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tpietila's review
4.0
A fairly good issue, clearly above average.
The Anomaly • novelette by C. W. Johnson
A young poor, but brilliant man works himself out from a future ghetto (on an alien planet?). He gets a job mining for “anomalies” which are used for interstellar travel. He gets a chance to return to his birth place, but his family’s and his friend’s expectations aren’t exactly what he wants from the life. A well-written story, which feels more like a beginning of a larger work than a separate novelette. The actual story seems to start from here. ***½
Dino Mate • interior artwork by Andrea Radeck
A couple who dates goes to the past with a time machine to see dinosaurs. Some small drama, a lot of descriptions of dinosaurs and engagement proposal at the end. The writing was ok, but there was little actual plot. ***-
Citizen of the Galaxy • shortstory by Evan Dicken
The aliens have come and everything has changed. A history teacher in Japan tries to connect with her child who has been born to a completely different world. She doesn't really care even talk in human language, but communities by light in the way of the aliens. And the history curriculum is being changed, the emphasis is going to the wider galactic viewpoint rather than provincial earthen things. A short but good story which is able to present different viewpoints very well. The writing is good. ****-
Mammals • shortstory by David D. Levine
The AIs which have destroyed humans might encounter something strange. But will they really notice it? Short and pretty unsurprising, but the writing was interesting. ***
Saboteur • shortstory by Ken Liu
A short story about a trucker who tries to sabotage trucks with AI (without human drivers). He succeeds – with a cost. A very short poignant story. ***
Twist of Coil • shortstory by Miki Dare
The story happens in an alien world - no humans are even mentioned. The aliens have "coils" which contain sensory organs and manipulative appendages. A young female is a fine coil dancer, but her brother is sickly. The don't have money for the operation, but the priests say that if the protagonist lets her coils be cut, the gods will surely grant a miracle. She faces a hard choice. A well written story with moving and very irritating, even frustrating content. Probably too short. ***+
Racing the Tide • shortstory by Craig DeLancey
Sea level is raising and a village is drowning slowly. A mayor’s son is badly sick and needs expensive treatment. There is a plan to save the village which also would give a lot of money, but as often the long term effects might be unknown. The writing was ok, but the story was pretty fragmented- the two plot lines didn't seem to have much to do with each other’s. ***
Humans First! • novella by Kyle Kirkland
A man who services neural network computers is almost fatally stabbed at his work by a computer advocacy terrorist (I wonder why there should be a terrorist organization for that - the story doesn’t give any good answer. ) He isn’t allowed back to work as a computer analysis predicts that he suffers from a severe posttraumatic stress and is too volatile to return to work. Is there a way he can convince the “black and white” computer algorithms that he is able to work? Or are the algorithms right? And why he, who was repairing the computers, was attacked by a group which is pro-computer? A pretty good story in spite of some illogicalities. ***½
The Anomaly • novelette by C. W. Johnson
A young poor, but brilliant man works himself out from a future ghetto (on an alien planet?). He gets a job mining for “anomalies” which are used for interstellar travel. He gets a chance to return to his birth place, but his family’s and his friend’s expectations aren’t exactly what he wants from the life. A well-written story, which feels more like a beginning of a larger work than a separate novelette. The actual story seems to start from here. ***½
Dino Mate • interior artwork by Andrea Radeck
A couple who dates goes to the past with a time machine to see dinosaurs. Some small drama, a lot of descriptions of dinosaurs and engagement proposal at the end. The writing was ok, but there was little actual plot. ***-
Citizen of the Galaxy • shortstory by Evan Dicken
The aliens have come and everything has changed. A history teacher in Japan tries to connect with her child who has been born to a completely different world. She doesn't really care even talk in human language, but communities by light in the way of the aliens. And the history curriculum is being changed, the emphasis is going to the wider galactic viewpoint rather than provincial earthen things. A short but good story which is able to present different viewpoints very well. The writing is good. ****-
Mammals • shortstory by David D. Levine
The AIs which have destroyed humans might encounter something strange. But will they really notice it? Short and pretty unsurprising, but the writing was interesting. ***
Saboteur • shortstory by Ken Liu
A short story about a trucker who tries to sabotage trucks with AI (without human drivers). He succeeds – with a cost. A very short poignant story. ***
Twist of Coil • shortstory by Miki Dare
