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Asimov's Science Fiction, July/August 2023
NOVELLA
The Death Hole Bunker by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
What We Will Never Be by Robert Reed
NOVELETTES
Daughters of the Lattice by Stephen Case
Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux by Garth Nix
Bridges by Sean Monaghan
SHORT STORIES
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers by Karawynn Long
Dark Horses by David Ebenbach
The Greeter by Rick Wilber & Lisa Lanser Rose
Tilt by Leslie What
Let the Games Begin by Robert Friedman & Barry N. Malzberg
Morning Glory by Sam W. Pisciotta
Have You Seen Bitsy? by James Van Pelt
My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About the Genetics of Inheritable Godhood by Sarah Pinsker
POETRY
The Carnival of Dorian Gray by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Neath Martian Sands by Bruce Boston
New Hominoid Chats with Reporters by Jacob Strautmann
poem in which every word is ten thousand years by James Fujinami Moore
Cures Roger Dutcher Transiting Planet by Jacob Strautmann
Masters of the Future by Bruce Boston
The Future’s Not What It Used to Be by Robert Frazier
Glory to the Worm by Josh Pearce
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial: The 2023 Dell Magazines Awards by Sheila Williams
Reflections: Dimensions by Robert Silverberg
On the Net: Wayback by James Patrick Kelly
On Books by Peter Heck
The Death Hole Bunker by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
What We Will Never Be by Robert Reed
NOVELETTES
Daughters of the Lattice by Stephen Case
Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux by Garth Nix
Bridges by Sean Monaghan
SHORT STORIES
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers by Karawynn Long
Dark Horses by David Ebenbach
The Greeter by Rick Wilber & Lisa Lanser Rose
Tilt by Leslie What
Let the Games Begin by Robert Friedman & Barry N. Malzberg
Morning Glory by Sam W. Pisciotta
Have You Seen Bitsy? by James Van Pelt
My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About the Genetics of Inheritable Godhood by Sarah Pinsker
POETRY
The Carnival of Dorian Gray by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Neath Martian Sands by Bruce Boston
New Hominoid Chats with Reporters by Jacob Strautmann
poem in which every word is ten thousand years by James Fujinami Moore
Cures Roger Dutcher Transiting Planet by Jacob Strautmann
Masters of the Future by Bruce Boston
The Future’s Not What It Used to Be by Robert Frazier
Glory to the Worm by Josh Pearce
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial: The 2023 Dell Magazines Awards by Sheila Williams
Reflections: Dimensions by Robert Silverberg
On the Net: Wayback by James Patrick Kelly
On Books by Peter Heck
318 pages, ebook
Published June 10, 2023
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
277 books66 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Sheila Williams is the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form.
Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Williams’ interest in science fiction came from her father who read Edgar Rice Burroughs books to her as a child. Later Ms. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Elmira College in Elmira, New York, although she studied at the London School of Economics during her junior year. She received her Master's from Washington University in St. Louis. She is married to David Bruce and has two daughters.
She became interested in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (as it was then titled) while studying philosophy at Washington University. In 1982 she was hired at the magazine, and worked with Isaac Asimov for ten years. While working there, she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (at one time called the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing). In 2004, with the retirement of Gardner Dozois, she became the editor of the magazine.
Along with Gardner Dozois she also edited the "Isaac Asimov's" anthology series. She also co-edited A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women (2001) with Connie Willis. Most recently she has edited a retrospective anthology of fiction published by Asimov's: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology. Booklist called the book "A gem, and a credit to editor Williams."
She has been nominated for 4 Hugo Awards as editor of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
See also Sheila Williams's entry in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
Sheila Williams is the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form.
Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Williams’ interest in science fiction came from her father who read Edgar Rice Burroughs books to her as a child. Later Ms. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Elmira College in Elmira, New York, although she studied at the London School of Economics during her junior year. She received her Master's from Washington University in St. Louis. She is married to David Bruce and has two daughters.
