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the1germ's review
4.0
Picked this up for the Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb) novelette "Giving Up the Ghost". Another Celtsie urban fantasy, set in Tacoma, WA. Celtsie's pet boarding house is haunted by a pretty gruesome looking ghost-dog that seems to want to tell her something.
I really enjoyed it. I'm a big animal lover, and I related a lot with Celtsie's misgivings about ever having a dog again (despite loving them) - their lives are too short, and often end in tragedy. As most pets do, I suppose, but there's something about dogs that's particularly gutting. Still, they're awfully persistent once they've chosen you.
Will likely sample the other stories at a later date, but for now marking this as "done".
I really enjoyed it. I'm a big animal lover, and I related a lot with Celtsie's misgivings about ever having a dog again (despite loving them) - their lives are too short, and often end in tragedy. As most pets do, I suppose, but there's something about dogs that's particularly gutting. Still, they're awfully persistent once they've chosen you.
Will likely sample the other stories at a later date, but for now marking this as "done".
oleksandr's review
3.0
This is a July-August 2021 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. The issue is fine but not great, several interesting stories, a dew mediocre ones even if there are several prominent SFF names, including [a:Michael Swanwick|14454|Michael Swanwick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1257630257p2/14454.jpg], [a:Robin Hobb|25307|Robin Hobb|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1397885202p2/25307.jpg] and [a:Bruce Sterling|34429|Bruce Sterling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1379306689p2/34429.jpg].
In this issue:
The 2021 Dell Magazines Awards [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Sheila Williams an award to undergrads, who wrote SFF, I haven’t read any to judge if they are rising stars.
Memories of the Space Age [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg it is more than half century since a man walked the Moon for the first (and so far last) time, which is a pity. The author praises ‘capitalist astronauts’, who visited Earth orbit in 2020, unlike a rage of younger generation about the same event on twitter. 3*
The Tech that SF Made [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly how cyberpunk and cyberspace turned from fringe to mainstream words and other initially SF ideas. 3*
The Prisoner's Cinema novelette by Gregory Norman Bossert the name I guess it a play on prisoner’s dilemma, but I cannot say that it fits. Four famous prisoners on a space prison, which broadcasts a continuous reality show for Earth. They are all against the corporate rulers of the planet, but their exact crimes aren’t clear. They also fight with each other. There is a new inmate to join them – painter (with drones) of anti-corp graffities. It seems that she smuggled something, for new pictures as well as empty picture frames start to appear on the station, to be seen by all. It could have been interesting but characters are as blank as the frames, no backstory except that they are ‘good guys’, so meh. 2*
Alien Ball short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch sport SF, aliens, small (about 4-5 feet?) and round start to play basketball and they play great, even with their third arm literally tied to give equal opportunities to humans. The narrator is an old basketball announcer asked to drown their proposal, but he recalls real and fictional history of the game – from allowing blacks to play with whites to women play with men and decides that diversity is good. 4*
Recipe for Time Travel In Case We Lose Each Other poem by Kristian Macaron 2*
Philly Killed His Car novelette by Will McIntosh a near future where cars and other devices with chips with AI get consciousness, and while they are under rules of robotics equivalent, they ask for more rights. The protagonist, Philly has a low paying job and a pregnant wife and no money. His aunt left to him an expensive car (sentient) but he cannot sell it because the car says that she likes to remain with Philly. His friend suggests to set an accident to ‘kill’ the car and get insurance. As always with murders, it went awry. 4*
Failed Space Colonists poem by Herb Kauderer space travel as an analogue to expansion of man from Africa. 3*
Seed Star short story by Fran Wilde a weird SF, where a space marine Varian is granted a ‘fourth-dimension’ pregnancy, while serving on a space ship/station. He and his doctor soon find out that the pregnancy isn’t normal, but he is pregnant with a ‘seed star’. The seed stars are used to re-ignite old stars (they ‘eat’ old ones) and it is a propertiary tech known only to yet another alien race with a grudge. Either this is a completely different universe or it doesn’t make sense except for weirdness per se. 2*
The HazMat Sisters novelette by L. X. Beckett (A. M. Dellamonica) a post-apoc USA and two teenage sisters and their slightly older friend travel across the country with a mech mule and a lot of nano-stuff, while sisters’ mother sets the journey as a RPG quest, with XP earned, etc. They meet different people and got into troubles… a nice piece for a larger story but per se a bunch of interesting stuff happening but without a solid plot line. 3*
Giving Up the Ghost novelette by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) a nice piece for dog (and cat) lovers. The protagonist Celtsie holds a pet supply shop and one day a ghost of a dog only she can see come to her. Then it leads her to his burial place and its former owners – a teenage boy and his uncle and their neighbor, who has eye for the uncle. Nothing new but a great easy read. 4*
