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oleksandr's review
3.0
This is the September-October 2021 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, as usual, packed with hard SF works and scientific facts. The contents:
The "New Normal" Trap [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Stanley Schmidt an essay that takes author’s novel [b:Lifeboat Earth|2144035|Lifeboat Earth|Stanley Schmidt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409204442l/2144035._SY75_.jpg|2149525] to see whether he was right about changing attitudes. 2.5*
Kepler's Laws (Part 1 of 2) [Kepler's Law] serial by Jay Werkheiser the first part of the novel. The plot is than Japanese-Indian-US alliance sends 30 women on exoplanet Kepler, because it seems that the Earth will soon turn uninhabited will all environmental breakdowns. They are all-women because there are also embryos with them to restart a human civilization. The story starts with the first group landing and almost immediately dropping out of contact. The remaining colonists land elsewhere (except for the captain left in orbit), but soon also are victims of a strange rain. The story is good hard SF with clever ideas about a possible life quite different from our own – the planet has low oxygen (5%) methane (15%) atmosphere, perennial cloud cover and what is initially described as walking trees (see the cover). What I disliked was a social part that reminded me of soap opera’s intrigue – part of the women are in a struggle, who should be a leader (up to disobeying orders and endangering the whole enterprise), others assume that US representatives will insist on “western” culture, destroying Japanese and Indian ones. Moreover, there were two more launches planned – by China and Russia-EU alliance and the colonists should get pregnant ASAP to have more able bodies if others arrive (to bitch about this new planet). 3*
Orbital Nuclear Power System (ONPS): The Foundation of an Interplanetary Civilization [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Donald Wilkins solar power plants that beam energy to Earth have a lot of drawback, so the author suggest nuclear, like in [a:Robert A. Heinlein|205|Robert A. Heinlein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192826560p2/205.jpg]’s Blowouts Happen. They can be in a lower orbit, fission-based, stable. 3*
The Maestro's Final Work poem by Alan Ira Gordon how our solar system is made, final touches. 3*
The Book Keepers novelette by J. T. Sharrah a team of time travellers is sent to Alexandria at the moment just before arriving of Caesar. Their goal is to scan all scrolls at the Great Library before they are burned in a fire. A lot of historical info on the topic. 3*
Extrasolar Redundancy in the Nova Tortuga Model of Preservation for Dermochelys Coriacea short story by Bianca Sayan a weird story of Dessy (hir), a student who wants to create an extrasolar biome for the sea turtle as an undergraduate thesis. The story is full of unusual pronouns and weird complications, solved with help of AI, but it’s more strangeness for strangeness sake. 2*
Quieter Songs Inland short story by Marissa Lingen Corinne is an archivist in New Orleans. The archives are evacuated for there can be another weather calamity sooner or later. She has a jazz-loving father, who has lost his toes to diabetes and can't move quickly and she wants him to go just like the archives. Not exactly SF, more like cli-fi. 2.5*
Last Dance at the Gunrunners' Ball [Imago/Militant, Calderon, & DiNardo] short story by Joel Richards this is about a self-aware space ship Imago. He goes after slavers of intelligent ships (slavers assume ships as property and erase their personality). Here he (as a hologram) visits a local gathering place to assassinate some slavers and contract help for his fight. A nice action story, nothing really novel, but reads well. 3*
When Ada Is short story by Holly Schofield Ada is an autistic woman with a chip that helps her social interactions teamed up with a brute jerk Ryan to scout/mine asteroids. She is better than him, but her chip urges her to downplay it. Ends in tragedy. 4*
Where's All the Antimatter? [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer another one why muons don’t divide equally likely to matter and antimatter as the current theory suggests. A lot of physics details, way over my head, but the summary – we need a new theory. 2.5*
Quantum Entanglement poem by Ken Poyner in many universes even at their end we are in the middle. 3*
Timing short story by Robert Scherrer Og-Soth is the smartest caveman on Earth, inventing both writing and the wheel, but doesn’t help. 3.5*
Room to Live short story by Marie Vibbert the narrator works at a call service job, for consumers want to talk to real people, not AIs. AI chat-bots are actually giving her prompts, so she is below them, even despite her having a degree in AI. Additionally, her roommate is a spoiled untidy slob, leaving their apartment in a perpetual mess and whining, when the narrator tries to clean up. However, chat-bots give her good advice. 4*
In Times to Come (Analog, September-October) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited no famous names
The Soul Is Ten Thousand Parts short story by Chelsea Obodoechina a self-aware experimental android bought by a rich man as a show-off. 3*
To Feed the Animals short story by John Vester colonists on a sandy planet gather for an annual festival, where the main attraction is a skimming stone contest, thrown over an ocean. The narrator finds it important but his teenage son is moody and doesn’t understand these festivities, when life here is hard monotonous and dreary. 3*
The Hunger novelette by Marco Frassetto a near future, the space station is damaged and an octogenarian engineer, who designed the station together with a young biologist are called in to analyze it. They find out a strange small drone of extraterrestrial origin, which eats metal. They maybe a life form or constructed, but what is important is that a huge swarm of them (10^20 units) are approaching and Earth space-faring capability is in danger, and maybe even life on Earth. 4*
The Silence Before I Sleep novella by Adam-Troy Castro the same universe as Andrea Cort stories, where potent god-like AIsource and many species live. Here the protagonist is Rage Larkin, who is a consultant-assassin, a person for hire to settle problems by any means. With her assistant they travel to the planet Vireczin, a planet constructed by two extremely rich people with links to AIsource, Arla and Bastian, who had been lovers but now hated each other. These two have a grandiose palaces and they are the only employers on the planet, and there is no one except them and their servants. Arla, who leads of life of misery, hires Rage to make sure Bastian’s life also has no joy. 4*
Don Sakers: (1958-2021) essay by uncredited a sad obituary for old-time writer of Reference Library – Analog’s review of SF books.
The "New Normal" Trap [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Stanley Schmidt an essay that takes author’s novel [b:Lifeboat Earth|2144035|Lifeboat Earth|Stanley Schmidt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409204442l/2144035._SY75_.jpg|2149525] to see whether he was right about changing attitudes. 2.5*
Kepler's Laws (Part 1 of 2) [Kepler's Law] serial by Jay Werkheiser the first part of the novel. The plot is than Japanese-Indian-US alliance sends 30 women on exoplanet Kepler, because it seems that the Earth will soon turn uninhabited will all environmental breakdowns. They are all-women because there are also embryos with them to restart a human civilization. The story starts with the first group landing and almost immediately dropping out of contact. The remaining colonists land elsewhere (except for the captain left in orbit), but soon also are victims of a strange rain. The story is good hard SF with clever ideas about a possible life quite different from our own – the planet has low oxygen (5%) methane (15%) atmosphere, perennial cloud cover and what is initially described as walking trees (see the cover). What I disliked was a social part that reminded me of soap opera’s intrigue – part of the women are in a struggle, who should be a leader (up to disobeying orders and endangering the whole enterprise), others assume that US representatives will insist on “western” culture, destroying Japanese and Indian ones. Moreover, there were two more launches planned – by China and Russia-EU alliance and the colonists should get pregnant ASAP to have more able bodies if others arrive (to bitch about this new planet). 3*
Orbital Nuclear Power System (ONPS): The Foundation of an Interplanetary Civilization [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Donald Wilkins solar power plants that beam energy to Earth have a lot of drawback, so the author suggest nuclear, like in [a:Robert A. Heinlein|205|Robert A. Heinlein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192826560p2/205.jpg]’s Blowouts Happen. They can be in a lower orbit, fission-based, stable. 3*
The Maestro's Final Work poem by Alan Ira Gordon how our solar system is made, final touches. 3*
The Book Keepers novelette by J. T. Sharrah a team of time travellers is sent to Alexandria at the moment just before arriving of Caesar. Their goal is to scan all scrolls at the Great Library before they are burned in a fire. A lot of historical info on the topic. 3*
Extrasolar Redundancy in the Nova Tortuga Model of Preservation for Dermochelys Coriacea short story by Bianca Sayan a weird story of Dessy (hir), a student who wants to create an extrasolar biome for the sea turtle as an undergraduate thesis. The story is full of unusual pronouns and weird complications, solved with help of AI, but it’s more strangeness for strangeness sake. 2*
Quieter Songs Inland short story by Marissa Lingen Corinne is an archivist in New Orleans. The archives are evacuated for there can be another weather calamity sooner or later. She has a jazz-loving father, who has lost his toes to diabetes and can't move quickly and she wants him to go just like the archives. Not exactly SF, more like cli-fi. 2.5*
Last Dance at the Gunrunners' Ball [Imago/Militant, Calderon, & DiNardo] short story by Joel Richards this is about a self-aware space ship Imago. He goes after slavers of intelligent ships (slavers assume ships as property and erase their personality). Here he (as a hologram) visits a local gathering place to assassinate some slavers and contract help for his fight. A nice action story, nothing really novel, but reads well. 3*
When Ada Is short story by Holly Schofield Ada is an autistic woman with a chip that helps her social interactions teamed up with a brute jerk Ryan to scout/mine asteroids. She is better than him, but her chip urges her to downplay it. Ends in tragedy. 4*
Where's All the Antimatter? [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer another one why muons don’t divide equally likely to matter and antimatter as the current theory suggests. A lot of physics details, way over my head, but the summary – we need a new theory. 2.5*
Quantum Entanglement poem by Ken Poyner in many universes even at their end we are in the middle. 3*
Timing short story by Robert Scherrer Og-Soth is the smartest caveman on Earth, inventing both writing and the wheel, but doesn’t help. 3.5*
Room to Live short story by Marie Vibbert the narrator works at a call service job, for consumers want to talk to real people, not AIs. AI chat-bots are actually giving her prompts, so she is below them, even despite her having a degree in AI. Additionally, her roommate is a spoiled untidy slob, leaving their apartment in a perpetual mess and whining, when the narrator tries to clean up. However, chat-bots give her good advice. 4*
In Times to Come (Analog, September-October) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited no famous names
The Soul Is Ten Thousand Parts short story by Chelsea Obodoechina a self-aware experimental android bought by a rich man as a show-off. 3*
To Feed the Animals short story by John Vester colonists on a sandy planet gather for an annual festival, where the main attraction is a skimming stone contest, thrown over an ocean. The narrator finds it important but his teenage son is moody and doesn’t understand these festivities, when life here is hard monotonous and dreary. 3*
The Hunger novelette by Marco Frassetto a near future, the space station is damaged and an octogenarian engineer, who designed the station together with a young biologist are called in to analyze it. They find out a strange small drone of extraterrestrial origin, which eats metal. They maybe a life form or constructed, but what is important is that a huge swarm of them (10^20 units) are approaching and Earth space-faring capability is in danger, and maybe even life on Earth. 4*
The Silence Before I Sleep novella by Adam-Troy Castro the same universe as Andrea Cort stories, where potent god-like AIsource and many species live. Here the protagonist is Rage Larkin, who is a consultant-assassin, a person for hire to settle problems by any means. With her assistant they travel to the planet Vireczin, a planet constructed by two extremely rich people with links to AIsource, Arla and Bastian, who had been lovers but now hated each other. These two have a grandiose palaces and they are the only employers on the planet, and there is no one except them and their servants. Arla, who leads of life of misery, hires Rage to make sure Bastian’s life also has no joy. 4*
Don Sakers: (1958-2021) essay by uncredited a sad obituary for old-time writer of Reference Library – Analog’s review of SF books.
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