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mary_soon_lee's review
4.0
This is my favorite issue of F&SF in quite a while. I appreciate the variety of stories that F&SF encompasses, but that does mean that usually there are one or two pieces that don't appeal to me. This time I liked all eleven stories, which ranged from high fantasy to military science fiction. In addition, I liked Jerry Oltion's science article on Betelgeuse (perhaps partly because I've been writing astronomy poetry of late, including a poem about Betelgeuse).
Of the eleven fine stories, the following were my three favorites. Firstly, Carrie Vaughn's "To the Beautiful Shining Twilight," which overcame my prejudices against tales featuring fairies on the strength of its protagonist and its beautifully voiced prose. Secondly, Andy Duncan's novelette "Joe Diablo's Farewell," which, again, is beautifully told; the fantasy content is relatively slight, but the character and setting (1920s New York: high steel and movies) are very strong. Thirdly, Adam-Troy Castro's chilling science fiction story "Survey," whose urgency and horror overcome a somewhat implausible premise. (Or is it? How implausible the premise is depends on how honest the questioner is.)
In a normal issue, any of the remaining stories might have numbered among my favorites, but I'd like to note that I greatly enjoyed both Phyllis Eisenstein's "The City of Lost Desire," a novella in the main tradition of fantasy, yet not imitative and (again!) very nicely told, and Marie Vibbert's "Tactical Infantry Bot 37 Dreams of Trochees," which reminded me--in a good way--of Martha Wells's wonderful Murderbot novellas, yet has its own powerful take on sentient robots under orders.
Overall: an excellent issue. Highly recommended.
Of the eleven fine stories, the following were my three favorites. Firstly, Carrie Vaughn's "To the Beautiful Shining Twilight," which overcame my prejudices against tales featuring fairies on the strength of its protagonist and its beautifully voiced prose. Secondly, Andy Duncan's novelette "Joe Diablo's Farewell," which, again, is beautifully told; the fantasy content is relatively slight, but the character and setting (1920s New York: high steel and movies) are very strong. Thirdly, Adam-Troy Castro's chilling science fiction story "Survey," whose urgency and horror overcome a somewhat implausible premise. (Or is it? How implausible the premise is depends on how honest the questioner is.)
In a normal issue, any of the remaining stories might have numbered among my favorites, but I'd like to note that I greatly enjoyed both Phyllis Eisenstein's "The City of Lost Desire," a novella in the main tradition of fantasy, yet not imitative and (again!) very nicely told, and Marie Vibbert's "Tactical Infantry Bot 37 Dreams of Trochees," which reminded me--in a good way--of Martha Wells's wonderful Murderbot novellas, yet has its own powerful take on sentient robots under orders.
Overall: an excellent issue. Highly recommended.
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