Holding Destiny poem by Jane Yolen give birth to your destiny but let it fly. 3.5*
The Children of the Wind novelette by Gregory Feeley a strange generation ship story. A ship Centaur travels from Earth to Neptune. There are young people bon after the travel started and they don’t interested in it or following orders of older crew. Multiple POVs but no clear explanation what each group wants, only that they war. 2*
Huginn and Muninn—and What Came After novelette by Michael Swanwick a grim tale about the protagonist, Alyssa, who has imagined vultures Huginn and Muninn she starts in a room with a mirror and she can pass straight through it. In the Mirrorland she meets strange people (or gods/devils?) and discovers that time there travels backwards and her physical sex with slowly change… as the story progresses ever more bizarre things happen, like a nightmare. The ending is very grim but unexpected and therefore shows the whole story in a different light. 3.5*
Fibonacci's Humors novelette by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling an interesting take on bio-computing. Jane developed a veebee slime mold that replaced ordinary electronics and works as a phone, computer and even a self-aware being. Her husband Link makes a deal with local thug to make a version of cryptocurrency (buck buck) as a Ponzi scam to grab and run. Jane develops Fibonacci’s, humors theory to predict human behavior, running an instance of growth up Fibonacci’s AI sentience to help her. A new facet of old cyberpunk. A bit too much info within a small story, which makes it unwieldy but mauybe worth re-reading to catch all ideas. 3.5*
Ansibles poem by Ursula Whitcher I don’t get it. 2*
Tweak short story by Taimur Ahmad a man Amin dislikes his past, where he is undecisive, weak or cowardly and uses tech to re-write own life experiences in more ‘manly’ way. He thinks he does it for his partner Laura, but, it makes him a different man whom she doesn’t know or like. 4.5*
Out of the Box novella by Jay O'Connell a reclusive but genius young woman Nayla, living in post-disaster USA with her father, invents a perfect copier, which can quite fast copy anything inserted. She has reunited with Carlos, her old friend, who should be her link to outside and help her with protecting the invention. The idea was used before, e.g. in [a:Ант Скаландис|6151644|Ант Скаландис|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:Катализ|14742438|Катализ|Ант Скаландис|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338458413l/14742438._SY75_.jpg|20389961], but here the problem is that while such item ends scarcity, allows restoring environment, etc., it can be used to copy weapons, including producing any amount of radioactive materials – just one mad person may destroy Earth. So, her dilemma is a cornucopia with a possible poison. 4*
On Books (Asimov's, July-August 2021) [On Books]essay by Peter Heck potentially interesting for me reads are: [b:Dead Lies Dreaming|52261634|Dead Lies Dreaming (Dead Lies Dreaming #1)|Charles Stross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609194781l/52261634._SY75_.jpg|73623768], [b:Damned Pretty Things|55564042|Damned Pretty Things|Holly Wade Matter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602568735l/55564042._SY75_.jpg|86653553], [b:The Hierarchies|49226584|The Hierarchies|Ros Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593377281l/49226584._SY75_.jpg|74679711] and [b:Nine Bar Blues|53014954|Nine Bar Blues|Sheree Renée Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585633673l/53014954._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73326872]
In this issue:
The 2021 Dell Magazines Awards [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Sheila Williams an award to undergrads, who wrote SFF, I haven’t read any to judge if they are rising stars.
Memories of the Space Age [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg it is more than half century since a man walked the Moon for the first (and so far last) time, which is a pity. The author praises ‘capitalist astronauts’, who visited Earth orbit in 2020, unlike a rage of younger generation about the same event on twitter. 3*
The Tech that SF Made [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly how cyberpunk and cyberspace turned from fringe to mainstream words and other initially SF ideas. 3*
The Prisoner's Cinema novelette by Gregory Norman Bossert the name I guess it a play on prisoner’s dilemma, but I cannot say that it fits. Four famous prisoners on a space prison, which broadcasts a continuous reality show for Earth. They are all against the corporate rulers of the planet, but their exact crimes aren’t clear. They also fight with each other. There is a new inmate to join them – painter (with drones) of anti-corp graffities. It seems that she smuggled something, for new pictures as well as empty picture frames start to appear on the station, to be seen by all. It could have been interesting but characters are as blank as the frames, no backstory except that they are ‘good guys’, so meh. 2*
Alien Ball short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch sport SF, aliens, small (about 4-5 feet?) and round start to play basketball and they play great, even with their third arm literally tied to give equal opportunities to humans. The narrator is an old basketball announcer asked to drown their proposal, but he recalls real and fictional history of the game – from allowing blacks to play with whites to women play with men and decides that diversity is good. 4*
Recipe for Time Travel In Case We Lose Each Other poem by Kristian Macaron 2*
Philly Killed His Car novelette by Will McIntosh a near future where cars and other devices with chips with AI get consciousness, and while they are under rules of robotics equivalent, they ask for more rights. The protagonist, Philly has a low paying job and a pregnant wife and no money. His aunt left to him an expensive car (sentient) but he cannot sell it because the car says that she likes to remain with Philly. His friend suggests to set an accident to ‘kill’ the car and get insurance. As always with murders, it went awry. 4*
Failed Space Colonists poem by Herb Kauderer space travel as an analogue to expansion of man from Africa. 3*
Seed Star short story by Fran Wilde a weird SF, where a space marine Varian is granted a ‘fourth-dimension’ pregnancy, while serving on a space ship/station. He and his doctor soon find out that the pregnancy isn’t normal, but he is pregnant with a ‘seed star’. The seed stars are used to re-ignite old stars (they ‘eat’ old ones) and it is a propertiary tech known only to yet another alien race with a grudge. Either this is a completely different universe or it doesn’t make sense except for weirdness per se. 2*
The HazMat Sisters novelette by L. X. Beckett (A. M. Dellamonica) a post-apoc USA and two teenage sisters and their slightly older friend travel across the country with a mech mule and a lot of nano-stuff, while sisters’ mother sets the journey as a RPG quest, with XP earned, etc. They meet different people and got into troubles… a nice piece for a larger story but per se a bunch of interesting stuff happening but without a solid plot line. 3*
Giving Up the Ghost novelette by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) a nice piece for dog (and cat) lovers. The protagonist Celtsie holds a pet supply shop and one day a ghost of a dog only she can see come to her. Then it leads her to his burial place and its former owners – a teenage boy and his uncle and their neighbor, who has eye for the uncle. Nothing new but a great easy read. 4*
Holding Destiny poem by Jane Yolen give birth to your destiny but let it fly. 3.5*
The Children of the Wind novelette by Gregory Feeley a strange generation ship story. A ship Centaur travels from Earth to Neptune. There are young people bon after the travel started and they don’t interested in it or following orders of older crew. Multiple POVs but no clear explanation what each group wants, only that they war. 2*
Huginn and Muninn—and What Came After novelette by Michael Swanwick a grim tale about the protagonist, Alyssa, who has imagined vultures Huginn and Muninn she starts in a room with a mirror and she can pass straight through it. In the Mirrorland she meets strange people (or gods/devils?) and discovers that time there travels backwards and her physical sex with slowly change… as the story progresses ever more bizarre things happen, like a nightmare. The ending is very grim but unexpected and therefore shows the whole story in a different light. 3.5*
Fibonacci's Humors novelette by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling an interesting take on bio-computing. Jane developed a veebee slime mold that replaced ordinary electronics and works as a phone, computer and even a self-aware being. Her husband Link makes a deal with local thug to make a version of cryptocurrency (buck buck) as a Ponzi scam to grab and run. Jane develops Fibonacci’s, humors theory to predict human behavior, running an instance of growth up Fibonacci’s AI sentience to help her. A new facet of old cyberpunk. A bit too much info within a small story, which makes it unwieldy but mauybe worth re-reading to catch all ideas. 3.5*
Ansibles poem by Ursula Whitcher I don’t get it. 2*
Tweak short story by Taimur Ahmad a man Amin dislikes his past, where he is undecisive, weak or cowardly and uses tech to re-write own life experiences in more ‘manly’ way. He thinks he does it for his partner Laura, but, it makes him a different man whom she doesn’t know or like. 4.5*
Out of the Box novella by Jay O'Connell a reclusive but genius young woman Nayla, living in post-disaster USA with her father, invents a perfect copier, which can quite fast copy anything inserted. She has reunited with Carlos, her old friend, who should be her link to outside and help her with protecting the invention. The idea was used before, e.g. in [a:Ант Скаландис|6151644|Ант Скаландис|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:Катализ|14742438|Катализ|Ант Скаландис|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338458413l/14742438._SY75_.jpg|20389961], but here the problem is that while such item ends scarcity, allows restoring environment, etc., it can be used to copy weapons, including producing any amount of radioactive materials – just one mad person may destroy Earth. So, her dilemma is a cornucopia with a possible poison. 4*
On Books (Asimov's, July-August 2021) [On Books]essay by Peter Heck potentially interesting for me reads are: [b:Dead Lies Dreaming|52261634|Dead Lies Dreaming (Dead Lies Dreaming #1)|Charles Stross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609194781l/52261634._SY75_.jpg|73623768], [b:Damned Pretty Things|55564042|Damned Pretty Things|Holly Wade Matter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602568735l/55564042._SY75_.jpg|86653553], [b:The Hierarchies|49226584|The Hierarchies|Ros Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593377281l/49226584._SY75_.jpg|74679711] and [b:Nine Bar Blues|53014954|Nine Bar Blues|Sheree Renée Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585633673l/53014954._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73326872]
goranlowie's review
3.0
Some decent stories in this issue. My favorites:
- Out of the Box
- Philly Killed His Car
- Alien Ball
- Out of the Box
- Philly Killed His Car
- Alien Ball
More...