She became interested in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (as it was then titled) while studying philosophy at Washington University. In 1982 she was hired at the magazine, and worked with Isaac Asimov for ten years. While working there, she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (at one time called the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing). In 2004, with the retirement of Gardner Dozois, she became the editor of the magazine.
Along with Gardner Dozois she also edited the "Isaac Asimov's" anthology series. She also co-edited A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women (2001) with Connie Willis. Most recently she has edited a retrospective anthology of fiction published by Asimov's: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology. Booklist called the book "A gem, and a credit to editor Williams."
She has been nominated for 4 Hugo Awards as editor of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
See also Sheila Williams's entry in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 7, 2024
This is the July/August 2023 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. There are two rather weak novellas, but several solid shorter pieces.
Contents:
The 2023 Dell Magazines Awards [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Sheila Williams this is an awards for undergraduate SF, w/o examples.
Dimensions [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg another semi-hallucinogenic trip of unusual multiple dimensions, like what if a soccer match watched live, translated by TV (w/ a few seconds delay) and watching its record next day are all different time dimensions? 2*
The Carnival of Dorian Gray poem by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Wayback [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly wayback machine site (which is a great thing)
Neath Martian Sands poem by Bruce Boston
The Death Hole Bunker [Diving Universe] novella by Kristine Kathryn Rusch a part of a greater story, doesn’t work as a standalone. A planet with Death holes had appeared all over Wyr for decades, maybe centuries. Some kind of energy blew through the surface, creating the death holes, which often destroyed homes or entire blocks, sometimes entire sections of a city These holes sometimes give access to caves below, where remnants of an older civilization are found. The protagonist leads one of such expeditions, finds some stuff, makes some errors, reaches a decision… 2*
New Hominoid Chats with Reporters: The Letter Killeth: But the Spirit Giveth Life poem by Jacob Strautmann is one of the more interesting poems. 4*
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers short story by Karawynn Long a person with developmental issues is the narrator of this one. He works at DARPA lab as an assistant (clearing cages and the like), where an experiment with gene-engineered Crebain (crows with parrots?) birds, which are trained as spies. Because the narrator has speech issues (“Most of the time when I open my mouth, something completely unexpected emerges. I hate it when people ask me questions—there’s so much expectation hanging on what I say next, even though I often can’t control it. Plus the more anxious I am, the less likely I am to be able to speak at all.”), he much closer studies ‘signals’ of crows and these new hybrids and starts to communicate with them. 4.25*
Daughters of the Lattice short story by Stephen Case another story, which takes an idea ‘nuns in space’ (see Sisters of the Vast Black), but again doesn’t care that they are a religious order of some kind. Here a group of such sisters are stranded on a remote planet, but the protagonist is a pilot, so she is sent on a mission to a rediscovered ancient vessel in the system – the mission to last 30 years, so her two daughters will be adults by then… 2.5*
Dark Horses short story by David Ebenbach a PR team meeting to discuss how to promote a new flying city in Venus as a tourist destination. 2.5*
Cures poem by Roger Dutcher
The Greeter short story by Lisa Lanser Rose and Rick Wilber a present-day, a man working of seeking signals from extraterrestrial life, and about to retire and his daughter Janny with Down syndrome, the story shifts POV between father and daughter, as Janny ‘hears’ that her mom, who rather abruptly left them decades ago is coming back. A good poignant PIECE. 3*
Transiting Planet poem by Jacob Strautmann
Tilt short story by Leslie What A humorous piece, with seven mutant criminals attending the therapy session set like a TV show. One of them, a woman Kim, can persuade anyone and she uses her gift. 2.5*
Masters of the Future -2023 poem by Bruce Boston
Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux novelette by Garth Nix a nice parody of space Westerns – a miningtown planetoid, two warborgs (military cyborgs), Sheriff and his Deputy, an alien Mayor. A bad guy (also a warboprg, covered with skins of his victims) comes, there is a standoff, smarts beat skills. 3.5*
Let the Games Begin short story by Robert Friedman and Barry N. Malzberg a series of emails between the real authors of this piece. Bob takes a PR job with aliens (initially assuming a hoax, but the proposed salary is too good to refuse), and writes to Barry, who is more a SF author of them. There are several old good SF masters mentioned, Did you not put yourself into this (alleged) situation deliberately, even eagerly? Assuming of course that this is a “situation”; 1950s Galaxy science fiction (and lower-class rejects from that excellent magazine) is choked with stories of first contact, second contact, continuing contact between rather confused but sincere Terrans and alien invaders in the guise of ordinary folk looking for an angle., a kind of fan service for old SF fans 4*
Morning Glory short story by Sam W. Pisciotta a storm of nanites is coming, and everything it when over before is excommunicado. An older woman has a bio phobia and doesn’t want to leave to run away with her daughter. 2.75*
Bridges novelette by Sean Monaghan Bern is a wanderer in a future (post apoc?) world, where he can have sight enhancing implants but nothing more valuable. When he returns home to his sister's family, especially his niece Saibel who has a pet called Purl (see mag’s cover). They are expecting the giant AI machine called a bridge to deliver things to them, as the machine crashes it nearly kills Saibel... 2.75*
The Future's Not What It Used to Be poem by Robert Frazier
Have You Seen Bitsy? short story by James Van Pelt Laney is a teen delivering local newspaper subscriptions. She dares to go to seedy districts and in one of such places, she follows Farriders, a couple who looks like aliens clumsily camouflaging as humans. She sees that they collect local cats and dogs, delivering them to a sausage-like object. 2.75*
My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About the Genetics of Inheritable Godhood short story by Sarah Pinsker the author visits her sis, who gave her a lot of ideas for SF stories. She watches her sister’s kids and (I suspected it!) they are something more. 3*
What>We>Will>Never>Be novella by Robert Reed another installment of the Great Ship. The series doesn’t work for me, so I DNFed it.
On Books (Asimov's, July-August 2023) [On Books] essay by Peter Heck
Glory to the Worm poem by Josh Pearce
Contents:
The 2023 Dell Magazines Awards [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Sheila Williams this is an awards for undergraduate SF, w/o examples.
Dimensions [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg another semi-hallucinogenic trip of unusual multiple dimensions, like what if a soccer match watched live, translated by TV (w/ a few seconds delay) and watching its record next day are all different time dimensions? 2*
The Carnival of Dorian Gray poem by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Wayback [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly wayback machine site (which is a great thing)
Neath Martian Sands poem by Bruce Boston
The Death Hole Bunker [Diving Universe] novella by Kristine Kathryn Rusch a part of a greater story, doesn’t work as a standalone. A planet with Death holes had appeared all over Wyr for decades, maybe centuries. Some kind of energy blew through the surface, creating the death holes, which often destroyed homes or entire blocks, sometimes entire sections of a city These holes sometimes give access to caves below, where remnants of an older civilization are found. The protagonist leads one of such expeditions, finds some stuff, makes some errors, reaches a decision… 2*
New Hominoid Chats with Reporters: The Letter Killeth: But the Spirit Giveth Life poem by Jacob Strautmann is one of the more interesting poems. 4*
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers short story by Karawynn Long a person with developmental issues is the narrator of this one. He works at DARPA lab as an assistant (clearing cages and the like), where an experiment with gene-engineered Crebain (crows with parrots?) birds, which are trained as spies. Because the narrator has speech issues (“Most of the time when I open my mouth, something completely unexpected emerges. I hate it when people ask me questions—there’s so much expectation hanging on what I say next, even though I often can’t control it. Plus the more anxious I am, the less likely I am to be able to speak at all.”), he much closer studies ‘signals’ of crows and these new hybrids and starts to communicate with them. 4.25*
