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Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2013
CONTENTS
Novelettes
"The Art of Homecoming" by Carrie Vaughn
"Yubba Vines" by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo
"What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?" by Gray Rinehart
"At Palomar" by Rick Wilber
Short Stories
"Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka
"Blair's War" by Ian Watson
"Today's Friends" by David J. Schwartz
Poetry
"This Impatient Ape" by Steven Utley
"Shifts in Production" by Bruce Boston
"Quod Erat Demonstradum" by Karin L. Frank
"Three Charms for Recovering Lost Data" by Peter Chiykowski
Departments
"Editorial: Luna's First Heroes" by Sheila Williams
"In Memoriam: Steven Utley: 1948-2013" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: John Frum, He Come" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2013, Vol. 37, No. 7 (Whole No. 450)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by NASA
Novelettes
"The Art of Homecoming" by Carrie Vaughn
"Yubba Vines" by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo
"What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?" by Gray Rinehart
"At Palomar" by Rick Wilber
Short Stories
"Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka
"Blair's War" by Ian Watson
"Today's Friends" by David J. Schwartz
Poetry
"This Impatient Ape" by Steven Utley
"Shifts in Production" by Bruce Boston
"Quod Erat Demonstradum" by Karin L. Frank
"Three Charms for Recovering Lost Data" by Peter Chiykowski
Departments
"Editorial: Luna's First Heroes" by Sheila Williams
"In Memoriam: Steven Utley: 1948-2013" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: John Frum, He Come" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2013, Vol. 37, No. 7 (Whole No. 450)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by NASA
- GenresScience Fiction
116 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
284 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 12, 2014
Overall, this was a weak issue. There were a couple strong stories, Robert Silverberg’s Reflections article was interesting as usual, but the poor stories really dragged the rest down. One highlight was some content that wasn’t even really part of the issue; Steve Utley’s This Impatient Ape was included in a memoriam to the author, and I found that to be one of the most moving speculative poems that I’ve read. It was short, to the point, and packed a punch.
Haplotype 1402
Ted Kosmatka
A post-bacteriological apocalypse tale, well executed but nothing special. Kosmatka delivered a solid story, but definitely not the best effort I’ve read from him (that would have to go to Blood Dauber, the first story in the October/November 2009 issue of Asimov’s, and the first story I ever read from the magazine).
The Art of Homecoming
Carrie Vaughn
Vaughn, like Kosmatka, came with a respectable effort but one that just seemed lacking. I think part of the reason I disliked this story is because I’m getting a little sick of stories that are solely character driven, at the expense of any semblance of an interesting story. I’m not saying all stories of this ilk are without merit, but it seems this type of story is currently in vogue within the SF literary community and it’s getting tiresome. So this story may not have disappointed me as much if my interest in its type weren’t at an all-time low.
Blair’s War
Ian Watson
Speaking of boring, let’s discus Blair’s War, a completely useless alternate history tale in which George Orwell is a general instead of a fiction writer *BOOM MIND BLOWN NO NEED FOR AN INTERESTING STORY*. Yawn.
Yubba Vines
Rudy Rucker & Paul DiFilippo
Now we’re talking. Rucker and DiFilippo deliver exactly what is expected of them: a wonderfully strange tale of aliens who abduct humans via their ultra-hip underground food truck in order to fatten them up and then harvest their personalities via a heretofore unknown organ known as the yubba vine, while simultaneously broadcasting the video feed of this process as an intergalactic reality show. Elves are also present. Flippin’ awesome.
What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?
Gray Rinehart
Going from Yubba Vines to this bleak cold-war era Russian military tale is a study in opposites. An interesting concept, and I did enjoy the Communist party perspective for a change. What I did not enjoy was that it felt like the depths of the implications of such a technology (the ability to have one’s mind transferred into the body of a younger person, at the cost of said young person’s mental existence) were fully explored. We’re told that X number of fast-rising communist party members are actually reincarnated elder statesmen, and shown in two cases how this may play out. Maybe a short story just wasn’t enough to do the concept justice.
Today’s Friends
David J. Schwartz
Much like the previous story, I wish there had been a bit more to this one. The atmosphere was great, suitably creepy for the takeover of the earth by a race of super-intelligent aliens who communicate telepathically and seem to abhor loud noises. The idea of beings who are much beyond ourselves in intelligence treating us poorly simply because they are so intelligent seems like a played-out scenario, and one that flies in the face of what the reality born out by the only example of intelligent life we have is: as we get more and more advanced as a species, our ability to empathize increases. It does not lead to us, as a species, caring less.
At Palomar
Rick Wilber
I was really frustrated with this story when I first started it. To my knowledge, it was the third different Moe Berg alternate history story I had read in the past year or so and it was getting to be a little much. Not to mention that this one started out so sluggishly. While I wasn’t wrong about this being the third Moe Berg story, I was wrong that it was a unique story; it was a sequel to Something Real, Wilber’s novelette from the April/May 2012 issue. Once I figured that out, the story started to pick up and became significantly more interesting. I don’t think I want another Moe Berg anytime soon, and alternate history really isn’t my favourite (since I know SFA about history, usually), but this one was an enjoyable tale.
Haplotype 1402
Ted Kosmatka
A post-bacteriological apocalypse tale, well executed but nothing special. Kosmatka delivered a solid story, but definitely not the best effort I’ve read from him (that would have to go to Blood Dauber, the first story in the October/November 2009 issue of Asimov’s, and the first story I ever read from the magazine).
The Art of Homecoming
Carrie Vaughn
Vaughn, like Kosmatka, came with a respectable effort but one that just seemed lacking. I think part of the reason I disliked this story is because I’m getting a little sick of stories that are solely character driven, at the expense of any semblance of an interesting story. I’m not saying all stories of this ilk are without merit, but it seems this type of story is currently in vogue within the SF literary community and it’s getting tiresome. So this story may not have disappointed me as much if my interest in its type weren’t at an all-time low.
Blair’s War
Ian Watson
Speaking of boring, let’s discus Blair’s War, a completely useless alternate history tale in which George Orwell is a general instead of a fiction writer *BOOM MIND BLOWN NO NEED FOR AN INTERESTING STORY*. Yawn.
Yubba Vines
Rudy Rucker & Paul DiFilippo
Now we’re talking. Rucker and DiFilippo deliver exactly what is expected of them: a wonderfully strange tale of aliens who abduct humans via their ultra-hip underground food truck in order to fatten them up and then harvest their personalities via a heretofore unknown organ known as the yubba vine, while simultaneously broadcasting the video feed of this process as an intergalactic reality show. Elves are also present. Flippin’ awesome.
What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?
Gray Rinehart
Going from Yubba Vines to this bleak cold-war era Russian military tale is a study in opposites. An interesting concept, and I did enjoy the Communist party perspective for a change. What I did not enjoy was that it felt like the depths of the implications of such a technology (the ability to have one’s mind transferred into the body of a younger person, at the cost of said young person’s mental existence) were fully explored. We’re told that X number of fast-rising communist party members are actually reincarnated elder statesmen, and shown in two cases how this may play out. Maybe a short story just wasn’t enough to do the concept justice.
Today’s Friends
David J. Schwartz
Much like the previous story, I wish there had been a bit more to this one. The atmosphere was great, suitably creepy for the takeover of the earth by a race of super-intelligent aliens who communicate telepathically and seem to abhor loud noises. The idea of beings who are much beyond ourselves in intelligence treating us poorly simply because they are so intelligent seems like a played-out scenario, and one that flies in the face of what the reality born out by the only example of intelligent life we have is: as we get more and more advanced as a species, our ability to empathize increases. It does not lead to us, as a species, caring less.
