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Asimov's Science Fiction, November/December 2020

Sheila Williams (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Sam Schreiber (Contributor),

Alaya Dawn Johnson (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

Chen Qiufan (Contributor),

Kevin J. Anderson (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

Rick Wilber (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

Connie Willis (Contributor),

Andy Dudak (Translator),

more…

4.06 · Rating details · 34 ratings · 14 reviews

Search no further for the perfect holiday gift! Asimov’s November/ December 2020 is stuffed with two splendid seasonal tales. Spend “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” with Santa as he investigates a disturbing mystery. Sam Schreiber’s clever cover story is his first tale for Asimov’s. We’re thrilled to have a multiple-holiday-spanning new novella from Connie Willis! “Take ...more

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Paperback, 208 pages

Published November 2020 by Penny Publications

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· 34 ratings · 14 reviews

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Nov 11, 2020 Jeppe Larsen rated it really liked it

This was a really good issue. A bit lighthearted for the most part. No really bad stories, but likely no award winners either.

The title story “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” by Sam Schreiber is a wild crazy story were Santa Claus is the protagonist in a murder mystery at a hotel with infinite rooms. Hard to explain and also pretty confusing, but great fun. 4/5.

“The Mirages” by Alaya Dawn Johnson is a bit more depressing set in a future wrecked by climate change, rising temperatures and diseas This was a really good issue. A bit lighthearted for the most part. No really bad stories, but likely no award winners either.

The title story “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” by Sam Schreiber is a wild crazy story were Santa Claus is the protagonist in a murder mystery at a hotel with infinite rooms. Hard to explain and also pretty confusing, but great fun. 4/5.

“The Mirages” by Alaya Dawn Johnson is a bit more depressing set in a future wrecked by climate change, rising temperatures and disease. The actual plot involving a family tragedy is not the interesting part, but the author creates a very convincing setting for this future. 3/5.

I was a bit sceptical about “The Hind” by Kevin J. Anderson & Rick Wilber because I usually don't like Kevin J. Andersons writing style. While I am not fan of the writing, the story here is not bad. Set on a generation starship our protoganist has to kill another passanger because she is pregnant. That plot takes some drastic turns into something else entirely. 3/5.

“Grief, as Faithful as My Hound” by Marissa Lingen is a first contact story of sorts. UFOs land across the world seemingly at random and weird silent orange blobs starts to follow random people around. The story follows a woman who has recently lost her mother and she must attend to the funeral preparations. The emotional descriptions is very believable and relatable, but the aliens doesn't really add much to the story. 3/5.

“Forger Mr. Z” by Chen Qiufan translated from Chinese is a strange story about a writer who creates a fictional science fiction writer for his stories and then reality and fiction starts to blend for him in weird ways. I found the story to an interesting read, but not really sure if there was any point to it. 2/5.

“Return from the Stars” by James Gunn is told by a robot that has returned to Earth after centuries of preparing a new planet for humans several light years away. However, Earths ecosystem has collapsed and all humans are gone. The robot teams up with some digitally stored human minds, who are placed in robot bodies, and they set up a massive project to restore Earth. Really nicely done. 4/5.

“Footprint” by Kate Maruyama is another story set in a future wrecked by climate change. The story follows a woman who is dying of cancer and she struggles to hell her daughter about it. Her daughter is a brilliant scientist working on saving humanity. It is a heartwarming character study about parenthood and doing the right thing. 4/5.

“Pull it From the Root” by Zack Be provides a pulpy action story about a woman who is fleeing from a gang set out to punish her for some malfunctioned product of sorts. Lots of stuff is happening, but not really my type of story. 2/5.

“The Long Iapetan Night” by Julie Novakova is translated from Czech is set on an expedition to one of Saturns moons, seeking another expedition they lost contact with. This story was a nice mix of hard science fiction and horror. Would love to see more stories from Novakova. 4/5.

“Return to Glory” by Jack McDevitt gives us a story with nostalgic nods to Star Trek. Set in a future that has lost most informations about our time, some old recordings of Star Trek turn up and people are interested in star travel again. Not to be taken too seriously, but good for what it is. 4/5.

I am not sure “Take a Look at the Five and Ten” by Connie Willis can be called science fiction or even speculative fiction at all. It is basically a Christmas love story about a woman whos grandma can't stop talking about the year she worked at a specific whop back in 1960. She meets a researcher who is certain her rambling about that specific Christmas is a symptom of a repressed trauma, so he wants to conduct some experiments and brain scans on her. It is a bit cheesy, it is easy to see where the plot is going and they all live happily ever after. I rather enjoyed it, but a part of me also wished the space for this 20.000 word story would have been used for some proper science fiction. 4/5. ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 Sara rated it it was amazing

I usually skip a story or two, but not in this one. Superb.

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Nov 22, 2020 Poetreehugger rated it liked it

Favourites:
The Hind by Kevin J. Anderson. Engaging characters, colourful setting, enjoyable story line.
Grief, As Faithful As My Hound by Marissa Kingen. Weird! Which is a complement. Original.
Return From the Stars by James Gunn. Far seeing and far reaching, in time, space, and evolving beings.
Pull It From the Root by Zack Be. Rollicking fun to read, with yucky alien life forms, rascally heroes, fast paced action, all in a unique other world.
Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis. Chri ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 Antonio Ippolito rated it liked it

Shelves: english, science-fiction

Il vostro recensore ha una gran voglia di fantascienza tradizionale, che includa scienza, galassie, robot.. se il tutto ha un tocco bizzarro ed eganiano, come nel racconto di apertura “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” **** di Sam Schreiber, va benissimo! un folle racconto in uno scenario multidimensionale che piacerebbe a Egan, un Babbo Natale agente secreto riluttante per un’Agenzia galattica, e con un alter ego meno rassicurante.. ma anch’esso molto tradizionale. Divertimento sfrenato e intel Il vostro recensore ha una gran voglia di fantascienza tradizionale, che includa scienza, galassie, robot.. se il tutto ha un tocco bizzarro ed eganiano, come nel racconto di apertura “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” **** di Sam Schreiber, va benissimo! un folle racconto in uno scenario multidimensionale che piacerebbe a Egan, un Babbo Natale agente secreto riluttante per un’Agenzia galattica, e con un alter ego meno rassicurante.. ma anch’esso molto tradizionale. Divertimento sfrenato e intelligente.
Questo numero non è weird come da tradizione per novembre; è addirittura natalizio, come si è detto; ma la cosa è accettabile, se presentata con la grazia e il brio di “Take a Look at the Five and Ten” **** di Connie Willis. Un racconto che in fondo non ha nulla di fantascientifico, se non in quanto lo è qualunque esplorazione approfondita dell’animo umano: qui la protagonista e il suo fidanzato cercando di disseppellire i fatti, che temono scabrosi, dietro a un ricordo lieto ma ripetuto ossessivamente dalla nonna. Deliziosa commedia psichiatrico-sentimental-natalizia, ne verrebbe fuori un buon film o almeno mediometraggio. Non ho potuto non rileggere però l’affascinante “I met a traveller in an antique land”, capolavoro weird della Willis uscito due anni fa.
Tutt’altro che natalizio “The Mirages” *** di Alaya Dawn Johnson, dove la necessità di fuggire da un Messico devastato dai cambiamenti climatici verso i privilegiati USA ha spinto una coppia al divorzio; lei a trovare un compagno in grado di portare lei e la figlia al sicuro oltre confine, lui che cerca di salvare il rapporto con la figlia. Tra strazianti decisioni e spagnolismi che non si trovano sui vocabolari (guero, chamango), un racconto a tinte forti. Ma meriterebbe anche solo per avermi spinto a indagare cosa fu la cocolitzli.
“The Hind” **** di Kevin J. Anderson e Rick Wilber; Wilber è un autore versatile e brillante, che su ASFM ha già pubblicato da solo una serie di racconti di spionaggio in una società degli anni ucronica, in collaborazione con tal Aiken un bel racconto emotivo, ‘Ithaca’. Qui con Anderson [prolifico autore, nonchè coautore dei seguiti di Dune] ci dà un racconto di fantascienza classica, rivista con occhio moderno: un racconto piacevolissimo, che mette d’accordo tutti; un’atmosfera angosciante, che si riesce a risolvere positivamente. Sulla Hind (ormai ho perso il conto di quante astronavi siano state battezzate come l’ammiraglia di sir Francis Drake quando circumnavigò il globo), astronave generazionale ormai da decenni allo sbando e fuori rotta, i sopravvissuti si barcamenano come possono; un Consiglio dirigente concede le migliori condizioni di vita a chi è disposto a diventare cacciatore di taglie ed eliminare pericolosi ribelli, che minacciano la residua integrità della nave. Una giovane madre decide di accettare questa difficile proposta, pensando al futuro della figlia; ma ha difficoltà a uccidere le persone sulla sua lista, a volte perché non può credere che siano pericolose, altre volte per troppa concorrenza.. ed è meglio così: perché prima di riuscire a fare la sua vittima, avrà diverse rivelazioni sulla vita nell’astronave, che le apriranno gli occhi.
“Forget Mr. Z,” *** di Chen Quifan. ASFM continua ad avere molta attenzione per la narrativa cinese; anche se tradotto, abbiamo qui un racconto di una delle figure-ponte che stanno emergendo tra le due culture. Scritto con l’eleganza e il formalismo che fanno sentire gli schemi di una cultura diversa dalla nostra, ci dà una nuova prospettiva su un paese a noi vicino e forse non abbastanza conosciuto: l’Albania degli anni 70/80, bastione del socialismo reale di osservanza maoista. Una storia piacevole e complessa vista da una prospettiva sorprendente.
“Grief, as Faithful as my Hound” *** di Marissa Lingen è il più weird dei racconti presenti: il lutto di una ragazza per la perdita della madre avviene simultaneamente a un’innocua ma incomprensibile invasione aliena; lei è una delle poche centinaia di persone che sarà seguita notte e giorno da un bislacco extraterrestre simile a un budino alla banana. Metafora dell’elaborazione del lutto al confine tra tragico e umoristico, scritta con sensibilità.
“Footprint” *** di Kate Maruyama è un bel racconto, psicologicamente intenso, anche se fin troppo femminile: seguiamo una donna nei giorni in cui è in visita la figlia, scienziata che ha risolto il problema del riscaldamento globale, grazie all’educazione che lei ha saputo darle tenendo a distanza il padre (separato e comunque ormai defunto da tempo). Scoprirà che non solo la figlia è incinta, ma che la di lei compagna potrà accompagnarla su Marte, nella prima spedizione umana. Emozioni di nonna.
“Pull it from the Root” di Zack Be dimostra che il vostro recensore ha idiosincrasie gravi, ma coerenti: ho smesso di leggere questo racconto dopo 1 pagg, esattamente come un altro racconto di Be apparso l’anno scorso. Stile troppo convoluto e beffardo, o forse semplicemente oltre le mie competenze linguistiche.
Con “Return to Earth”, *** James Gunn mostra di aver preso gusto alla serie di racconti ‘From the Stars’: questo è il terzo episodio, sempre scritto in stile tecno-brillante. Dopo secoli torna sulla Terra un robot mandato a esplorare un pianeta abitabile. Purtroppo l’umanità non riesce ad accogliere il suo messaggio, perché il pianeta è stato catastroficamente sommerso. Le sue risorse sono vaste: riesce a risvegliare due avatar di personaggi dei racconti precedenti, ormai solo memorie in cui è stata salvata la loro personalità: riuscirà questo terzetto assortito di robot a ripristinare una situazione vivibile?
“The Long Iapetan Night” ***** di Julie Novakova, scrittrice ceca che è anche traduttrice verso il ceco e l’inglese, è a mio parere il gioiello di questo numero. Dopo un secolo di collasso economico dovuto a catastrofi ambientali, una serie di spedizioni viene inviata sulle lune di Saturno, anche per capire cosa fosse successo alle colonie ivi abbandonate al momento della catastrofe. Una serie di fatti misteriosi scatena il terrore nelle due spedizioni che hanno occupato le vecchie basi su Giapeto; l’alternanza fra il racconto di una protgonista e il diario di una superstite di cent’anni prima porta a un crescendo di terrore, con un certo orrore cosmico. Tra l’altro l’ambientazione sulla luna Giapeto, scoperta da Cassini, è originale e dettagliata; le particolarità di questo insolito satellite sono ben mostrate, anzi varrebbe la pena leggere qualcosa in proposito prima. Si parla addirittura del minerale ‘regolith’ come nella trilogia marziana di KSR.
“Return to Glory” *** di Jack McDevitt è un piacevole anticlimax: piacerà molto ai fan di Star Trek.
...more

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Dec 31, 2020 Alex is currently reading it

I've generally tried to leave out spoilers, but if you do not want any hint of what is in this issue, please don't read my reviews below.

Overall issue rating (as an average of rated stories: [still reading]
Favorite story in this issue: [still reading]

NOVELLA
"Take a look at the five and ten"

NOVELETTES
"Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria" 4/5
This was a fun story - wacky, a bit outrageous and just a great time.
If you love hard science fiction, this story is expressly not for you - although if you can ...more

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Dec 30, 2020 Boat Onion rated it really liked it

Shelves: cyberpunk, fantasy, fiction, periodical, science-fiction, short-stories

I really enjoyed this issue.

Grief As Faithful As My Hound / Footprint / Return To Glory / Take A Look at the Five and Ten were standouts. They felt uplifting. A sense of heart and optimism ran concurrently between them that I didnt know I was craving.

Christmas At The Hilbert Astoria was a weird mindf*ck that I couldnt get enough of. Santa and a winged monkey travel through a hotel with infinite rooms, briefly interacting with neutron stars only to uncover a murder plot? Brilliant.

The Hind felt ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Kevin Phyland rated it it was amazing

Sam Schreiber has Nick (a jolly bearded fellow) called in to help solve the murder of 47 guests at “Christmas At The Hilbert Astoria” which has ∞ rooms and never any empty ones. But when Nick and his detective sidekick find that there do seem to be empty rooms and the kill count is in billions, things get crazy. The generation ship “The Hind” was holed by meteoroids 50 years ago and now if a baby is born someone must die. To this end the council have a list of people the mothers must kill…but wh ...more

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Dec 23, 2020 Denise Barney rated it it was amazing

I'm always excited when I see Connie Willis's name on the cover, especially in the November/December issue! This year's novella, "Take a Look at the Five and Ten," doesn't have aliens lurking 'neath the Christmas tree, but is a delightful story about memories and family and, sometimes, a little outside help--from relatives and, maybe, from science. I would love to see this story made into a holiday movie! (Hallmark Channel--are you listenin'?) And it didn't hurt that I remember Woolworth's. :)

I ...more

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Dec 01, 2020 Michael Frasca rated it really liked it

Here are my favorite stories from this issue:

- Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis.
I’m going to wait until I receive my copy of the Subterranean Press edition before I review this novella.

- Grief, as Faithful as My Hound by Marissa Lingen.
Orange-colored banana-flavored alien anthropologists silently follow around humans to ?? A great story for close reading to understand the grieving process of our patients.

- Footprint by Kate Maruyama.
Building a rocket and parenting a child—you do ...more

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Nov 06, 2020 Paul rated it really liked it

Ratings for this issue:

A+ (outstanding):

The Hind by Kevin J. Anderson & Rick Wilber
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova
Take a Look at the Five & Ten by Connie Willis

A (excellent):

Return from the Stars by James Gunn
Return to Glory by Jack McDevitt

B (very good):

Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria by Sam Schreiber
Forger Mr Z by Chen Qiufan
Pull it from the Root by Zack Be

C (average):

The Mirages by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Grief, as Faithful as my Hound by Marissa Lingen

D (poor):

Footprint by Kate Maruyama

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Jan 20, 2021 Bradism rated it liked it

Best Stories:
Pull it from the Root by Zack Be
Take a Look at the Five & Ten by Connie Willis
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova

Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria by Sam Schreiber was good, and deserves a special acknowledgement for determining that a dimension-hopping, time travelling sci-fi Santa's natural nemesis would be an evil hunk of coal.
...more

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Dec 29, 2020 Brian rated it liked it

Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria - 4/5
The Mirages - 2/5
The Hind - 3/5
Grief, as Faithful as My Hound - 3/5
Forger Mr. Z - 3/5
Return from the Stars - 2/5
Footprint - 3/5
Pull It From the Root - 1/5
The Long Iapetan Night - 4/5
Return to Glory - 3/5
Take a Look at the Five and Ten - 4/5

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Nov 13, 2020 Ian Woody rated it really liked it

A fun read. A good selection of stories and even a sprinkle of Christmas which was irresistible to engage with.

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Nov 17, 2020 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf

Excellent issue!

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About Sheila Williams

Sheila Williams

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Librarian 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’ inte ...more