Daughters of the Lattice short story by Stephen Case another story, which takes an idea ‘nuns in space’ (see Sisters of the Vast Black), but again doesn’t care that they are a religious order of some kind. Here a group of such sisters are stranded on a remote planet, but the protagonist is a pilot, so she is sent on a mission to a rediscovered ancient vessel in the system – the mission to last 30 years, so her two daughters will be adults by then… 2.5*
Dark Horses short story by David Ebenbach a PR team meeting to discuss how to promote a new flying city in Venus as a tourist destination. 2.5*
Cures poem by Roger Dutcher
The Greeter short story by Lisa Lanser Rose and Rick Wilber a present-day, a man working of seeking signals from extraterrestrial life, and about to retire and his daughter Janny with Down syndrome, the story shifts POV between father and daughter, as Janny ‘hears’ that her mom, who rather abruptly left them decades ago is coming back. A good poignant PIECE. 3*
Transiting Planet poem by Jacob Strautmann
Tilt short story by Leslie What A humorous piece, with seven mutant criminals attending the therapy session set like a TV show. One of them, a woman Kim, can persuade anyone and she uses her gift. 2.5*
Masters of the Future -2023 poem by Bruce Boston
Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux novelette by Garth Nix a nice parody of space Westerns – a mining
Let the Games Begin short story by Robert Friedman and Barry N. Malzberg a series of emails between the real authors of this piece. Bob takes a PR job with aliens (initially assuming a hoax, but the proposed salary is too good to refuse), and writes to Barry, who is more a SF author of them. There are several old good SF masters mentioned, Did you not put yourself into this (alleged) situation deliberately, even eagerly? Assuming of course that this is a “situation”; 1950s Galaxy science fiction (and lower-class rejects from that excellent magazine) is choked with stories of first contact, second contact, continuing contact between rather confused but sincere Terrans and alien invaders in the guise of ordinary folk looking for an angle., a kind of fan service for old SF fans 4*
Morning Glory short story by Sam W. Pisciotta a storm of nanites is coming, and everything it when over before is excommunicado. An older woman has a bio phobia and doesn’t want to leave to run away with her daughter. 2.75*
Bridges novelette by Sean Monaghan Bern is a wanderer in a future (post apoc?) world, where he can have sight enhancing implants but nothing more valuable. When he returns home to his sister's family, especially his niece Saibel who has a pet called Purl (see mag’s cover). They are expecting the giant AI machine called a bridge to deliver things to them, as the machine crashes it nearly kills Saibel... 2.75*
The Future's Not What It Used to Be poem by Robert Frazier
Have You Seen Bitsy? short story by James Van Pelt Laney is a teen delivering local newspaper subscriptions. She dares to go to seedy districts and in one of such places, she follows Farriders, a couple who looks like aliens clumsily camouflaging as humans. She sees that they collect local cats and dogs, delivering them to a sausage-like object. 2.75*
My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About the Genetics of Inheritable Godhood short story by Sarah Pinsker the author visits her sis, who gave her a lot of ideas for SF stories. She watches her sister’s kids and (I suspected it!) they are something more. 3*
What>We>Will>Never>Be novella by Robert Reed another installment of the Great Ship. The series doesn’t work for me, so I DNFed it.
On Books (Asimov's, July-August 2023) [On Books] essay by Peter Heck
Glory to the Worm poem by Josh Pearce
October 7, 2023
I really enjoyed:
Hope is the Things With Feathers - Karawynn Long
The Greeter - Rick Wilber & Lisa Ranser Rose
Daughters of the Lattice - Stephen Chase
The Death Hole Bunker - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Hope is the Things With Feathers - Karawynn Long
The Greeter - Rick Wilber & Lisa Ranser Rose
Daughters of the Lattice - Stephen Chase
The Death Hole Bunker - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
June 15, 2023
An above average issue with some very good stories. Here are my flash-reviews:
- The Death Hole Bunker by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Excavating dangerous Death Holes containing age-old exotic artifacts for fun and profit…what could go wrong? Pairs well with Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky's novel Roadside Picnic.
- What>We>Will>Never>Be by Robert Reed
Revenge is a dish best served cold…VERY cold. The continued saga of the Great Ship and the times after the creation of the Scar.
- Showdown On Planetoid Pencrux by Garth Nix
It’s minor planet, not Tombstone, Doc is not a dentist, and there is no corral—but there is a shootout. Will the good guys, gals, and others win?
Now if we could just get John Ford to direct!
- Bridges by Sean Monaghan
Ages after the robots went away, the intelligent machinery left behind give folk housing, food, clothing, and even bridges. What happens when the AI programing goes awry? An excellent allegory for the mayhem that cancer causes.
Pairs well with the manga and anime Cells at Work!, Vol. 1.
- Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Karawynn Long
Having one’s intelligence underestimated can be both painful and a terrific advantage. A touching tale of cross-species friendship, communication and collaboration.
- Dark Horses by David Ebenbach
Selling the idea of a lifeboat on a sinking ship—should we use a theme or a motif? What’s the difference? Discuss. An exercise in surreal marketing.
- The Greeter by Rick Wilber & Lisa Lanser Rose
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
- Hunter / Garcia
Another story about the way a unique viewpoint allows some to see things that most folk miss. A nice bookend with Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Karawynn Long in this issue.
- Tilt by Leslie What
Court-ordered group therapy for mutants with weird-ass super powers…and just a ‘slight’ flaw in their character.
What’s the best way for a mom to get out of involuntary hospitalization to reunite with her five-year old? Parole, or perhaps “McMurphy” it?
- Morning Glory by Sam W. Pisciotta
For those folks who abhor nature and squishy living things, a change is about to come.
Pairs well with the 1995 film “Safe.”
- Have You Seen Bitsy? By James Van Pelt
Extra! Extra! Read all about it--Intrepid newspaper girl delivers moral lesson to her supposed betters!
- My Sister Told Me To Write A Story About the Genetics Of Inheritable Godhood by Sarah Pinsker
An idea is just an idea. It is up to the author to break the story.
BTW--where in god's name does her sister come up with these crazy ideas?
- The Death Hole Bunker by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Excavating dangerous Death Holes containing age-old exotic artifacts for fun and profit…what could go wrong? Pairs well with Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky's novel Roadside Picnic.
- What>We>Will>Never>Be by Robert Reed
Revenge is a dish best served cold…VERY cold. The continued saga of the Great Ship and the times after the creation of the Scar.
- Showdown On Planetoid Pencrux by Garth Nix
It’s minor planet, not Tombstone, Doc is not a dentist, and there is no corral—but there is a shootout. Will the good guys, gals, and others win?
Now if we could just get John Ford to direct!
- Bridges by Sean Monaghan
Ages after the robots went away, the intelligent machinery left behind give folk housing, food, clothing, and even bridges. What happens when the AI programing goes awry? An excellent allegory for the mayhem that cancer causes.
Pairs well with the manga and anime Cells at Work!, Vol. 1.
- Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Karawynn Long
Having one’s intelligence underestimated can be both painful and a terrific advantage. A touching tale of cross-species friendship, communication and collaboration.
- Dark Horses by David Ebenbach
Selling the idea of a lifeboat on a sinking ship—should we use a theme or a motif? What’s the difference? Discuss. An exercise in surreal marketing.
- The Greeter by Rick Wilber & Lisa Lanser Rose
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
- Hunter / Garcia
Another story about the way a unique viewpoint allows some to see things that most folk miss. A nice bookend with Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Karawynn Long in this issue.
- Tilt by Leslie What
Court-ordered group therapy for mutants with weird-ass super powers…and just a ‘slight’ flaw in their character.
What’s the best way for a mom to get out of involuntary hospitalization to reunite with her five-year old? Parole, or perhaps “McMurphy” it?
- Morning Glory by Sam W. Pisciotta
For those folks who abhor nature and squishy living things, a change is about to come.
Pairs well with the 1995 film “Safe.”
- Have You Seen Bitsy? By James Van Pelt
Extra! Extra! Read all about it--Intrepid newspaper girl delivers moral lesson to her supposed betters!
- My Sister Told Me To Write A Story About the Genetics Of Inheritable Godhood by Sarah Pinsker
An idea is just an idea. It is up to the author to break the story.
BTW--where in god's name does her sister come up with these crazy ideas?
September 10, 2023
The July/August 2023 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine was better than the previous issue, but not by much. It was a very average collection of stories overall, ranging from some quite bad to others that were good but not great. This issue has eight short stories, three novelettes, and two novellas. The novellas and novelettes were better than the short stories, with all getting at least three stars. The short stories were lacking in quality, except for a couple. There was one short story, one novelette, and one novella that I gave four stars. None were five stars.
Here is a synopsis of the stories I liked:
4 ⭐ - Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Karawynn Long is a heartfelt story of an autistic girl who, while working as a research assistant, learns how to talk to corvids. She has a difficult time socializing with other people and is often not taken seriously by others, but she takes the time to learn the language of the birds they are researching. An engineered group of corvids takes notice of her and they learn to communicate.
4 ⭐ - Daughters of the Lattice by Stephen Case is an intriguing story of a failing Lattice. The vine-like structure that protects a far future people. A crew is sent on a thirty-year trip into space to repair the lattice. On the way, they encounter the Cyst, the infection that is spreading throughout the galaxy and destroying the lattice.
4 ⭐ - What>We>Will>Never>Be by Robert Reed is a novella and the longest story in this issue. It is a very unique and interesting story about an armored and spiked alien biped living on the Great Ship. A massive vessel that is traveling through the galaxy. Millions of aliens and humans live on the Great Ship with a long and diverse history of rules, from humans to the shadowy !eech. The alien Tosylic lives in grief from losing his AI wife many years ago. He suspects the !eech, but needs a complex plan to capture them.
This was a very middling issue, but the novella by Robert Reed raises the quality. Asimov’s over-reliance on aging authors who fail to innovate their stories makes this issue suffer.
Here is a synopsis of the stories I liked:
4 ⭐ - Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Karawynn Long is a heartfelt story of an autistic girl who, while working as a research assistant, learns how to talk to corvids. She has a difficult time socializing with other people and is often not taken seriously by others, but she takes the time to learn the language of the birds they are researching. An engineered group of corvids takes notice of her and they learn to communicate.
4 ⭐ - Daughters of the Lattice by Stephen Case is an intriguing story of a failing Lattice. The vine-like structure that protects a far future people. A crew is sent on a thirty-year trip into space to repair the lattice. On the way, they encounter the Cyst, the infection that is spreading throughout the galaxy and destroying the lattice.
4 ⭐ - What>We>Will>Never>Be by Robert Reed is a novella and the longest story in this issue. It is a very unique and interesting story about an armored and spiked alien biped living on the Great Ship. A massive vessel that is traveling through the galaxy. Millions of aliens and humans live on the Great Ship with a long and diverse history of rules, from humans to the shadowy !eech. The alien Tosylic lives in grief from losing his AI wife many years ago. He suspects the !eech, but needs a complex plan to capture them.
This was a very middling issue, but the novella by Robert Reed raises the quality. Asimov’s over-reliance on aging authors who fail to innovate their stories makes this issue suffer.
July 12, 2023
Hogarth is an archaeologist investigating the death holes on planet Wyr when he and his assistant Raemi find a cluster of mummies on a deep, dark staircase. What they find “In The Death Hole Bunker” below is both valuable and dangerous in this gripping and suspenseful tale from Kristine Kathryn Rusch. A disabled man with dyspraxia (whose intelligence has always been underestimated) forms a communicative bond with a crow named Kuro in the wistful “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers” by Karawynn Long, where he discovers that freedom depends on the point of view. The Lattice is a network in underspace enabling travel between the stars but a creeping Cyst is engulfing whole worlds using the network so the lattice has been unraveled in an attempt to slow the spread of the Cyst. It is up to one of the “Daughters Of The Lattice” to try to restart the Lattice using a derelict forge-ship. A strong story from Stephen Case. “The Greeter” is the second tale of triumph over disability in the issue. Janny is a middle-aged Down’s woman whose mother disappeared when she was five, leaving her father, a SETI researcher, to raise her. Janny turnsd out to have a remarkable gift in this poignant story from Rick Wilber & Lisa Lanser Rose. Leslie What’s “Tilt” gives us a therapy session for powerful mutants which does not result in personal growth, while Garth Nix changes the mood with the rollicking space western “Showdown On Planetoid Pencrux”, where two renegade warborgs have become self-appointed protectors of a settlement outside the Federation. But the most powerful warborg of all, The Skinner, is coming. More please! In a future where travelling AI mechs build “Bridges” to supply human settlements a malfunctioning mech precipitates an urge for self-sufficiency in Sean Monaghan’s tale. James van Pelt gives us the intriguing tale of aliens kidnapping pets and the doughty papergirl who thwarts them in “Have You Seen Bitsy?” Robert Reed closes with a Great Shop novella where a harum-scarum, a human ex-Captain and the secretive !eech battle for control of “What>We>Will>Never>Be”. A good issue.
October 4, 2023
I really enjoy Kristine Kathryn Rusch and was delighted to find a novella by her in this issue, "The Death Hole Bunker."
"My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About Inheritable Godhood" by Sarah Pinsker was a fun look at where a writer gets her ideas and what happens to them. "Let the Games Begin" is an epistolary short story between Robert Friedman and Barry Malzberg. Bob claims to be abducted by aliens; Barry doesn't believe him. In "Have You Seen Bitsy" by James Van Pelt a paper girl see a notice about a lost cat, Bitsy. She then begins to notice that other pets in the apartment building are missing. Could this be related to the mysterious tenants in one of her apartment?
There was also a lot of poetry in this issue--feels like more than usual.
Overall, a satisfying issue.
"My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About Inheritable Godhood" by Sarah Pinsker was a fun look at where a writer gets her ideas and what happens to them. "Let the Games Begin" is an epistolary short story between Robert Friedman and Barry Malzberg. Bob claims to be abducted by aliens; Barry doesn't believe him. In "Have You Seen Bitsy" by James Van Pelt a paper girl see a notice about a lost cat, Bitsy. She then begins to notice that other pets in the apartment building are missing. Could this be related to the mysterious tenants in one of her apartment?
There was also a lot of poetry in this issue--feels like more than usual.
Overall, a satisfying issue.
June 29, 2023
I loved the first two stories: a Katherine Kristine Rusch novella in the Diving universe, a story by Karawynn Long with an autistic corvid-loving protagonist. I also loved the one by Rick Wilber and Lisa Lanser Rose in which the protagonists are a father and his daughter with Down syndrome. And the Garth Nix Western set on another planet with cyborgs. Plus Leslie What, Sarah Pinsker, James Van Pelt, Barry Malzberg, and more! Excellent.
June 22, 2023
Another excellent collection of scientifiction. Three good stories about people with mental challenges and two about people with superpowers. There is a fun email exchange between Barry Malzberg and Robert Friedman, and an alien showdown at noon by Garth Nix. I especially liked the works by Robert Reed and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Well worth the subscription price.
July 29, 2023
I liked "The Greeter" by Rick Wilber and Lisa Lanser Rose
December 30, 2023
Great issue. My favorite stories were those by Garth Nix, James Van Pelt, and Robert Reed.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews