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Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2013
CONTENTS
Novelettes
"The Discovered Country" by Ian R. MacLeod
"The Unparallel'd Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire" by Ian Creasey
"A Hole in the Ether" by Benjamin Crowell
Short Stories
"What We Ourselves Are Not" by Leah Cypess
"As Yet Untitled" by James Sallis
"A Stranger from a Foreign Ship" by Tom Purdom
"That Universe We Both Dreamed Of" by Jay O'Connell
"What Changes You, What Takes You Away" by Dominica Phetteplace
Poetry
"Ponies and Rocketships" by Leslie Anderson
"Teaching on Mars" by Alicia Cole
"Archive Copy" by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
"The New Literary Canon" by Megan Arkenberg
"After We're Gone" by Steve Rasnic Tem
Departments
"Editorial: On Not Dying of the Light" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: Translations" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Peter Heck
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2013, Vol. 37, No. 9 (Whole No. 452)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Kinuko Craft
Novelettes
"The Discovered Country" by Ian R. MacLeod
"The Unparallel'd Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire" by Ian Creasey
"A Hole in the Ether" by Benjamin Crowell
Short Stories
"What We Ourselves Are Not" by Leah Cypess
"As Yet Untitled" by James Sallis
"A Stranger from a Foreign Ship" by Tom Purdom
"That Universe We Both Dreamed Of" by Jay O'Connell
"What Changes You, What Takes You Away" by Dominica Phetteplace
Poetry
"Ponies and Rocketships" by Leslie Anderson
"Teaching on Mars" by Alicia Cole
"Archive Copy" by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
"The New Literary Canon" by Megan Arkenberg
"After We're Gone" by Steve Rasnic Tem
Departments
"Editorial: On Not Dying of the Light" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: Translations" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Peter Heck
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2013, Vol. 37, No. 9 (Whole No. 452)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Kinuko Craft
- GenresScience FictionFiction
116 pages, ebook
First published September 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
276 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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 25, 2013
A couple of strong outings from Leah Cypess and Tom Purdon. Jay O'Connel and James Sallis provided entertaining pieces. But I couldn't get into the hole in the ether or the title piece leaving this issue a strong three and a half stars.
November 17, 2014
When I’ve reviewed magazine issues in the past, I’ve always attempted to review every single story in the issue. That’s a noble goal but it’s also a little overwhelming and off putting. For this issue, I decided to do something different. I decided to just review the stories I liked and to ignore the rest. And, wouldn’t you know it, this turned out to be the issue that I really liked almost everything.
Novelettes
The Unparallel’d Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire by Ian Creasey—For my next trick, I’ll fall into the event horizon of a black hole and then escape back out again. And, it’s obvious (of course!) when you know the trick. That’s one thing. But escaping from utopia? That’s another matter altogether.
A Hole in the Ether by Benjamin Crowell—Living in a world where intellectual property law has metastasized and is now the only thing that matters, a small family preserves the last free library left on earth. I don’t understand why various cities and populations were getting destroyed throughout the story, but that’s a minor nit about a minor point in the story. The main point, the struggle to preserve art from commercialism, was very good.
Short Stories
What We Ourselves Are Not by Leah Cypess—What if you could have cultural memories and knowledge implanted via chip? What would that do to your relationships and the whole structure of society? In this story, a seventeen year old boy faces exactly that choice as he struggles to figure out who he is, where he came from, and where he’s going in a multicultural society that highly values heritage.
This is one of the best and most thought provoking stories I’ve read in a long time. I found myself agreeing with points on both sides of the argument (to implant or not to implant) and I still don’t know which way I’d go if I had to make the decision.
As Yet Untitled by James Sallis—The central character in this story is, in fact, an actor. Not a movie actor but a book actor. Someone who appears in different books as different characters, according to the whim of the author. He faces a tough transition as he’s forced to move on from his longtime genre and tackle the Western.
Non-Fiction
On Not Dying of the Light by Sheila Williams—This is a familiar feeling old school science fiction magazine editorial. Ms. Williams puts forth a call to arms: we must build a defense against incoming asteroids. It would be stupid to be able to fully comprehend what an asteroid did to the dinosaurs but still die anyway because we were too complacent to take the danger seriously. We must not die quietly of the light.
Translations by Robert Silverberg—This is an essay about it means to create science fiction. Science fiction isn’t just “[calling a rabbit a smeerp][1]”. Silverberg reflects on his introduction to collaborative novel Nightfall, where he made exactly that point:
That’s exactly what I look for in science fiction. (And, now that I’ve been reminded of it, I may have formulated my preferences based on my own reading of Nightfall, many years ago.) I love fun space stories. But what I really like is a story that can change something about our world and, in so doing, reveal things I’d never noticed before. A good SF story will move the camera a few degrees off center, giving us a totally different perspective on the familiar, revealing the commonplace to be anything but.
My Take
This is one of the best issues of Asimov’s I’ve read yet. It makes me glad to be a subscriber and to stay one.