At Palomar
Rick Wilber
I was really frustrated with this story when I first started it. To my knowledge, it was the third different Moe Berg alternate history story I had read in the past year or so and it was getting to be a little much. Not to mention that this one started out so sluggishly. While I wasn’t wrong about this being the third Moe Berg story, I was wrong that it was a unique story; it was a sequel to Something Real, Wilber’s novelette from the April/May 2012 issue. Once I figured that out, the story started to pick up and became significantly more interesting. I don’t think I want another Moe Berg anytime soon, and alternate history really isn’t my favourite (since I know SFA about history, usually), but this one was an enjoyable tale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2016
Several columns (including an "In Memoriam: Steven Utley: 1948-2013,") essays, poems and book reviews. Overall not a bad issue with a couple better stories to balance the weak ones. The fiction story content is four novelettes and three short stories:
Haplotype 1402 • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka
The Art of Homecoming • novelette by Carrie Vaughn
Blair's War • shortstory by Ian Watson
Yubba Vines • novelette by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo
What is a Warrior Without His Wounds? • novelette by Gray Rinehart
Today's Friends • shortstory by David J. Schwartz
At Palomar • novelette by Rick Wilber
“Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka is the first story. A survivalist post-apocalyptic drama with only a few people resistant to a nasty bacteria. Nathan tries to stay moral in an amoral world. Interesting short piece.
Carrie Vaughn's “The Art of Homecoming” I found to be an unexpectedly touching story. This is a rather quiet story. Wendy is "Major Daring" on the security team of the interstellar diplomatic corps and is responsible for a major incident. Her Captain recommends some time off when Wendy insists on resigning or retiring. But she is a very skilled officer who is too valuable to let go. She decides to spend a month with her sister who is a farmer on the planet Ariana. Wendy finds she loves the rural life her sister has and must decide where her own future lies. This is very well written and I liked it a lot.
"Blair's War" by Ian Watson was really an odd one for me. It is described as an alternate history piece, set in England in 1937 and concerning Basque refugee children. There's really not much story to this and furthermore it was quite uninteresting.
“Yubba Vines” by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo is really an odd story. The intro blurb cites 'mastery of gnarly transrealism' as if that tells me diddly. 'Gonzo ribofunk' is also in the blurb description which really tells me a lot more. So, the intro had me wary and the story is certainly offbeat, but it wasn't a whack job and I found the adventure of Cammy and Bengt and the strange diner with the fabulous food rather amusing.
“What Is a Warrior Without His Wounds?” is a novelette by Gray Rinehart. I have mixed feelings about this one. I thought the story was very good and well told, but the mad scientist mind transfer procedure just was not believable.
“Today’s Friends” really creeped me out. When I finished I worried I would have nightmares for a week. David J Schwartz has really finely crafted a short story about the after effects of an alien invasion by the Greys. They play with people's minds, make them act like puppets, make birds sing til they burst. They don't like sound, but they like music. This story is really worth reading.
“At Palomar” by Rick Wilber for me was a muddled story at first, flipping constantly through multiple timelines. It settles a bit towards the end with our "hero" trying to fix some of the timelines in which the Nazi's and Japanese were victors in WWII (The Germans via submarine set off atomic bombs in New York and Boston in one scenario we flip through). Good guys here are the bad guys there, maybe, who knows as we flip through the parallel universes. The key to all of this was Moe Berg. The story was OK, good only in parts, and I liked "Uncertainty," a novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from the March 2013 issue, that touched on Moe Berg much better.
Haplotype 1402 • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka
The Art of Homecoming • novelette by Carrie Vaughn
Blair's War • shortstory by Ian Watson
Yubba Vines • novelette by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo
What is a Warrior Without His Wounds? • novelette by Gray Rinehart
Today's Friends • shortstory by David J. Schwartz
At Palomar • novelette by Rick Wilber
“Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka is the first story. A survivalist post-apocalyptic drama with only a few people resistant to a nasty bacteria. Nathan tries to stay moral in an amoral world. Interesting short piece.
Carrie Vaughn's “The Art of Homecoming” I found to be an unexpectedly touching story. This is a rather quiet story. Wendy is "Major Daring" on the security team of the interstellar diplomatic corps and is responsible for a major incident. Her Captain recommends some time off when Wendy insists on resigning or retiring. But she is a very skilled officer who is too valuable to let go. She decides to spend a month with her sister who is a farmer on the planet Ariana. Wendy finds she loves the rural life her sister has and must decide where her own future lies. This is very well written and I liked it a lot.
"Blair's War" by Ian Watson was really an odd one for me. It is described as an alternate history piece, set in England in 1937 and concerning Basque refugee children. There's really not much story to this and furthermore it was quite uninteresting.
“Yubba Vines” by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo is really an odd story. The intro blurb cites 'mastery of gnarly transrealism' as if that tells me diddly. 'Gonzo ribofunk' is also in the blurb description which really tells me a lot more. So, the intro had me wary and the story is certainly offbeat, but it wasn't a whack job and I found the adventure of Cammy and Bengt and the strange diner with the fabulous food rather amusing.
“What Is a Warrior Without His Wounds?” is a novelette by Gray Rinehart. I have mixed feelings about this one. I thought the story was very good and well told, but the mad scientist mind transfer procedure just was not believable.
“Today’s Friends” really creeped me out. When I finished I worried I would have nightmares for a week. David J Schwartz has really finely crafted a short story about the after effects of an alien invasion by the Greys. They play with people's minds, make them act like puppets, make birds sing til they burst. They don't like sound, but they like music. This story is really worth reading.
“At Palomar” by Rick Wilber for me was a muddled story at first, flipping constantly through multiple timelines. It settles a bit towards the end with our "hero" trying to fix some of the timelines in which the Nazi's and Japanese were victors in WWII (The Germans via submarine set off atomic bombs in New York and Boston in one scenario we flip through). Good guys here are the bad guys there, maybe, who knows as we flip through the parallel universes. The key to all of this was Moe Berg. The story was OK, good only in parts, and I liked "Uncertainty," a novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from the March 2013 issue, that touched on Moe Berg much better.
July 8, 2013
An average issue with stories that didn't quite jump out from the crowd. The story by Rudy Rucker & Paul Di Filippo is probably the most interesting but its premise is a bit twisted if you are not into stories where style trumps substance.
- "Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka: a disturbing, violent, tale about a future where civilisation has collapsed due to the rise of a long expected disease. And only the lucky few with the correct immunity can survive. In this story, one survivor wonders how much violence is worth is to survive and makes a drastic, final, decision.
- "The Art of Homecoming" by Carrie Vaughn: a light-hearted tale about two sisters. One a farmer on a world; the other is a military diplomat who takes a break (after a disastrous diplomatic incident) and visits her sister. As the enforced vacation continues, she has to decide whether to give up her stressful career to join her sister for a life on the farm.
- "Blair's War" by Ian Watson: an alternate-history story involving a figure of historical interest involved, during the initial stages of World War II, with supporting the Spanish government against Fascists. Intertwined with the fate of Spanish children sent to England, the war effort takes a different historical tack, with devestating consequences.
- "Yubba Vines" by Rudy Rucker & Paul Di Filippo: a 'gonzo' story about a couple who are attracted to a 'free' unmarked eatery that serves unusually good food. When one of them is caught in the equivalent of a lobster trap, it is up to the other to come to the rescue in an interstellar tale of rescue...and entertainment.
- "What Is a Warrior without His Wounds?" by Gray Rinehart: set in post-Soviet Russia, an injured military Captain, with connections in high places, is offered a top-secret way to recover from his injuries. Will his sense of duty and honour let him take the offer, especially when the procedure will cause the death of the unsuspecting donor? Also, he has seen first-hand what the procedure does to those who have undergone it; making them lose respect for the lives of those around them.
