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Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Volume 112, Issue 7, June 1992
• Accept No Substitutes by Stanley Schmidt
• Blood Relations by Julia Ecklar
• Stranger Things by Amy Bechtel
• Worlds in Darkness: Planets Between the Stars by Martyn J. Fogg
• Commandos by Lynn Fields
• Wall-to-Wall Data by G. Harry Stine
• Morning on Mars G. David Nordley
• Doing Something About It by Stephen Walton
• The Hidden Matter of McAndrew by Charles Sheffield
• The Reference Library by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Martian Rainbow by Robert L. Forward by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: The Waste Lands by Stephen King by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Far-Seer by Robert J. Sawyer by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Starseed by Jeanne Robinson and Spider Robinson by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Lair of the Cyclops by Allen L. Wold by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Captain Jack Zodiac by Michael Kandel by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick by Thomas A. Easton
• A Calendar of Upcoming Events by Anthony R. Lewis
• Blood Relations by Julia Ecklar
• Stranger Things by Amy Bechtel
• Worlds in Darkness: Planets Between the Stars by Martyn J. Fogg
• Commandos by Lynn Fields
• Wall-to-Wall Data by G. Harry Stine
• Morning on Mars G. David Nordley
• Doing Something About It by Stephen Walton
• The Hidden Matter of McAndrew by Charles Sheffield
• The Reference Library by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Martian Rainbow by Robert L. Forward by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: The Waste Lands by Stephen King by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Far-Seer by Robert J. Sawyer by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Starseed by Jeanne Robinson and Spider Robinson by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Lair of the Cyclops by Allen L. Wold by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Captain Jack Zodiac by Michael Kandel by Thomas A. Easton
• Review: Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick by Thomas A. Easton
• A Calendar of Upcoming Events by Anthony R. Lewis
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 1992
3 people want to read
About the author
Stanley Schmidt
503 books6 followersStanley Schmidt is an American science fiction author. Between 1978 and 2012 he served as editor of
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
magazine.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 20, 2021
Books and stories that make up a series have long been an important part of science fiction and fantasy literature. Some of the series are short, perhaps just two or three stories. Others seem to go on forever. The first of the Harold Shea "Incomplete Enchanter" tales was published in 1940; the latest, I believe, was published in 2005. I suspect that new Tarzan stories will still be coming out a hundred years from now.
There are five entries listed as stories in this issue of Analog; four of them are parts of series. Both when the magazine was named Astounding and later as Analog, there was frequently no information in the editorial comments indicating that a story was part of a series. (I haven't read the magazine regularly in some years and I don't know what their current practice is.) I knew that two of these stories were parts of series because I have read other stories in the series. The science fiction and fantasy website ISFDb informed me about the other two.
The story here that is not part of a series is "Commandos" by Lynn Fields. In a future in which teleportation is a routine procedure, all the teleportation equipment throughout much (or all) of the world suddenly malfunctions drastically. There is a "teleport commando" in the system, a sort of super-virus. Hundreds of thousands of people are killed.
The man in charge of fixing things is Interpol Captain Miguel Mendoza. Mendoza knows immediately that this is deliberate sabotage and almost instantly knows who the saboteur is and that he is working alone. (I have read this a couple of times and still have no idea how Mendoza knows this. There had indeed been a threat by "a retired teleport technician" who had been put under house arrest, but could one former employee be able to so thoroughly and so quickly bollix the system? Possibly I am missing some explanation.) Mendoza determines that he personally must capture the saboteur. ISFDb lists "Commandos" as the only story in this field by Lynn Fields.
G. David Nordley's story "Morning on Mars" is the first entry in a series that ISFDb calls "Tales of Future Mars." In "the 102,307th century," humanity has become virtually immortal, although people occasionally choose to die physically and merge their consciousness in group minds. A man makes his first visit to Mars in "about eight million years" to try to convince a companion not to take that step. This story seems rather silly to me, and not especially well written. For example, a passage late in the story says:
"It's a spring morning and I can love you like no one has loved for millions of years," she told him when they rested. "We aren't old; the stars are old. We're young. We are ten-million-years young and it's all just beginning."
That dialogue, at least, feels at least ten million years old.
Charles Sheffield's "McAndrew Chronicles" is a comic adventure series about the exploits of the brilliant physicist Arthur McAndrew, the man who developed the inertia-less drive and opened up the Universe to mankind. This story, "The Hidden Matter of McAndrew," is narrated by spaceship captain Jeanie Roker, McAndrew's long-time friend. McAndrew wants to investigate the matter of matter; there is, he thinks, much less apparent matter in the Universe than would be necessary to keep the Universe expanding forever. He conjectures that there is "bright matter," "dark matter," and something else. The team assembled to look into this consists of McAndrew, Roker, and two tough guys who don't seem to have any knowledge about - or interest in - this issue. I have read other entries in this series as well and I believe that they were all a good mixture of physics, adventure, and humor.
The other series with which I was already familiar is the "Little Monsters" series by Amy Bechtel, concerning a veterinarian whose patients include a small group of sea monsters. The sea monsters are being kept secret by the veterinarian and the couple on whose property they live. The veterinarian, Dr. Michael Clayton, must learn how to treat creatures of species that no one knows about.
In the story in this issue, "Stranger Things," Clayton's more conventional patients include a turtle with a sore leg and a cow whose stillborn calf needs to be extracted rather gruesomely. The sea monsters seem to be acting differently than usual, more subdued. Clayton needs to dive to try to solve the problem, putting himself at risk. As with the other stories that I have read from this series, this is humorous and rather endearing; it also makes being a veterinarian seem both rewarding and terrifying.
There are other beasts at the heart of "Blood Relations" by Julia Ecklar, the first story in a series ISFDb refers to as "Noah's Ark." Rahel, who works for the company Noah's Ark, is summoned to the planet New Dallas. Fifteen years earlier Noah's Ark had been paid to bring twenty-three tigers to live in the wilderness in New Dallas. Now three colonists have been killed, evidently by tigers. Rahel, accompanied by her dog Basa, has come to the planet to investigate and take any necessary action. What she finds is far more dangerous than tigers.
Rahel and her dog are both easily annoyed and not friendly. Rahel is also brave, compassionate, and dedicated. Her contact on New Dallas (and the only other human in the story) is the head of the colony, Colony Prelate Killean Wels, also brave and dedicated but frequently at odds with Rahel. I don't know if Rahel is a continuing character throughout the series; I doubt that Wels is.
There is one more story, although it is not listed as such on the Contents page. Analog frequently ran a feature titled "Probability Zero," which basically meant a long joke in story form. The one in this issue is "Doing Something About It" by Stephen Walton. People form a company to make bets on the weather. Things go well for the house until someone comes up with a way to beat the system, which is, one might say, improbable.
A science fact article in this issue is titled "Worlds in Darkness: Planets Between the Stars," written by Martyn J. Fogg. As the title indicates, the article is about interstellar planets, worlds not part of a solar system. I only read the introduction.
There is another column titled "The Alternate View." The installment in this issue is "Wall-to-wall Data" by G. Harry Stine. This is a short piece about usage and mis-usage of data in science.
Stanley Schmidt's editorial is titled "Accept No Substitutes," about the usage of computer simulations to replace experimenting on actual animals.
In Tom Easton's book review column, "The Reference Library," Easton discusses books by Stephen King, Robert L. Forward, Robert J. Sawyer, Spider and Jeanne Robinson, Allen L. Wold, Michael Kandel, and Michael Swanwick.
The "Brass Tacks" letter column has discussions on a variety of topics.
The filler quotes, printed in absurdly large print, are a total waste of space. For example:
⏺️There is nothing so innocent that mankind cannot introduce crime there.
- - - - Molière
Interior artwork is by Todd Cameron Hamilton, Broeck Steadman, Anthony Bari, Bob Eggleton, and Vincent Di Fate. I don't think that any of it is outstanding; Di Fate's work is good. The cover by Michael Carroll illustrates "Blood Relations." The large vehicle on the left is supposed to blend so well with its background that it can not be seen; I do see it.
An undistinguished issue. The Sheffield and Bechtel stories are amusing and the Ecklar story is good. Nothing here seems memorable to me.
There are five entries listed as stories in this issue of Analog; four of them are parts of series. Both when the magazine was named Astounding and later as Analog, there was frequently no information in the editorial comments indicating that a story was part of a series. (I haven't read the magazine regularly in some years and I don't know what their current practice is.) I knew that two of these stories were parts of series because I have read other stories in the series. The science fiction and fantasy website ISFDb informed me about the other two.
The story here that is not part of a series is "Commandos" by Lynn Fields. In a future in which teleportation is a routine procedure, all the teleportation equipment throughout much (or all) of the world suddenly malfunctions drastically. There is a "teleport commando" in the system, a sort of super-virus. Hundreds of thousands of people are killed.
The man in charge of fixing things is Interpol Captain Miguel Mendoza. Mendoza knows immediately that this is deliberate sabotage and almost instantly knows who the saboteur is and that he is working alone. (I have read this a couple of times and still have no idea how Mendoza knows this. There had indeed been a threat by "a retired teleport technician" who had been put under house arrest, but could one former employee be able to so thoroughly and so quickly bollix the system? Possibly I am missing some explanation.) Mendoza determines that he personally must capture the saboteur. ISFDb lists "Commandos" as the only story in this field by Lynn Fields.
G. David Nordley's story "Morning on Mars" is the first entry in a series that ISFDb calls "Tales of Future Mars." In "the 102,307th century," humanity has become virtually immortal, although people occasionally choose to die physically and merge their consciousness in group minds. A man makes his first visit to Mars in "about eight million years" to try to convince a companion not to take that step. This story seems rather silly to me, and not especially well written. For example, a passage late in the story says:
"It's a spring morning and I can love you like no one has loved for millions of years," she told him when they rested. "We aren't old; the stars are old. We're young. We are ten-million-years young and it's all just beginning."
That dialogue, at least, feels at least ten million years old.
Charles Sheffield's "McAndrew Chronicles" is a comic adventure series about the exploits of the brilliant physicist Arthur McAndrew, the man who developed the inertia-less drive and opened up the Universe to mankind. This story, "The Hidden Matter of McAndrew," is narrated by spaceship captain Jeanie Roker, McAndrew's long-time friend. McAndrew wants to investigate the matter of matter; there is, he thinks, much less apparent matter in the Universe than would be necessary to keep the Universe expanding forever. He conjectures that there is "bright matter," "dark matter," and something else. The team assembled to look into this consists of McAndrew, Roker, and two tough guys who don't seem to have any knowledge about - or interest in - this issue. I have read other entries in this series as well and I believe that they were all a good mixture of physics, adventure, and humor.
The other series with which I was already familiar is the "Little Monsters" series by Amy Bechtel, concerning a veterinarian whose patients include a small group of sea monsters. The sea monsters are being kept secret by the veterinarian and the couple on whose property they live. The veterinarian, Dr. Michael Clayton, must learn how to treat creatures of species that no one knows about.
In the story in this issue, "Stranger Things," Clayton's more conventional patients include a turtle with a sore leg and a cow whose stillborn calf needs to be extracted rather gruesomely. The sea monsters seem to be acting differently than usual, more subdued. Clayton needs to dive to try to solve the problem, putting himself at risk. As with the other stories that I have read from this series, this is humorous and rather endearing; it also makes being a veterinarian seem both rewarding and terrifying.
There are other beasts at the heart of "Blood Relations" by Julia Ecklar, the first story in a series ISFDb refers to as "Noah's Ark." Rahel, who works for the company Noah's Ark, is summoned to the planet New Dallas. Fifteen years earlier Noah's Ark had been paid to bring twenty-three tigers to live in the wilderness in New Dallas. Now three colonists have been killed, evidently by tigers. Rahel, accompanied by her dog Basa, has come to the planet to investigate and take any necessary action. What she finds is far more dangerous than tigers.
Rahel and her dog are both easily annoyed and not friendly. Rahel is also brave, compassionate, and dedicated. Her contact on New Dallas (and the only other human in the story) is the head of the colony, Colony Prelate Killean Wels, also brave and dedicated but frequently at odds with Rahel. I don't know if Rahel is a continuing character throughout the series; I doubt that Wels is.
There is one more story, although it is not listed as such on the Contents page. Analog frequently ran a feature titled "Probability Zero," which basically meant a long joke in story form. The one in this issue is "Doing Something About It" by Stephen Walton. People form a company to make bets on the weather. Things go well for the house until someone comes up with a way to beat the system, which is, one might say, improbable.
A science fact article in this issue is titled "Worlds in Darkness: Planets Between the Stars," written by Martyn J. Fogg. As the title indicates, the article is about interstellar planets, worlds not part of a solar system. I only read the introduction.
There is another column titled "The Alternate View." The installment in this issue is "Wall-to-wall Data" by G. Harry Stine. This is a short piece about usage and mis-usage of data in science.
Stanley Schmidt's editorial is titled "Accept No Substitutes," about the usage of computer simulations to replace experimenting on actual animals.
In Tom Easton's book review column, "The Reference Library," Easton discusses books by Stephen King, Robert L. Forward, Robert J. Sawyer, Spider and Jeanne Robinson, Allen L. Wold, Michael Kandel, and Michael Swanwick.
The "Brass Tacks" letter column has discussions on a variety of topics.
The filler quotes, printed in absurdly large print, are a total waste of space. For example:
⏺️There is nothing so innocent that mankind cannot introduce crime there.
- - - - Molière
Interior artwork is by Todd Cameron Hamilton, Broeck Steadman, Anthony Bari, Bob Eggleton, and Vincent Di Fate. I don't think that any of it is outstanding; Di Fate's work is good. The cover by Michael Carroll illustrates "Blood Relations." The large vehicle on the left is supposed to blend so well with its background that it can not be seen; I do see it.
An undistinguished issue. The Sheffield and Bechtel stories are amusing and the Ecklar story is good. Nothing here seems memorable to me.
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