Novelettes
The Unparallel’d Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire by Ian Creasey—For my next trick, I’ll fall into the event horizon of a black hole and then escape back out again. And, it’s obvious (of course!) when you know the trick. That’s one thing. But escaping from utopia? That’s another matter altogether.
A Hole in the Ether by Benjamin Crowell—Living in a world where intellectual property law has metastasized and is now the only thing that matters, a small family preserves the last free library left on earth. I don’t understand why various cities and populations were getting destroyed throughout the story, but that’s a minor nit about a minor point in the story. The main point, the struggle to preserve art from commercialism, was very good.
Short Stories
What We Ourselves Are Not by Leah Cypess—What if you could have cultural memories and knowledge implanted via chip? What would that do to your relationships and the whole structure of society? In this story, a seventeen year old boy faces exactly that choice as he struggles to figure out who he is, where he came from, and where he’s going in a multicultural society that highly values heritage.
This is one of the best and most thought provoking stories I’ve read in a long time. I found myself agreeing with points on both sides of the argument (to implant or not to implant) and I still don’t know which way I’d go if I had to make the decision.
As Yet Untitled by James Sallis—The central character in this story is, in fact, an actor. Not a movie actor but a book actor. Someone who appears in different books as different characters, according to the whim of the author. He faces a tough transition as he’s forced to move on from his longtime genre and tackle the Western.
Non-Fiction
On Not Dying of the Light by Sheila Williams—This is a familiar feeling old school science fiction magazine editorial. Ms. Williams puts forth a call to arms: we must build a defense against incoming asteroids. It would be stupid to be able to fully comprehend what an asteroid did to the dinosaurs but still die anyway because we were too complacent to take the danger seriously. We must not die quietly of the light.
Translations by Robert Silverberg—This is an essay about it means to create science fiction. Science fiction isn’t just “[calling a rabbit a smeerp][1]”. Silverberg reflects on his introduction to collaborative novel Nightfall, where he made exactly that point:
The essence of this story doesn’t lie in the quantity of bizarre terms we might have invented; it lies, rather, in the reaction of a group of people somewhat like ourselves, living on a world that is somewhat like ours in all but one highly significant detail, as they react to a challenging situation that is completely different from anything the people of Earth have ever had to deal with…”.
Note that phrase, a world that is somewhat like ours in all but one highly significant detail. A science fiction story needs to have some underlying speculative concept, or isn’t science-fiction no matter how many smeerps and greeznaks it has.
That’s exactly what I look for in science fiction. (And, now that I’ve been reminded of it, I may have formulated my preferences based on my own reading of Nightfall, many years ago.) I love fun space stories. But what I really like is a story that can change something about our world and, in so doing, reveal things I’d never noticed before. A good SF story will move the camera a few degrees off center, giving us a totally different perspective on the familiar, revealing the commonplace to be anything but.
My Take
This is one of the best issues of Asimov’s I’ve read yet. It makes me glad to be a subscriber and to stay one.
August 5, 2013
An average issue with interesting stories by Ian R. MacLeod and Tom Purdom, two back-to-back "alien visitor" stories by Jay O'Connell and Dominica Phetteplace, and a tribute story to Ray Bradbury by Benjamin Crowell that sounds promising but somewhat let down by a lack of 'follow-through' on the idea of holding on to a treasure-trove of pirated books in a era of tough copyright and permission surveillance.
- "The Discovered Country" by Ian R. MacLeod: an atmospheric tale about the Farside, a simulated environment that rich, dead, people inhabit to continue running affairs on what is left of a future, polluted Earth. The story follows a new entry into Farside who may have a romantic link to Farside's most famous inhabitant who is working to try to improve the lot of the living. But all is not what it seems as here as his (the entry's) motive to try to destroy her (the famous inhabitant) which may not actually be his own.
- "What We Ourselves Are Not" by Leah Cypess: in a future where embedded chips can hold the memories of various cultures to prevent them from being lost, a boy has to decide whether to get one, after his girlfriend breaks up with him for being culturally different after getting the chip. But his final decision would affect not only his relationship but also how the chip would be used by people to hold and remember the memories of the various different cultures. An interesting look into whether such devices will bring people together or make them break apart into their own little enclaves of cultures.
- "The Unparallel'd Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire" by Ian Creasey: in the far future, in a region where immortality rules, what could be a more astounding feat for an escape artist than to escape from the inescapable black hole. But once he does that, through a mechanism that looks more magical than logical, will he be able to do the ultimate escape with his lover?
- "As yet Untitled" by James Sallis: a short-short about a man who wishes for more meaty roles in stories but is thwarted once again.
- "A Stranger from a Foreign Ship" by Tom Purdom: a man is gifted with the ability to 'swap' bodies and while swapped, 'rummage' through the memories of other people. This ability was used to dig out private information from victims for various clients. But his latest target makes him wonder just what the client really wants and lead him to do a re-evaluation of just what he hopes to achieve with his skill.
- "Archive Copy" By David C. Kopaska-Merkel: an interesting poem about the wonders that could be revealed and lost via self-replicating probes.
- "That Universe We Both Dreamed Of" by Jay O'Connell: in a time when 'visitations' by aliens are common, one visit would lead to a man, who suffers from a condition that makes him hypersensitive to noise, to reconsider how he wants to help others if he is to meet up again with the visitor.
- "What Changes You, What Takes You Away" by Dominica Phetteplace: a girl involved in a Down's syndrome study to improve her intelligence gets a strange gift from a visitor; along with a warning about what the study might do to her.
- "A Hole in the Ether" by Benjamin Crowell: set in a future where copyrights and permissions are strictly enforced, a man discovers that he may have inherited an incredible trove of pirated electronic books from his grandfather. He, along with his wife and sister must strive to discover what they can do with the find in a world where everything you see or do can be monitored. And while they do so the world around them is slowly being destroyed by strife.
- "The Discovered Country" by Ian R. MacLeod: an atmospheric tale about the Farside, a simulated environment that rich, dead, people inhabit to continue running affairs on what is left of a future, polluted Earth. The story follows a new entry into Farside who may have a romantic link to Farside's most famous inhabitant who is working to try to improve the lot of the living. But all is not what it seems as here as his (the entry's) motive to try to destroy her (the famous inhabitant) which may not actually be his own.
- "What We Ourselves Are Not" by Leah Cypess: in a future where embedded chips can hold the memories of various cultures to prevent them from being lost, a boy has to decide whether to get one, after his girlfriend breaks up with him for being culturally different after getting the chip. But his final decision would affect not only his relationship but also how the chip would be used by people to hold and remember the memories of the various different cultures. An interesting look into whether such devices will bring people together or make them break apart into their own little enclaves of cultures.
- "The Unparallel'd Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio, Escape Artist Extraordinaire" by Ian Creasey: in the far future, in a region where immortality rules, what could be a more astounding feat for an escape artist than to escape from the inescapable black hole. But once he does that, through a mechanism that looks more magical than logical, will he be able to do the ultimate escape with his lover?
- "As yet Untitled" by James Sallis: a short-short about a man who wishes for more meaty roles in stories but is thwarted once again.
- "A Stranger from a Foreign Ship" by Tom Purdom: a man is gifted with the ability to 'swap' bodies and while swapped, 'rummage' through the memories of other people. This ability was used to dig out private information from victims for various clients. But his latest target makes him wonder just what the client really wants and lead him to do a re-evaluation of just what he hopes to achieve with his skill.
- "Archive Copy" By David C. Kopaska-Merkel: an interesting poem about the wonders that could be revealed and lost via self-replicating probes.
- "That Universe We Both Dreamed Of" by Jay O'Connell: in a time when 'visitations' by aliens are common, one visit would lead to a man, who suffers from a condition that makes him hypersensitive to noise, to reconsider how he wants to help others if he is to meet up again with the visitor.
- "What Changes You, What Takes You Away" by Dominica Phetteplace: a girl involved in a Down's syndrome study to improve her intelligence gets a strange gift from a visitor; along with a warning about what the study might do to her.
- "A Hole in the Ether" by Benjamin Crowell: set in a future where copyrights and permissions are strictly enforced, a man discovers that he may have inherited an incredible trove of pirated electronic books from his grandfather. He, along with his wife and sister must strive to discover what they can do with the find in a world where everything you see or do can be monitored. And while they do so the world around them is slowly being destroyed by strife.
August 27, 2013
Interesting mix of stories, including "A Hole in the Ether," inspired by "Fahrenheit 451." However, instead of burning books, they are suppressed by copyrights that never expire and the idea of legal ownership. The effect, in this story is the same. " What We Ourselves Are Not" examines the question of culture; its importance to our self-identity. "A Stranger from a Foreign Ship" reminded me a bit of a noir-ish story from the 1920's. I also enjoyed the poem "A New Literary Canon" that pokes fun at academics and students.
Three books mentioned in Peter Heck's column, "On Books," piqued my interest. The first is "The Best of Neal Barrett, Jr.," a collection of his short stories over the years. The others are a set: "1491: New Revelations of the World Before Columbus," and "1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created." Both are by Charles C. Mann. The first recreates the Americas (North, Central, and South) before Columbus, based on the latest anthropological and archeological evidence. The second is the follow up to the first and how globalization began. (I didn't know there was a Chinatown in Mexico City by the 1600's.)
All-in-all, a worthwhile read.
Three books mentioned in Peter Heck's column, "On Books," piqued my interest. The first is "The Best of Neal Barrett, Jr.," a collection of his short stories over the years. The others are a set: "1491: New Revelations of the World Before Columbus," and "1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created." Both are by Charles C. Mann. The first recreates the Americas (North, Central, and South) before Columbus, based on the latest anthropological and archeological evidence. The second is the follow up to the first and how globalization began. (I didn't know there was a Chinatown in Mexico City by the 1600's.)
All-in-all, a worthwhile read.
August 2, 2013
average issue. my review is here http://eerieworlds.blogspot.com/2013/...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews