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Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2013
CONTENTS
Novella
"The Application of Hope" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Novelettes
"Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood" by Gwendolyn Clare
"Arlington" by Jack Skillingstead
"Lost Wax" by Gregory Norman Bossert
Short Story
"The Ex-Corporal" by Leah Thomas
Poetry
"Turing Tests" by Peter Chiykowski
"Telling the True" by Jane Yolen
Departments
"Editorial: The 2013 Dell Magazines Award" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: Rereading Simak" by Robert Silverberg
"On the Net: What Counts?" by James Patrick Kelly
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2013, Vol. 37, No. 8 (Whole No. 451)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Les Edwards
Novella
"The Application of Hope" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Novelettes
"Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood" by Gwendolyn Clare
"Arlington" by Jack Skillingstead
"Lost Wax" by Gregory Norman Bossert
Short Story
"The Ex-Corporal" by Leah Thomas
Poetry
"Turing Tests" by Peter Chiykowski
"Telling the True" by Jane Yolen
Departments
"Editorial: The 2013 Dell Magazines Award" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: Rereading Simak" by Robert Silverberg
"On the Net: What Counts?" by James Patrick Kelly
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2013, Vol. 37, No. 8 (Whole No. 451)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Les Edwards
- GenresScience Fiction
116 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2013
25 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
276 books66 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Sheila Williams is the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form.
Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Williams’ interest in science fiction came from her father who read Edgar Rice Burroughs books to her as a child. Later Ms. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Elmira College in Elmira, New York, although she studied at the London School of Economics during her junior year. She received her Master's from Washington University in St. Louis. She is married to David Bruce and has two daughters.
She became interested in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (as it was then titled) while studying philosophy at Washington University. In 1982 she was hired at the magazine, and worked with Isaac Asimov for ten years. While working there, she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (at one time called the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing). In 2004, with the retirement of Gardner Dozois, she became the editor of the magazine.
Along with Gardner Dozois she also edited the "Isaac Asimov's" anthology series. She also co-edited A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women (2001) with Connie Willis. Most recently she has edited a retrospective anthology of fiction published by Asimov's: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology. Booklist called the book "A gem, and a credit to editor Williams."
She has been nominated for 4 Hugo Awards as editor of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
See also Sheila Williams's entry in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
Sheila Williams is the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form.
Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Williams’ interest in science fiction came from her father who read Edgar Rice Burroughs books to her as a child. Later Ms. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Elmira College in Elmira, New York, although she studied at the London School of Economics during her junior year. She received her Master's from Washington University in St. Louis. She is married to David Bruce and has two daughters.
She became interested in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (as it was then titled) while studying philosophy at Washington University. In 1982 she was hired at the magazine, and worked with Isaac Asimov for ten years. While working there, she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (at one time called the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing). In 2004, with the retirement of Gardner Dozois, she became the editor of the magazine.
Along with Gardner Dozois she also edited the "Isaac Asimov's" anthology series. She also co-edited A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women (2001) with Connie Willis. Most recently she has edited a retrospective anthology of fiction published by Asimov's: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology. Booklist called the book "A gem, and a credit to editor Williams."
She has been nominated for 4 Hugo Awards as editor of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
See also Sheila Williams's entry in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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June 19, 2013My story "Lost Wax" is in this issue
November 17, 2014
Novella
The Application of Hope by Kristine Kathryn Rusch—Victoria Sabin is a captain in the Fleet. Her people have traveled the stars for generations, always moving from one place to another, never settling down and never circling back to a previous stop.
Years ago, her father's ship disappeared. That loss pushed her to develop her engineering, science, and leadership skills so that she could personally be involved in the search. Now, years later, another captain has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Will the application of hope be enough to see her through the crisis?
I really enjoyed this story. Enough so that I'll be checking out Rusch's other books set in this universe. It seemed to hit some of the same emotional notes as Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood but from a different direction. Easily 4 stars.
Novelettes
Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood by Gwendolyn Clare—"Two young men living on a planet far from us in time and space take off on a desperate attempt to out run their destiny.“Duyi, the heir to the Regency, and Feng, his bodyguard brother, attempt to escape from the palace. Waiting for them if they fail: Duyi's upcoming ceremony where he has to make a personality changing oath of loyalty to Duyi's sister: the Regent. They'll try to change their fates and that of their culture. 4 stars.
Arlington by Jack Skillingstead—In 1982, sixteen year old Paul Birmingham got lost above the Olympic Peninsula, while attempting his first solo cross country flight. Thirty years later, he's living alone, in great pain, slowly dying. He buys the plane he flew in 1982 and tries to retrace his earlier flight and the events that followed. What happened to him in 1982 changed his life forever, trapping him in a solo existence. 4 stars.
Lost Wax by Gregory Norman Bossert—Artists battling the revolution with their hearts and hands reveal the terrifying weapon that can be sculpted with Lost Wax. I'm not even sure how to describe this story. Steampunk? But with vats of yeast as the motivating agent instead of steam? It was odd. And interesting. And contained mechanical golems, called golethe. And possibly about what makes us human, in and among the machines. I'll give it three stars.
Short Stories
The Ex-Corporal by Leah Thomas—"It had been several weeks since the ex-corporal had replaced our father. The ex-corporal wore his skin very well, seeping right into Dad's follicles and wrinkles, occupying Dad's dimples when he smiled.”
Dad abruptly started suffering epileptic seizures. After his seizures, he acted like a different man. Did the seizures propel his consciousness to different worlds in the multiverse? Did someone else visit our world, through his body? Or was it all just mental illness? 4 stars.
My Take
This may be my favorite issue of Asimov's yet. I liked all but one of the stories and I really loved several of them. I've been thinking about canceling my subscription, after reading some of the previous issues. This one really makes me question that and makes me excited to see what's ahead in September's issue. Overall, 4 stars.
The Application of Hope by Kristine Kathryn Rusch—Victoria Sabin is a captain in the Fleet. Her people have traveled the stars for generations, always moving from one place to another, never settling down and never circling back to a previous stop.
Years ago, her father's ship disappeared. That loss pushed her to develop her engineering, science, and leadership skills so that she could personally be involved in the search. Now, years later, another captain has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Will the application of hope be enough to see her through the crisis?
I really enjoyed this story. Enough so that I'll be checking out Rusch's other books set in this universe. It seemed to hit some of the same emotional notes as Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood but from a different direction. Easily 4 stars.
Novelettes
Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood by Gwendolyn Clare—"Two young men living on a planet far from us in time and space take off on a desperate attempt to out run their destiny.“Duyi, the heir to the Regency, and Feng, his bodyguard brother, attempt to escape from the palace. Waiting for them if they fail: Duyi's upcoming ceremony where he has to make a personality changing oath of loyalty to Duyi's sister: the Regent. They'll try to change their fates and that of their culture. 4 stars.
Arlington by Jack Skillingstead—In 1982, sixteen year old Paul Birmingham got lost above the Olympic Peninsula, while attempting his first solo cross country flight. Thirty years later, he's living alone, in great pain, slowly dying. He buys the plane he flew in 1982 and tries to retrace his earlier flight and the events that followed. What happened to him in 1982 changed his life forever, trapping him in a solo existence. 4 stars.
Lost Wax by Gregory Norman Bossert—Artists battling the revolution with their hearts and hands reveal the terrifying weapon that can be sculpted with Lost Wax. I'm not even sure how to describe this story. Steampunk? But with vats of yeast as the motivating agent instead of steam? It was odd. And interesting. And contained mechanical golems, called golethe. And possibly about what makes us human, in and among the machines. I'll give it three stars.
Short Stories
The Ex-Corporal by Leah Thomas—"It had been several weeks since the ex-corporal had replaced our father. The ex-corporal wore his skin very well, seeping right into Dad's follicles and wrinkles, occupying Dad's dimples when he smiled.”
Dad abruptly started suffering epileptic seizures. After his seizures, he acted like a different man. Did the seizures propel his consciousness to different worlds in the multiverse? Did someone else visit our world, through his body? Or was it all just mental illness? 4 stars.
My Take
This may be my favorite issue of Asimov's yet. I liked all but one of the stories and I really loved several of them. I've been thinking about canceling my subscription, after reading some of the previous issues. This one really makes me question that and makes me excited to see what's ahead in September's issue. Overall, 4 stars.
July 19, 2013
An above average issue, with interesting stories by Gwendolyn Clare and Kristine Kathryn Rusch and a good, emotional 'search for the truth' story by Jack Skillingstead.
- "Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood" by Gwendolyn Clare: an interesting story set on a world where an infection by a symbiotic organism allows a family to active symrock, a source of power on the world, and thus to control it. Into this family is introduced an mentally indentured slave for a half-brother, who hates the way his sister controls the world. When the slave and half-brother decide to run away and join a rebellion, the results would end in personal tragedy that would change the world in the future.
- "Arlington" by Jack Skillingstead: an impressive story about a man who gets lost while flying, causing him to land at an apparently empty airfield littered with planes past...and future. In his rush to escape, he ends up in a parallel world that is not quite right. As he struggles to fit in, he begins interested to experience an illness that might eventually kill him, unless he can find a way out; a way that would depend on how strongly he wants to leave.
- "The Ex-Corporal" by Leah Thomas: an uncomfortable story about a father who begins to get epileptic episodes; only he claims to be 'travelling' for far-away worlds when it happens. But what at first appears to be a game becomes serious when the father's personality gets 'replaced' by a military person from a distant war and refuses to go back. What can the daughter do get her father back?
- "Lost Wax" by Gregory Norman Bossery: a story set in a world where flying birds can be moulded to become alive and have become a means for sending secret messages in a city monitored by uncaring, yeast and vat based 'golethe'. When a new chemical process that may break the power of the gelethe is discovered, it threatens the rules of the city, causing open rebellion - and possibly the life of one of the moulders of birds.
- "The Application of Hope" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: another story set in Rusch's 'Diving' universe, this one has one ship's Captain on a perilous mission to rescue another ship that has gone missing. Threaded through is her backstory about why she became a captain, and why some people do not consider her ready for the job despite her excellent background. In the end, the mission would lead her, and other, to re-think just what she wants to do and perhaps, resolve her own internal doubts about herself.
- "Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood" by Gwendolyn Clare: an interesting story set on a world where an infection by a symbiotic organism allows a family to active symrock, a source of power on the world, and thus to control it. Into this family is introduced an mentally indentured slave for a half-brother, who hates the way his sister controls the world. When the slave and half-brother decide to run away and join a rebellion, the results would end in personal tragedy that would change the world in the future.
- "Arlington" by Jack Skillingstead: an impressive story about a man who gets lost while flying, causing him to land at an apparently empty airfield littered with planes past...and future. In his rush to escape, he ends up in a parallel world that is not quite right. As he struggles to fit in, he begins interested to experience an illness that might eventually kill him, unless he can find a way out; a way that would depend on how strongly he wants to leave.
- "The Ex-Corporal" by Leah Thomas: an uncomfortable story about a father who begins to get epileptic episodes; only he claims to be 'travelling' for far-away worlds when it happens. But what at first appears to be a game becomes serious when the father's personality gets 'replaced' by a military person from a distant war and refuses to go back. What can the daughter do get her father back?
- "Lost Wax" by Gregory Norman Bossery: a story set in a world where flying birds can be moulded to become alive and have become a means for sending secret messages in a city monitored by uncaring, yeast and vat based 'golethe'. When a new chemical process that may break the power of the gelethe is discovered, it threatens the rules of the city, causing open rebellion - and possibly the life of one of the moulders of birds.
- "The Application of Hope" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: another story set in Rusch's 'Diving' universe, this one has one ship's Captain on a perilous mission to rescue another ship that has gone missing. Threaded through is her backstory about why she became a captain, and why some people do not consider her ready for the job despite her excellent background. In the end, the mission would lead her, and other, to re-think just what she wants to do and perhaps, resolve her own internal doubts about herself.
June 19, 2013
A typically good issue, but nothing really leaped out at me this month. Probably the pick for me was ARLINGTON by Jack Skillingstead which tells the story of a chap who dabbles with portals and parallel universes and stuff while flying his small plane around the countryside. It was an unusual story but had a nice feel about it and a satisfactory ending.
I always enjoy reading Robert Silverberg's column and this month he discusses the works of Clifford D. Simak, a golden-era SF author.
THE APPLICATION OF HOPE by Kristine Kathryn Rusch was the feature novella and this was OK, although I'm assuming a familiarity of her Diving Universe stories (which I don't have) would be an advantage here. It was interesting enough to keep me going with it, with some particularly good descriptions of 'foldspace' and how it works, etc. Even though the story didn't grab me, Rusch is certainly a very enjoyable author to read.
I always enjoy reading Robert Silverberg's column and this month he discusses the works of Clifford D. Simak, a golden-era SF author.
THE APPLICATION OF HOPE by Kristine Kathryn Rusch was the feature novella and this was OK, although I'm assuming a familiarity of her Diving Universe stories (which I don't have) would be an advantage here. It was interesting enough to keep me going with it, with some particularly good descriptions of 'foldspace' and how it works, etc. Even though the story didn't grab me, Rusch is certainly a very enjoyable author to read.
June 17, 2013
Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "The Application of Hope" was the first Diving story I have ever read and I enjoyed it a lot. Jack Skillingstead offers a great piece in "Arlington" that really had me glued to the end. "The Ex-Corporal" from Leah Thomas was a good story as well. I just couldnt get into Gregory Norman Bossery's "Lost Wax". So overall a great four star effort from the folks at Asimov's this time out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews