Murder Born by Robert Reed: Ooh, I liked this one. This takes capital punishment in a very interesting direction. In the story a new method of capital punishment is invented with the unintended consequence of bringing the dead back to life. This story brings the moral questions of CP to a new level that I just found incredibly interesting. A real winner.
Hive Mind Man by Rudy Rucker & Eileen Gunn: This story was a bit out there. At first it reads like a simple dating story set in the future but then it takes on a life of its own and takes social media and advertising in dizzying directions. It left me scratching my head. Entertaining? Yes. Interesting? Sure
The Voodoo Project by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: An elite covert, military team meet for the first time in a vacant high-rise apartment. One of the members is a ESPer (I don't know the term, but you get it - ESP) who's job it is to evaluate the team itself. The evaluation does not go as usual. Very good story. It was Rusch's name that drew me to the issue. I have never been disappointed by her writing.
Observations On A Clock by D. Thomas Minton: I first found Minton's work on
Lightspeed Magazine's website and found his story
“Thief of Futures" very, very compelling. I was very happy to find his name on the cover of the magazine. This is a story of faith, of trying to save humanity from itself, but in the end the story kind of went over my head. I'm sure I missed something; the only thing I'm sure about is that there is a monk on an asteroid with a dying atomic clock on it. He's supposed to report back to Earth what he's observed. Yea, didn't get it.
The People of Pele by Ken Liu: A nice story about human colonization, the effects of
time dilation on a mission that traveled at near light speeds, politics and the definition of life. I could read a lot more from this author.
Going Home by Bruce McAllister & Barry Malzberg: A strange a quirky story told in letters between an author and his editor.