The story happens in an alien world - no humans are even mentioned. The aliens have "coils" which contain sensory organs and manipulative appendages. A young female is a fine coil dancer, but her brother is sickly. The don't have money for the operation, but the priests say that if the protagonist lets her coils be cut, the gods will surely grant a miracle. She faces a hard choice. A well written story with moving and very irritating, even frustrating content. Probably too short. ***+
Racing the Tide • shortstory by Craig DeLancey
Sea level is raising and a village is drowning slowly. A mayor’s son is badly sick and needs expensive treatment. There is a plan to save the village which also would give a lot of money, but as often the long term effects might be unknown. The writing was ok, but the story was pretty fragmented- the two plot lines didn't seem to have much to do with each other’s. ***
Humans First! • novella by Kyle Kirkland
A man who services neural network computers is almost fatally stabbed at his work by a computer advocacy terrorist (I wonder why there should be a terrorist organization for that - the story doesn’t give any good answer. ) He isn’t allowed back to work as a computer analysis predicts that he suffers from a severe posttraumatic stress and is too volatile to return to work. Is there a way he can convince the “black and white” computer algorithms that he is able to work? Or are the algorithms right? And why he, who was repairing the computers, was attacked by a group which is pro-computer? A pretty good story in spite of some illogicalities. ***½
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a July-August 2021 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, the long-established hard SF magazine, which in the past was a source for many works, nominated for Hugo, Nebula and other SFF awards. Now it is overshined by newcomers, like Clarkesworld, Apex or Strange Horizons, but still has a nice selection of fiction and fact. Its both strongest and weakest part is adhering to hard SF, with scientific ideas usually more important that character development or literary style.
In this issue:
The Analytical Laboratory (Analog, July-August 2021) [The Analytical Laboratory]essay by uncredited results of annual selection of best works from the previous year. On most winners I agree with exception of Father by Ray Nayler, which hasn’t finished in top-5
Hello to Maturity [Editorial (Analog)] essay by John Vester comparing modern (Astro)physics reliance on dark matter and energy to Plotemy’s idea of crystal spheres, which was the main theory before Copernicus, thinking about multile dimensions, recalling [b:Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions|433567|Flatland A Romance of Many Dimensions|Edwin A. Abbott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435435775l/433567._SY75_.jpg|4243538]. 3*
The Unlikely Heroines of Callisto Station novella by Marie Vibbert there is a station on Jupiter’s orbit and there is Lottie – a young woman engineer with bipolar disorder. Local psychiatrist persuades her to take pills, and after leaving him, she meets his girlfriend Xiao, a direct and stern mechanic, jealous of these private meetings. At that moment all electricity went off and Lottie and Xiao ended up together with a new goal – to save the station from pirates. A very nice story with multiple POVs and plot twists, even if some reviewers say it is YA in style. 4.5*
Return to the Golden Age: Why Venus Might Actually Once Have Been Habitable [Science Fact (Analog)]essay by Richard A. Lovett with lower luminosity of Sun and higher % of water, it is possible that even just 750 mn years ago Venus was much closer in its climate to Earth. 4*
The Next Frontier novelette by Rosemary Claire Smith alt-history about Moon landing – a Soviet woman Natalya Orlova, who was in cosmonaut shortlist, defects to Americans after a personal tragedy. NASA is co-headed by Kennedy’s widow. Orlova is Ukrainian, my fellow countrywoman, which was a pleasant surprise, but the story is average. 3*
The Heroes of the Nation short story by Brenda Kalt a reptiloid race is at war with humans and their leader prepares his heir to possible exile. It is a prequel to the story published in 2019, which I hadn’t read. 2*
A Daguerreotype of the Moon poem by Jennifer Crow a nice poem about Moon’s 1840 photo. 3*
Mandatory Arbitration short story by Leonard Richardson aliens on one of the planets have a mining colony, an inspector comes to check how civil cases go on to find out that the company set ‘trial by combat’ to all cases. Something has to be done to protect interests of weak and meek. 3*
Siliconisis short story by Tom Jolly a guy sets high-temperature breeding place to get a new form of life, succeeds, but officials force him to dismantle and destroy to protect Earth. Even if in too short period he got something like flying worms inside his incubator – quite complex life, the idea is nice. 3*
Seed Bombs short story by Juliet Kemp people wander from town to town on a depleted oil (and no transport) Earth, spreading tarmac-eating nanobots and seeds to feed urban dwellers. 4*
Pulsars, Super-Massive Black Holes, and the Gravitational Wave Background [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer how to prove early universe inflation by studying gravitation waves. 3*
Taming the Serpent essay by Edward M. Wysocki, Jr. there are things first suggested in SF and then realized in reality. This is the case of making giant soft sausage-like tanker for oil, suggested by [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591018335p2/58.jpg]'s [b:Under Pressure|20286|Under Pressure|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331621402l/20286._SY75_.jpg|3635249] and then attempted by British during the Suez closure. 4*
Tin Man short story by Manny Frishberg and Edd Vick a space ship captain slowly loses body parts to be replaced by clever prosthetics, becoming less human. 3*
Humility short story by James C. Glass the human colony on a planet with variable magnetic field and pulsing star, if field is off while star is active, space station above can be fried. The station is a place for disabled and old, so if false alarm they will be very unhappy to get to the high-grav planet. 2.5*
Sample Return novelette by C. Stuart Hardwick a ship should eject a mesh to go deep into Jupiter to get metalized hydrogen, but the launch is botched and a mechanic goes to a certain death to keep the project going. 2.5*
Like School; But There's No Recess: An Interview with Katie Mack interview of Katie Mackinterview by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro astrophysicist, who wrote x about her life and work. 3*
The First Martian World War short story by Herb Kauderer Chinese, American and Russian rover battle on Mars, waiting for 20 min for new orders, semi-humorous flash-fic. 3*
The Last Farewell short story by Alan K. Baker a man and a woman are two last people on Earth, which looks like a giant waste dump. They leave it to live on a station above. 2.5*
When I Think of My Father poem by Bruce McAllister due to a time dilation, father visits son from childhood to old age. 3*
Rocket short story by Frank Wu a loose sequel to 2016 story, a pack of dogs on a post-human (?) Earth fight robots send by octopuses. The robots are strangely unprotected, so almost ordinary dogs can overpower them even with losses, which I just cannot believe, so 1*
Reassembly short story by Audrey Ference a shuttle pilot and her AI-uploaded consciousness co-pilot are barred from flights after some strange breakdown. She works on re-assembling a symbol of a corporation, which by some bizarre lawyerly magic extends corp’s claim on this territory. She want to fly again and will do anything to get back. 2.5*
Minnie and the Trekker short story by Raymund Eich there are reconstructed dinosaurs on a colony planet. Something ate dino’s eggs – the protagonist investigates. The idea that to protect dinos against cats and dogs, protective behavior against them was imprinted, but there are other mammals… 3*
Long Day Lake novelette by J. M. McDermott an old woman and her granddaughter live in a colony under domes, which protect from radiation. An earthquake damages their dome plus cuts off electricity and communication. They have to get to a safe place before a possible dome collapse. Adequate characters behavior for both 8-year girl and her grandmother. 3.5*
The Reference Library (Analog, July-August 2021) [The Reference Library]essay by Don Sakers a musing why prices on ebooks vary so much plus several reviews. Nothing caught my interest.
Brass Takes (Analog, July-August 2021) [Brass Tacks]essay by various readers still discuss anti-Trump editorial plus some Easter eggs.
In this issue:
The Analytical Laboratory (Analog, July-August 2021) [The Analytical Laboratory]essay by uncredited results of annual selection of best works from the previous year. On most winners I agree with exception of Father by Ray Nayler, which hasn’t finished in top-5
Hello to Maturity [Editorial (Analog)] essay by John Vester comparing modern (Astro)physics reliance on dark matter and energy to Plotemy’s idea of crystal spheres, which was the main theory before Copernicus, thinking about multile dimensions, recalling [b:Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions|433567|Flatland A Romance of Many Dimensions|Edwin A. Abbott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435435775l/433567._SY75_.jpg|4243538]. 3*
The Unlikely Heroines of Callisto Station novella by Marie Vibbert there is a station on Jupiter’s orbit and there is Lottie – a young woman engineer with bipolar disorder. Local psychiatrist persuades her to take pills, and after leaving him, she meets his girlfriend Xiao, a direct and stern mechanic, jealous of these private meetings. At that moment all electricity went off and Lottie and Xiao ended up together with a new goal – to save the station from pirates. A very nice story with multiple POVs and plot twists, even if some reviewers say it is YA in style. 4.5*
Return to the Golden Age: Why Venus Might Actually Once Have Been Habitable [Science Fact (Analog)]essay by Richard A. Lovett with lower luminosity of Sun and higher % of water, it is possible that even just 750 mn years ago Venus was much closer in its climate to Earth. 4*
The Next Frontier novelette by Rosemary Claire Smith alt-history about Moon landing – a Soviet woman Natalya Orlova, who was in cosmonaut shortlist, defects to Americans after a personal tragedy. NASA is co-headed by Kennedy’s widow. Orlova is Ukrainian, my fellow countrywoman, which was a pleasant surprise, but the story is average. 3*
The Heroes of the Nation short story by Brenda Kalt a reptiloid race is at war with humans and their leader prepares his heir to possible exile. It is a prequel to the story published in 2019, which I hadn’t read. 2*
A Daguerreotype of the Moon poem by Jennifer Crow a nice poem about Moon’s 1840 photo. 3*
Mandatory Arbitration short story by Leonard Richardson aliens on one of the planets have a mining colony, an inspector comes to check how civil cases go on to find out that the company set ‘trial by combat’ to all cases. Something has to be done to protect interests of weak and meek. 3*
Siliconisis short story by Tom Jolly a guy sets high-temperature breeding place to get a new form of life, succeeds, but officials force him to dismantle and destroy to protect Earth. Even if in too short period he got something like flying worms inside his incubator – quite complex life, the idea is nice. 3*
Seed Bombs short story by Juliet Kemp people wander from town to town on a depleted oil (and no transport) Earth, spreading tarmac-eating nanobots and seeds to feed urban dwellers. 4*
Pulsars, Super-Massive Black Holes, and the Gravitational Wave Background [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer how to prove early universe inflation by studying gravitation waves. 3*
Taming the Serpent essay by Edward M. Wysocki, Jr. there are things first suggested in SF and then realized in reality. This is the case of making giant soft sausage-like tanker for oil, suggested by [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591018335p2/58.jpg]'s [b:Under Pressure|20286|Under Pressure|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331621402l/20286._SY75_.jpg|3635249] and then attempted by British during the Suez closure. 4*
Tin Man short story by Manny Frishberg and Edd Vick a space ship captain slowly loses body parts to be replaced by clever prosthetics, becoming less human. 3*
Humility short story by James C. Glass the human colony on a planet with variable magnetic field and pulsing star, if field is off while star is active, space station above can be fried. The station is a place for disabled and old, so if false alarm they will be very unhappy to get to the high-grav planet. 2.5*
Sample Return novelette by C. Stuart Hardwick a ship should eject a mesh to go deep into Jupiter to get metalized hydrogen, but the launch is botched and a mechanic goes to a certain death to keep the project going. 2.5*
Like School; But There's No Recess: An Interview with Katie Mack interview of Katie Mackinterview by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro astrophysicist, who wrote x about her life and work. 3*
The First Martian World War short story by Herb Kauderer Chinese, American and Russian rover battle on Mars, waiting for 20 min for new orders, semi-humorous flash-fic. 3*
The Last Farewell short story by Alan K. Baker a man and a woman are two last people on Earth, which looks like a giant waste dump. They leave it to live on a station above. 2.5*
When I Think of My Father poem by Bruce McAllister due to a time dilation, father visits son from childhood to old age. 3*
Rocket short story by Frank Wu a loose sequel to 2016 story, a pack of dogs on a post-human (?) Earth fight robots send by octopuses. The robots are strangely unprotected, so almost ordinary dogs can overpower them even with losses, which I just cannot believe, so 1*
Reassembly short story by Audrey Ference a shuttle pilot and her AI-uploaded consciousness co-pilot are barred from flights after some strange breakdown. She works on re-assembling a symbol of a corporation, which by some bizarre lawyerly magic extends corp’s claim on this territory. She want to fly again and will do anything to get back. 2.5*
Minnie and the Trekker short story by Raymund Eich there are reconstructed dinosaurs on a colony planet. Something ate dino’s eggs – the protagonist investigates. The idea that to protect dinos against cats and dogs, protective behavior against them was imprinted, but there are other mammals… 3*
Long Day Lake novelette by J. M. McDermott an old woman and her granddaughter live in a colony under domes, which protect from radiation. An earthquake damages their dome plus cuts off electricity and communication. They have to get to a safe place before a possible dome collapse. Adequate characters behavior for both 8-year girl and her grandmother. 3.5*
The Reference Library (Analog, July-August 2021) [The Reference Library]essay by Don Sakers a musing why prices on ebooks vary so much plus several reviews. Nothing caught my interest.
Brass Takes (Analog, July-August 2021) [Brass Tacks]essay by various readers still discuss anti-Trump editorial plus some Easter eggs.
booksandpipes's review against another edition
3.0
First time perusing the legendary Analog magazine. This would make a good book to take on flights. At ca. 200 pages, it's packed tight because of its small font size.
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