- "Today's Friends" by David J. Schwartz: a story set in a world 'conquered' by aliens known as Grays who apparently detest noise and impose by destroying 'noise-makers' like nearby singing birds. One man makes the mistake of humming a tune, causing his mind to be 'probed' by a Gray searching for information on the song. In the aftermath, he runs away, searching for a place free from Grays and finds others who also had encounters with Grays and deals with them in their own ways.
- "At Palomar" by Rick Wilber: set after his previous story, "Something Real" (see my review of the May/June 2012 issue of Asimov's), this story has Moe Berg going to a multiverse where Japan and Germany are dividing up the world after winning the war. But the conflict isn't over as Germany wants to provoke Japan by setting off a 'superbomb' in California. Can Berg stop the truck bearing the famous telescope lens (and the bomb) to Palomar and should he strictly follow instructions regarding two bullets in the chest of a woman?
- "Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka: a disturbing, violent, tale about a future where civilisation has collapsed due to the rise of a long expected disease. And only the lucky few with the correct immunity can survive. In this story, one survivor wonders how much violence is worth is to survive and makes a drastic, final, decision.
- "The Art of Homecoming" by Carrie Vaughn: a light-hearted tale about two sisters. One a farmer on a world; the other is a military diplomat who takes a break (after a disastrous diplomatic incident) and visits her sister. As the enforced vacation continues, she has to decide whether to give up her stressful career to join her sister for a life on the farm.
- "Blair's War" by Ian Watson: an alternate-history story involving a figure of historical interest involved, during the initial stages of World War II, with supporting the Spanish government against Fascists. Intertwined with the fate of Spanish children sent to England, the war effort takes a different historical tack, with devestating consequences.
- "Yubba Vines" by Rudy Rucker & Paul Di Filippo: a 'gonzo' story about a couple who are attracted to a 'free' unmarked eatery that serves unusually good food. When one of them is caught in the equivalent of a lobster trap, it is up to the other to come to the rescue in an interstellar tale of rescue...and entertainment.
- "What Is a Warrior without His Wounds?" by Gray Rinehart: set in post-Soviet Russia, an injured military Captain, with connections in high places, is offered a top-secret way to recover from his injuries. Will his sense of duty and honour let him take the offer, especially when the procedure will cause the death of the unsuspecting donor? Also, he has seen first-hand what the procedure does to those who have undergone it; making them lose respect for the lives of those around them.
- "Today's Friends" by David J. Schwartz: a story set in a world 'conquered' by aliens known as Grays who apparently detest noise and impose by destroying 'noise-makers' like nearby singing birds. One man makes the mistake of humming a tune, causing his mind to be 'probed' by a Gray searching for information on the song. In the aftermath, he runs away, searching for a place free from Grays and finds others who also had encounters with Grays and deals with them in their own ways.
- "At Palomar" by Rick Wilber: set after his previous story, "Something Real" (see my review of the May/June 2012 issue of Asimov's), this story has Moe Berg going to a multiverse where Japan and Germany are dividing up the world after winning the war. But the conflict isn't over as Germany wants to provoke Japan by setting off a 'superbomb' in California. Can Berg stop the truck bearing the famous telescope lens (and the bomb) to Palomar and should he strictly follow instructions regarding two bullets in the chest of a woman?
February 5, 2016
Mixed bag. Really enjoyed "Yubba Vines", by Rucker & Di Filippo; and "The Art of Homecoming", by Carrie Vaughn. David Schwartz's short story "Today's Friends" was creepily disturbing. Sadly, I could not get into Rick Wilber's most recent Moe Berg story, "At Palomar", which felt even more disjointed than these stories usually are.
May 27, 2013
Decent issue with only three standouts in my opinion. Hallo type 1402, Today's Friend, and At Palomar were all great to read.
January 8, 2015
I especially liked the Vaughn & Rinehart stories.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews