Inhuman Garbage by Kristine Kathryn Rush - A Short Story Review.

013/150/2016

Set in the Retrieval Artist universe and available from Asimov's website for free while the readers' choice awards are still in the voting stage.

It is a straight-up murder mystery involving the main characters of her earlier novels plus a crime boss who is the main suspect.

It was well done with a good twist and a surprising conclusion.  It also does the added work of expanding her RA universe.

Not being a reader of the series I can say that it works very well as a stand alone story.

The Choice by Paul McAuley

12/100

Set in post-apocalypse Scotland after the melting of the ice caps and after aliens have found earth and live among us in the ruins.

I often find these types of stories intriguing but often depressing; only because I very much want to live in the "shiny" future not the "grubby" one. 

Here we find two teen boys going on an adventure to see an alien sea-craft accidentally beached in some shallow water nearby. 

There is some perfectly incorporated world-building making the story incredibly rich.  In the spotlight you learn that there are many other stories set in this world. 

There are some ramifications to the boys' trip that make this a most satisfying read. 

One thing I must commend Lightspeed Magazine for is providing author spotlights and interviews.  I just love DVD extras and it is most welcome to find it in a print publication.

Highly recommended.

The author's website is here:   http://www.omegacom.demon.co.uk/index.htm

This was included as an ebook exclusive and is only available if you purchase the issue.
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/issues/jan-2015-issue-56/

This story was first published in Asimov's February 2011 issue.

Asimov's February 2011

Paul McAuley

Beautiful Boys by Theodora Goss

8/100

This was a fun story.

How often have we seen a perfect human specimen; either in a magazine add, television or in public?  Sometime we shake our heads and mumble, "That person must be from another planet."

What if that is the case. 

There was an ease to the writing that allowed me to instantly relax into the story. 

I liked it.  But ...

Was it really science fiction?

Well, maybe.  (Up next - a mini rant.)

Science fiction has drifted so far away from its origins, for so many years, that the term is becoming difficult to pin down.

It is appropriate that Beautiful Boys was first published in Asimov's which has become the gold-standard magazine in genre blurring.  Asimov's had done more to damage Science Fiction than any other publication out there.  I have personally found that all they manage to do is confuse readers.

There is an old saying; "Good fences make good neighbours" (Most notably attributed to Robert Frost's poem, The Mending Wall.  This is also true of genre fiction - if you stay true to the tropes and characteristics of your particular corner of fiction you can create excellent stories.  Some genres blend exceedingly well together: Private Eye with SF comes immediately to mind but others don't.  Blending literary fiction (where plot is dirty word) does not mix well with SF and neither does fantasy.

One can argue that Star Wars is a blending of Fantasy and SF, what with swords, monsters and The Force.  Which, I guess is true, but it's the Science Fiction that ultimately dictates the world.  It is filled with space, planets, star-ships and technology.

Years ago, The Twilight Zone created it's own niche by blending genres. Call it Weird fiction.  Beautiful Boys, while very good, belongs in the Weird category.

You can find Theodora Goss here:  http://theodoragoss.com/

Lightspeed Magazine can be found here:  http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/

Asimov's Magazine can be found here:  http://www.asimovs.com/

Theodora Goss

Asimov's August 2012

The Ice War by Stephen Baxter - Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2008

Alternate History seems to fall into the mix of SF simply because it embodies that "sense of wonder" that is so important to the world of SF.  There was a time that SF stood for Science Fiction which rather limits the genre.  Personally I like boundaries, they help to form an expectation of the entertainment before the reader.  Say what you will about how borders limit creativity; it's those very borders that can help a person find a type of fiction they enjoy.  And what's wrong with that?

Lately SF now stands for speculative fiction which is so broad as to dilute the genre.  Now there is an overwhelming mix of mystic powers and creatures; revisionist history and plain old sword-and-sandals fantasy cluttering my old playground that used to include science and futurism.

NOTE: Steam Punk I like because it is still science fiction just set in the Victorian past.

This last story in the September issue is an alternative history tale where we follow Jack Hobbs a less than admirable narrator.  Set in England 1720 Hobbs is escaping the wrath of a young woman's father.  During his flight a meteor crashes right in front of him. This meteor is a fragment from a passing comet that harbors alien life forms who begin to terrorize the countryside.

While Hobbs is trying to escape this new threat he comes across an overturned carriage containing Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift and Issac Newton, of course. (Sigh.)  Together they go on to be instrumental for the conclusion of the story.

As a story goes it was fine.  It's just that its inclusion into a science fiction magazine disappoints me.

If it took place in the future or even the present day it would have made a better fit.  It's just the contrived notion of playing with history and the well-known players therein seems indulgent to me.

The problem I face with all these magazines is that they reflect the attitudes of authors and publishers of their time.  In 2008 SF - Science Fiction - was a bit of a mess.

Stephen Baxter

Usurpers by Derek Zumsteg - Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2008

I'm not sure how this story qualifies as SF.

There's a hint of it but its very vague. 

We meet King who is a high school running star in a race against a rival team who spent thier summer in China undergoing some kind of athletic enhancements.

This was the authors' first published work and it WAS good, for sports fiction, but it did not give me that sense of wonder that is so important in science fiction.

 I found no website or image of the author.

Midnight Blue by Will McIntosh - Asimov's Science Fiction, September2008

Set in an alternate reality of middle America in the early 1970's.

In this setting there are orbs, about the size of grapefruits, scattered around the globe.  These orbs have been around for decades and give the person who found them special powers.  Each is a different colour which indicates the power it will give.  

By this time the orbs are getting very hard to find, in the past these orbs just appeared out of nowhere and it is not explained how they came to be.  Jeff Green is a kid who wishes he'd been born earlier so that he could have found an orb of his own.  These days the only way to get an orb is to buy one, most have already been found in the wild.

One day, while fishing with a friend, Jeff finds a very rare orb.  He becomes very famous quickly; he's smart enough not to sell the orb too easily.

When Jeff decides what to do with the orb it changes everything.

This tale was a delight to read - pure escapism.

Will McIntosh

Slug Hell by Steven Utley - Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2008

This is kind of a non-story where nothing really happens to a group of scientists who've travelled back in time to the Paleozoic era to document and explore the local flora and fauna.

Part of the story touches on how the men are coping with the isolation by talking about the things they miss from their time.  They all seem to be coping well.

Without a conflict or resolution there is no plot, without a plot I wonder what I've missed.

I didn't get it.

According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database this story falls in to the "Silurian Tales" series of short stories.  It was the 30th story of 38 which may explain why it didn't resonate with me.

 Sadly, the author passed away January 13, 2013.

Steven Utley

Cut Loose The Bonds Of Flesh And Bone by Ian Creasey - Asimov's ScienceFiction, September 2008

A story of uploaded consciousness but with a twist.

What would you do if your overbearing mother decided to upload her consciousness and move in to your house after her death?

It was a thoughtful exploration of the effects of such a thing to the people left alive and who would have to add this UC to their lives. 

I liked this one.

Creasey has many stories published, oddly enough, I could not find an image of the man.  However you can visit his website HERE

Horse Racing by Mary Rosenblum - Asimov's Science Fiction, September2008

What do you get when you cross benevolent social development with the technique of a professional sports draft?

A fascinating twist on a world that still believes in profit but goes about it with a micro social engineering component to it. 

What a wonderful, thought provocative story.

Mary Rosenblum

Soldier Of The Singularity by Robert R. Chase - Asimov's ScienceFiction, September 2008

A refreshing twist on the "rise if the robots" premise.

In The Age Of The Quiet Sun by William Barton - Asimov's ScienceFiction, September 2008

An interesting novella where an ex-con is prospecting through the Jovian asteroid belt with one crew member and an uploaded consciousness.

The trio discovers a crash landed alien ship, complete with its dead occupant. 

They go against the rules and take ownership of the wreck, running away from the authorities, towing the ship with them, so they can learn everything they can from the technology. 

I liked the structure and how the author was able to tie our present day to this possible future. A future unforeseen but completely plausible. 

A very good opening story. 

I love me my space ships.

William Barton

Magazine Review #4 - Asimov's February 2012

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.

Magazine Review #3 - Asimov's, August 2008

Asimov's Science Fiction magazine

August 2008

I've got to say that all in all this issue really did not deliver on the promise of Science Fiction.  The cover art is not tied to any of the stories within. 

I'm getting the feeling that Asimov's might not be the magazine for me since I like my Science Fiction with space ships.  I don't have to be in space but I like knowing that the ability to get out there is possible.  Only one of these stories satisfied that need but only in a very limited way.


Lagos by Matthew Johnson: This was an interesting story.  I liked it.  It took the whole third world call-center industry to a whole new level.  Plus there is the recurring theme of the man-machine interface that has been cropping up a lot in SF lately.  It was a satisfying read.  I really felt the desperation of the main characters.

Old Man Waiting by Robert Reed:   I'm confused.

I cannot figure out why this story is considered Science Fiction.The story goes like this: some dude spots an old man sitting on a park bench, he decides the old guy looks queer and DECIDES he's an alien.

And SPOILER ALERT - he's exactly what he seems to be - an old man with Alzheimer's. How does this qualify for publication in this magazine?

Pass on this one.

Lucy by J Chris Rock:

Set in the near future, two engineers, working from their Hell's Kitchen apartment, on a robotic probe on Titan find that neighbourhood has an influence on their mission.

Not a bad story but it's set so near in the future that there is very little sense of wonder in the story. The descriptions of the Titan environment were satisfying but I couldn't help thinking that this particular mission is only a matter of time and forgone.

I'd call it a piece of literary fiction with a splash of science thrown in before I'd call it SF.

Divining Light by Ted Kosmatka:This story started in a deep, dark noir aesthetic. But soon it turned into an egghead quantum physics story that completely lost me in the end. By the time the story ended I was completely baffled.

Perhaps that was the intention, after all, a couple of the supporting characters were as confused as I was.

It's a lot like the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.

Yea, this one sailed completely over my head.

Wat You Are About to See by Jack Skillingstead:  This was a strange little story: part Area 51, part Guantanamo Bay and part Twilight Zone. It deals with an alien interrogation and the nature of choices and possibilities.

The story was very "televisual" which I could see if it was being filmed but in the case of the written word I'm not sure the visual of a 7-11 in the desert was necessary. It was still a moving tale which made me hope the best decision would be made.

Wilmer or Wesley by Carol Emshwiller:  Another head-scratch.  Think - monkey escapes from the zoo.  The story is from the point of view of the monkey.  Fair enough but the monkey is not a monkey; he seems to be human.  Okay.  Why is he in a zoo?  Don't know.  What is so different about him?  Never told.  Why is it the citizens don't recognize him as anything else but human?  Still not let in on that detail.

The main character does not know why he's in captivity and the author has deemed it unnecessary to explain it to the reader.  Fair enough if you are trying to convey what it must feel like to be a zoo animal.  But once again I really don't feel like I've been told an SF story.

Radio Station St. Jack by Neal Barrett, Jr.:  What a great title.  This was another disappointment for me.  Not because it was poorly written but mostly because it was not what I expected.  I think I can be forgiven for thinking that it would have something to do with the cover art but really it was a western.  Okay, sure it was set in a post-apocalypse world so it's closer to a Mad Max setting but it just read like a western with all the stilted dialog that comes with it.

Was it good?  Well, it was okay.  The end gave it some gravity for me; it was more about how a small town survives in a world without law and order.  We are shown that we are only one war away from the Wild West.