OrderByValue is used to signal to datastores they should apply internal
 // orderings.
 type OrderByValue struct{}
@@ -26,6 +30,10 @@ func (o OrderByValue) Compare(a, b Entry) int {
 	return bytes.Compare(a.Value, b.Value)
 }
 
+func (OrderByValue) String() string {
+	return "VALUE"
+}
+
 // OrderByValueDescending is used to signal to datastores they
 // should apply internal orderings.
 type OrderByValueDescending struct{}
@@ -34,6 +42,10 @@ func (o OrderByValueDescending) Compare(a, b Entry) int {
 	return -bytes.Compare(a.Value, b.Value)
 }
 
+func (OrderByValueDescending) String() string {
+	return "desc(VALUE)"
+}
+
 // OrderByKey
 type OrderByKey struct{}
 
@@ -41,6 +53,10 @@ func (o OrderByKey) Compare(a, b Entry) int {
 	return strings.Compare(a.Key, b.Key)
 }
 
+func (OrderByKey) String() string {
+	return "KEY"
+}
+
 // OrderByKeyDescending
 type OrderByKeyDescending struct{}
 
@@ -48,6 +64,10 @@ func (o OrderByKeyDescending) Compare(a, b Entry) int {
 	return -strings.Compare(a.Key, b.Key)
 }
 
+func (OrderByKeyDescending) String() string {
+	return "desc(KEY)"
+}
+
 // Less returns true if a comes before b with the requested orderings.
 func Less(orders []Order, a, b Entry) bool {
 	for _, cmp := range orders {
diff --git a/query/query.go b/query/query.go
index 2540dfc67c3cdfca82f9afb8d7f82f9e2e59aa10..0b32ec9967302819f7090f0ea4e2a7ec48266bbf 100644
--- a/query/query.go
+++ b/query/query.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package query
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
 	goprocess "github.com/jbenet/goprocess"
@@ -67,6 +68,48 @@ type Query struct {
 	ReturnExpirations bool     // return expirations (see TTLDatastore)
 }
 
+func (q Query) String() string {
+	s := "SELECT keys"
+	if !q.KeysOnly {
+		s += ",vals"
+	}
+	if q.ReturnExpirations {
+		s += ",exps"
+	}
+
+	s += " "
+
+	if q.Prefix != "" {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("FROM %q ", q.Prefix)
+	}
+
+	if len(q.Filters) > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("FILTER [%s", q.Filters[0])
+		for _, f := range q.Filters[1:] {
+			s += fmt.Sprintf(", %s", f)
+		}
+		s += "] "
+	}
+
+	if len(q.Orders) > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("ORDER [%s", q.Orders[0])
+		for _, f := range q.Orders[1:] {
+			s += fmt.Sprintf(", %s", f)
+		}
+		s += "] "
+	}
+
+	if q.Offset > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("OFFSET %d ", q.Offset)
+	}
+
+	if q.Limit > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("LIMIT %d ", q.Limit)
+	}
+	// Will always end with a space, strip it.
+	return s[:len(s)-1]
+}
+
 // Entry is a query result entry.
 type Entry struct {
 	Key        string    // cant be ds.Key because circular imports ...!!!
diff --git a/query/query_test.go b/query/query_test.go
index 228c69a4d391106dd6e3caa87e9121edda2f3928..7f08cb05d06c584fd6132cc57445850450b23971 100644
--- a/query/query_test.go
+++ b/query/query_test.go
@@ -248,3 +248,65 @@ func getKeysViaChan(rs Results) []string {
 	}
 	return ret
 }
+
+func TestStringer(t *testing.T) {
+	q := Query{}
+
+	expected := `SELECT keys,vals`
+	actual := q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.Offset = 10
+	q.Limit = 10
+	expected = `SELECT keys,vals OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.Orders = []Order{OrderByValue{}, OrderByKey{}}
+	expected = `SELECT keys,vals ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.Filters = []Filter{
+		FilterKeyCompare{Op: GreaterThan, Key: "/foo/bar"},
+		FilterKeyCompare{Op: LessThan, Key: "/foo/bar"},
+	}
+	expected = `SELECT keys,vals FILTER [KEY > "/foo/bar", KEY < "/foo/bar"] ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.Prefix = "/foo"
+	expected = `SELECT keys,vals FROM "/foo" FILTER [KEY > "/foo/bar", KEY < "/foo/bar"] ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.ReturnExpirations = true
+	expected = `SELECT keys,vals,exps FROM "/foo" FILTER [KEY > "/foo/bar", KEY < "/foo/bar"] ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+
+	q.KeysOnly = true
+	expected = `SELECT keys,exps FROM "/foo" FILTER [KEY > "/foo/bar", KEY < "/foo/bar"] ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+	q.ReturnExpirations = false
+	expected = `SELECT keys FROM "/foo" FILTER [KEY > "/foo/bar", KEY < "/foo/bar"] ORDER [VALUE, KEY] OFFSET 10 LIMIT 10`
+	actual = q.String()
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected\n\t%s\ngot\n\t%s", expected, actual)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/basic_tests.go b/test/basic_tests.go
index 08c8c74f34743b930c3c68586cef2e0d024b7a5f..862a634f238a4be96160f1ec4409f77bee9c6e4a 100644
--- a/test/basic_tests.go
+++ b/test/basic_tests.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
+	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -123,6 +124,30 @@ func SubtestNotFounds(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 	}
 }
 
+func SubtestLimit(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
+	test := func(offset, limit int) {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("Slice/%d/%d", offset, limit), func(t *testing.T) {
+			subtestQuery(t, ds, dsq.Query{
+				Orders:   []dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}},
+				Offset:   offset,
+				Limit:    limit,
+				KeysOnly: true,
+			}, 100)
+		})
+	}
+	test(0, 10)
+	test(0, 0)
+	test(10, 0)
+	test(10, 10)
+	test(10, 20)
+	test(50, 20)
+	test(99, 20)
+	test(200, 20)
+	test(200, 0)
+	test(99, 0)
+	test(95, 0)
+}
+
 func SubtestOrder(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 	test := func(orders ...dsq.Order) {
 		var types []string
@@ -133,19 +158,7 @@ func SubtestOrder(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			subtestQuery(t, ds, dsq.Query{
 				Orders: orders,
-			}, func(t *testing.T, input, output []dsq.Entry) {
-				if len(input) != len(output) {
-					t.Fatal("got wrong number of keys back")
-				}
-
-				dsq.Sort(orders, input)
-
-				for i, e := range output {
-					if input[i].Key != e.Key {
-						t.Fatalf("in key output, got %s but expected %s", e.Key, input[i].Key)
-					}
-				}
-			})
+			}, 100)
 		})
 	}
 	test(dsq.OrderByKey{})
@@ -160,20 +173,7 @@ func SubtestOrder(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 }
 
 func SubtestManyKeysAndQuery(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
-	subtestQuery(t, ds, dsq.Query{KeysOnly: true}, func(t *testing.T, input, output []dsq.Entry) {
-		if len(input) != len(output) {
-			t.Fatal("got wrong number of keys back")
-		}
-
-		dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, input)
-		dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, output)
-
-		for i, e := range output {
-			if input[i].Key != e.Key {
-				t.Fatalf("in key output, got %s but expected %s", e.Key, input[i].Key)
-			}
-		}
-	})
+	subtestQuery(t, ds, dsq.Query{KeysOnly: true}, 100)
 }
 
 // need a custom test filter to test the "fallback" filter case for unknown
@@ -184,6 +184,79 @@ func (testFilter) Filter(e dsq.Entry) bool {
 	return len(e.Key)%2 == 0
 }
 
+func SubtestCombinations(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
+	offsets := []int{
+		0,
+		10,
+		95,
+		100,
+	}
+	limits := []int{
+		0,
+		1,
+		10,
+		100,
+	}
+	filters := [][]dsq.Filter{
+		{dsq.FilterKeyCompare{
+			Op:  dsq.Equal,
+			Key: "/0key0",
+		}},
+		{dsq.FilterKeyCompare{
+			Op:  dsq.LessThan,
+			Key: "/2",
+		}},
+	}
+	orders := [][]dsq.Order{
+		{dsq.OrderByKey{}},
+		{dsq.OrderByKeyDescending{}},
+		{dsq.OrderByValue{}, dsq.OrderByKey{}},
+		{dsq.OrderByFunction(func(a, b dsq.Entry) int { return bytes.Compare(a.Value, b.Value) })},
+	}
+	lengths := []int{
+		0,
+		1,
+		100,
+	}
+	perms(
+		func(perm []int) {
+			q := dsq.Query{
+				Offset:  offsets[perm[0]],
+				Limit:   limits[perm[1]],
+				Filters: filters[perm[2]],
+				Orders:  orders[perm[3]],
+			}
+			length := lengths[perm[4]]
+
+			t.Run(strings.ReplaceAll(fmt.Sprintf("%d/{%s}", length, q), " ", "·"), func(t *testing.T) {
+				subtestQuery(t, ds, q, length)
+			})
+		},
+		len(offsets),
+		len(limits),
+		len(filters),
+		len(orders),
+		len(lengths),
+	)
+}
+
+func perms(cb func([]int), ops ...int) {
+	current := make([]int, len(ops))
+outer:
+	for {
+		for i := range current {
+			if current[i] < (ops[i] - 1) {
+				current[i]++
+				cb(current)
+				continue outer
+			}
+			current[i] = 0
+		}
+		// out of permutations
+		return
+	}
+}
+
 func SubtestFilter(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 	test := func(filters ...dsq.Filter) {
 		var types []string
@@ -194,31 +267,7 @@ func SubtestFilter(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore) {
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			subtestQuery(t, ds, dsq.Query{
 				Filters: filters,
-			}, func(t *testing.T, input, output []dsq.Entry) {
-				var exp []dsq.Entry
-			input:
-				for _, e := range input {
-					for _, f := range filters {
-						if !f.Filter(e) {
-							continue input
-						}
-					}
-					exp = append(exp, e)
-				}
-
-				if len(exp) != len(output) {
-					t.Fatalf("got wrong number of keys back: expected %d, got %d", len(exp), len(output))
-				}
-
-				dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, exp)
-				dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, output)
-
-				for i, e := range output {
-					if exp[i].Key != e.Key {
-						t.Fatalf("in key output, got %s but expected %s", e.Key, exp[i].Key)
-					}
-				}
-			})
+			}, 100)
 		})
 	}
 	test(dsq.FilterKeyCompare{
@@ -258,9 +307,8 @@ func randValue() []byte {
 	return value
 }
 
-func subtestQuery(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore, q dsq.Query, check func(t *testing.T, input, output []dsq.Entry)) {
+func subtestQuery(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore, q dsq.Query, count int) {
 	var input []dsq.Entry
-	count := 100
 	for i := 0; i < count; i++ {
 		s := fmt.Sprintf("%dkey%d", i, i)
 		key := dstore.NewKey(s).String()
@@ -297,14 +345,38 @@ func subtestQuery(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore, q dsq.Query, check func(t *
 		t.Fatal("calling query: ", err)
 	}
 
+	if rq := resp.Query(); !reflect.DeepEqual(rq, q) {
+		t.Errorf("returned query\n  %s\nexpected query\n  %s", &rq, q)
+	}
+
 	t.Log("aggregating query results")
-	output, err := resp.Rest()
+	actual, err := resp.Rest()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal("query result error: ", err)
 	}
 
 	t.Log("verifying query output")
-	check(t, input, output)
+	expected, err := dsq.NaiveQueryApply(q, dsq.ResultsWithEntries(q, input)).Rest()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("naive query error: ", err)
+	}
+	if len(actual) != len(expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected %d results, got %d", len(expected), len(actual))
+	}
+	if len(q.Orders) == 0 {
+		dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, actual)
+		dsq.Sort([]dsq.Order{dsq.OrderByKey{}}, expected)
+	}
+	for i := range actual {
+		if actual[i].Key != expected[i].Key {
+			t.Errorf("for result %d, expected key %q, got %q", i, expected[i].Key, actual[i].Key)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !q.KeysOnly && !bytes.Equal(actual[i].Value, expected[i].Value) {
+			t.Errorf("value mismatch for result %d (key=%q)", i, expected[i].Key)
+		}
+
+	}
 
 	t.Log("deleting all keys")
 	for _, e := range input {
diff --git a/test/suite.go b/test/suite.go
index 3c565e590753d1826a49aafd1a6f2d32b08e6d1f..20d0f69d2220bd75ef2cf9291e5b71f74ee45527 100644
--- a/test/suite.go
+++ b/test/suite.go
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ import (
 var BasicSubtests = []func(t *testing.T, ds dstore.Datastore){
 	SubtestBasicPutGet,
 	SubtestNotFounds,
+	SubtestCombinations,
 	SubtestOrder,
+	SubtestLimit,
 	SubtestFilter,
 	SubtestManyKeysAndQuery,
 }