Analog Science Fiction & Fact, March/April 2024

Astounding/Analog

by Trevor Quachri (Editor), David Gerrold, William Ledbetter

Vol. CXLIV, Issue 3 & 4.

Contents:
4 • AI Media vs. Human Imagination: Deathmatch? • [Editorial (Analog)] • essay by Brian Gifford
10 • Enough • novelette by William Ledbetter
23 • Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh (1615-1691) • poem by Jessy Randall
24 • Genetic Memory, Clones, and Epigenetics • [Science Fact (Analog)] • essay by Kelly Lagor
30 • A Long Journey into Light • short story by Deborah L. Davitt
39 • Brood Parasitism • [Tohrroid] • novelette by Auston Habershaw
51 • In Times to Come (Analog, March-April 2024) • [In Times to Come (Analog)] • essay by uncredited
52 • Mariposa de Hierro • short story by Matt McHugh
60 • A Reclamation of Beavers • short story by Romie Stott
64 • Define the Color Blue • short story by Ron Collins
66 • Gab • short story by Adam-Troy Castro
69 • The Death of Mars • poem by Fred D. White
70 • The Days of Empire Are Over • short story by Alan Molumby
74 • Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts • novelette by Sean Monaghan
88 • Ramanujan's Goddess • short story by Naim Kabir
98 • Bereti's Spiral • short story by Kedrick Brown
105 • The Birdwatchers • short story by Don D'Ammassa
110 • Defending Against Killer Asteroids • [The Alternate View] • essay by John G. Cramer
113 • Michael F. Flynn (1947-2023) (obit) • essay by Stanley Schmidt
114 • Potential Spam • short story by Karen Heuler
116 • Return on Investment • short story by J. W. Armstrong
120 • Decision Trees • short story by John McNeil (USA)
126 • Undertow • short story by Gregor Hartmann
137 • Gregor Hartmann • essay by Richard A. Lovett
138 • Ganny Goes to War • novella by David Gerrold
200 • The Reference Library (Analog, March-April 2024 • [The Reference Library] • essay by Rosemary Claire Smith
206 • Brass Tacks (Analog, March-April 2024) • [Brass Tacks] • essay by various
208 • Upcoming Events (Analog, March-April 2024) • [Upcoming Events] • essay by Anthony R. Lewis [as by Anthony Lewis].

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212 pages, digest magazine

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

Trevor Quachri (b. 1976) has been the sixth editor of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine since September 2012.

Previously, he was “a Broadway stagehand, collected data for museums, and executive produced a science fiction pilot for a basic cable channel.”

Quachri started as an editorial assistant in 1999 at Asimov's Science Fiction and Analog. Former editor of Analog, Ben Bova, was an early influence.

Reviews

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 • Enough • 13 pages by William Ledbetter
VG/Good. The country has turned into a police state. Jake is a street painter, ready to write the slogan “Enough” when he finds that the wall has some new coating that resists the paint. Worse even though he checked the area he is now being chased. He barely makes it out goes to his ex-girlfriend’s place and brainstorms with her and Shane to see if there is some way this technology can be used against the PIPs.

30 • A Long Journey into Light • 9 pages by Deborah L. Davitt
Very Good. Twenty years ago Vadas made first contact with an alien ship in the far reaches of the solar system. Fear has kept humanity from repeating the incident. Now the ship is on its way toward Venus. Three human ships are waiting for it. One of the ships looks like it’s trying to break the UN no contact agreement. Then surprise, the alien ship makes radio contact with all of them.

39 • Brood Parisitism • 13 pages by Auston Habershaw
Excellent. Faceless takes on an assassination job for the Thraad. It’s likely they won’t survive the impending attack by the Lhassa, but they will pay to have their revenge. After weaponized nanobots have wiped out all Thraad in the city the Lhassa bring their demolition nanobots to start razing the city so they can rebuild.

52 • Mariposa De Hierro • 8 pages by Matt McHugh
Very Good. A bunch of experimental robotic pollinators find and follow Rosalina, a young girl, daughter of migrant workers. Jay and the company that make the pollinators investigate why this bunch decided to imprint on Rosie.

60 • A Reclamation of Beavers • 4 pages by Romie Stott
OK. A wildfire is making the air quality poor. Lee is monitoring the beavers. They are surviving. She is woken in the middle of the night because there are intruders. She gets up to investigate, finds they are firefighters, but the automated system is tying up the phone service and needs a code to be shut off. I wasn’t sure if there any issues were troubling the firefighters other than the mosquitoes.

64 • Define the Color Blue • 2 pages by Ron Collins
Fair. AI gone sentient, trying to give analogize the difference between physical and electronic life forms.

66 • Gab • 4 pages by Adam-Troy Castro
Good+. A man talks to a godlike alien being. I found it really humorous.

70 • The Days of Empire Are over • 4 pages by Alan Molumby
OK/Good. Gondawon has been cut off from the galactic empire. It means a lot of conveniences are gone, but it has also inspired some groups to push their opinions on the masses. For Neema and Mara’s bookstore it’s a group trying to censor what they consider pornography.

74 • Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts • 14 pages by Sean Monaghan
Very Good. Grimshaw is on a routine EVA when there is a pinprick hole in his boot. The gel should release and stop the leak. Then all the systems in his suit start failing and rescue from the ship is hampered.

88 • Ramanujan's Goddess • 10 pages by Naim Kabir
Good/OK. A team in their science station orbiting a rogue planet was investigating the Shear, where gravity changes from g to g prime. The surviving member has a breakthrough seeing the Shear, the line is not straight but rather a fractal. Soon after she hears a voice in her head.

98 • Bereti's Spiral • 7 pages by Kedrick Brown
Good. Bereti lives on a planet of cosmologists. He is brilliant, but comes up with a way-out theory and not only is funding for his project denied, he is blackballed out of the planetary astronomer community.

105 • The Birdwatchers • 5 pages by Don D'Ammassa
OK. In a rundown Earth technologically regressed and where birds are gone, Nelson and Arthur travel a couple of days in order to see a particular bird.

114 • Potential Spam • 2 pages by Karen Heuler
OK+. Reece gets a call to buy, or sell, warships. Humorous take on telemarketing, and possible first contact.

116 • Return on Investment • 4 pages by J. W. Armstrong
OK/Good. A prisoner on the stake waiting to be burned tries to get the executioner to reconsider by offering more value than the odds of betrayal. A variation of Pascal’s Mugging. (The author used that term, and the alien’s term for the same idea.)

120 • Decision Trees • 6 pages by John McNeil
OK+. Clarissa is working on ecosystem computing. There’s a better opportunity on an exoplanet, and she is pretty much the only one qualified to run the project. But her mother is still on Earth. It’s a big decision.

126 • Undertow • 12 pages by Gregor Hartmann
Good/VG. Franklin volunteers for a test study of a drug that separates the two halves of the brain, like dolphins, so that the user can continuously stay awake. He’s in there to keep from being drafted into mandatory fighting of wildfires. Different than the others that are doing it for the money. Any attempt at camaraderie with the other eleven participants is hard to come by due to their difference in circumstances.

138 • Ganny Goes to War • 62 pages by David Gerrold
OK+. Not long after Gampy’s death, Ganny and Gampy’s whirligig operation is being stolen through financial market manipulations. Gampy, when asked if he was paranoid, would say yes, but maybe not paranoid enough. Ganny, Starling and Jimmy had just enough warning and previous preparation to load all their assets into their (unknown to the corporate thieves) ship. Gigs hurled pods from one orbit to a destination, usually to or from the belt and beyond. So the first order of business was for Ganny and company to reclaim some of their pods that were in transit. This leading to a confrontation between the Martian corporations and Ganny. And then escalations.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is March/April 2024 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Several solid works.
Contents:

AI Media vs. Human Imagination: Deathmatch? [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Brian Gifford Should we stop AI from competing with writers/artists if its output is just as good? 3*
Enough novelette by William Ledbetter a guy is a graffiti artist fighting with his slogans against an oppressive government (of supposedly right-wing controlled USA). The gov’t now uses new (nano?) paint, which removes the graffiti and can record/transmit video of its surroundings. His friends use this new technology to help him continue his protests. 4*
Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh (1615-1691) poem by Jessy Randall
Genetic Memory, Clones, and Epigenetics [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Kelly Lagor with recent research on epigenetics and SF on ‘cell memory’. 3*
A Long Journey into Light short story by Deborah L. Davitt a continuation of an earlier story. Twenty years had passed since Ae‘ahauka‘e, the Wanderer, had first entered the Solar System from the top down, passing through the plane of the ecliptic near Uranus. This was the first contact. Now the Wanderer returns to pass near Venus. Ships of the UN, China and a grandson of a man, who was in the 1st contact are here. The Chinese vessel supposedly has nuclear missiles about which the Wanderer informs all and says that it’ll cover Venus so its temperature will drop. I guess for whom it ‘terraforms’ Venus we’ll find out in another story. 3*
Brood Parasitism [Tohrroid] novelette by Auston Habershaw the beloved by Analog readers version of Murderbot – shape-shifting Tohrroid returns. This time he is hired to assassinate the leader of a species that recently committed xenocide by spreading flesh-eating nano-machines. He has to face the fact that sometimes for revenge good persons have to die. If the previous installments were shifted toward humor, this one is grimmer. 3.75*
In Times to Come (Analog, March-April 2024) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited
Mariposa de Hierro short story by Matt McHugh Rosalina is a 7-year-old daughter of migrant farm workers. Unexpectedly, tiny drones that replaced bees, start following her. A scientist, who headed the invention of the drones comes to investigate, while Rosalina turns into an internet celebrity. The scientist is very uneasy that while he produces hi-tech stuff there are still migrant farm workers. He has an argument with his company owner and here we have an almost unique capitalist – he really tries to create a better future for all (and get rich doing it). 5*
A Reclamation of Beavers short story by Romie Stott Lee works at a national park with beaver AI. There is a fire nearby and it can come here, endangering local beavers, but when firefighters arrive, the AI sees them as invaders, spamming calls for help. Lee has to stop the AI and maybe help the fighters. 3*
Define the Color Blue short story by Ron Collins a monologue of AI that says that everyone has blind spots, including the AI. 3.5*
Gab short story by Adam-Troy Castro a dialogue with GAB ( “I don’t understand. Are you God?”
“No, I am not. I am Gab.”
“What’s a Gab?”
“I am Gab. Behold Gab.”
I don’t get it.”
“I know. Gab is what I am instead of God.”
“Is that your name?”
“I have millions of names, but only one category. That category is Gab.”) another quick light piece. 4*
The Death of Mars poem by Fred D. White
The Days of Empire Are Over short story by Alan Molumby The system of interstellar transport stopped working and parts of the empire shifted to self-rule. Locally this means local thugs harassing a bookstore accusing it of selling porn (actually copies of classic nude paintings from Earth), as a first step against ‘those nefarious others’ for the shop’s owner's parent were from another planet. 2.75*
Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts novelette by Sean Monaghan a station in Mars’ orbit, a fix-it guy goes for another repair job outside, when his space suit starts to fail. There are two AI repair bots, Daisy and Maisie, who combined their databases, notably improving as an AI. They now chat like a pair of comedians, but they find a way to save the guy. An old-style ‘classic’ SF solution They were going to kick off him. Use whatever spring they had in their legs to transfer energy to him. He would head back to the ship. They would head into some erratic orbit. 4*
Ramanujan's Goddess short story by Naim Kabir a last man on a ship orbiting a planet, The ashes of his teammates are falling to the planet and soon he will. They are the result of some kind of faster-than-light travel experiment but more importantly he has a first contact, possibly dangerous the alien is a kind of sentient mind virus ‘sojourned’ by thinking about fractals 3*
Bereti's Spiral short story by Kedrick Brown alien researchers compete for a prize, one develops the theory of dark matter actually, careful readers see “However, there was one nagging fact about his gravity theory that experiments slightly disagreed with: one-seventh of the matter in the Universe, and one-twentieth of the matter in his own galaxy, which should have been there according to his celebrated equations, was missing” – now ‘our’ physics assume that dark energy and dark matter are 6/7th of mass, but others laugh at him and think that his attempts to contact sentience there are stupid. I think the idea would have worked with a flash fiction but for a story – too long. 2*
The Birdwatchers short story by Don D'Ammassa the future where there are no birds. Birdwatchers there collect video records where birds can be seen, all for a punchline they destroy the recording after watching it once because real birdwatching was unique and never repeated 2.75*
Defending Against Killer Asteroids [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer split them apart, smaller parts will mostly burn while falling. 3*
Michael F. Flynn (1947-2023) (obit) essay by Stanley Schmidt
Potential Spam short story by Karen Heuler flash fic, pranksters (?) call NASA selling space battleships finally they sell to octopuses, who eradicate men he ate them 3*
Return on Investment short story by J. W. Armstrong a human narrator is captured by alien invaders and condemned to be burnt at the stake. He tries to persuade the enemy officer that he is in a version of a thought experiment known as “Pascal’s mugging” (A rational agent should choose actions whose outcomes, when weighted by their probability, have higher utility. But some very unlikely outcomes may have very great utilities, and these utilities can grow faster than the probability diminishes. Hence the agent should focus more on vastly improbable cases with implausibly high rewards). There are some economist jokes, like: Zorg glanced at what might have been a timepiece. “You and your proposal are untrustworthy, Earthling. Stand by to eat flames.” Having little to lose, I blurted out, “So you acknowledge you’re not a rational agent?” That was a low blow. Zorg wavered—it must be difficult for an economist to admit he is irrational. but the story is too thin. 3*
Decision Trees short story by John McNeil (USA) Clarissa works with an uplifted badger on a project to create ‘living computer’ from how trees interact – the idea that any machine sent with colonists will eventually break, but trees are self-sustainable. She must decide to travel to Proxima Centauri soon or not go at all because space debris will make flights from Earth impossible. However, here is her old mom, who destroyed her own career because was babysitting Clarissa, when she was young. Is there a debt to repay, or helping the mankind is more important? 3.25*
Undertow short story by Gregor Hartmann Franklin and a couple of Mexicans agreed to be lab rats for in an experiment with a drug that keeps half his brain awake all the time, like dolphin’s brains. there are adverse effects but more importantly while under monitoring they play alt-history game where Mexico successfully fights the USA and Franklin realizes that ‘never-sleeping’ is needed for the military and because experiments are mostly on Mexicans they will be these new unsleeping soldiers to attack the US 3.25*
Gregor Hartmann essay by Richard A. Lovett
Ganny Goes to War novella by David Gerrold the story written in the style of Robert A. Heinlein. A head of the family with a transport business at asteroid belt dies, leaving a mother and a daughter. A corporation from Mars, through a multitude of fake firms takes their business away from them. However, they fight back (with a daughter’s boyfriend and a lot of great moves). My favorite in this issue, 5*

[Michael Goodine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent issue of Analog. The best I've read in some time. I enjoyed:

Brood Parasite by Auston Habershaw. This is the latest installment in a series of tales about a shapeshifting creature that began, I think, back in Jan/Feb 2019.

Mariposa de Hierro by Matt McHugh. This one is a fun story about a child of migrant workers who finds herself suddenly followed by a swarm of tiny drones for some reason. The first of several stories with anti-capitalist themes in this issue.

Gab, by Adam Troy Castro. A humor piece. I enjoy everything Adam Troy Castro writes for Analog.

Potential Spam by Karen Hueler. Another short humor piece. Some people might not like this sort of thing. But, hey, it is only two pages.

Ganny Goes to War, by David Gerrold. Hey! It's David Gerrold, in Analog! This is a followup to a story for Jim Baen's online SF mag called "Ganny Knits a Spaceship." That story is well-loved by people who remember it. It isn't necessary to have read the original story to enjoy this one.

[Marta E C R · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. There were so many excellent stories in this issue that I fear AnLab voting may be especially difficult come January!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good issue. I particularly liked "Ganny Goes to War" by David Gerrold, and it is for this story that I am giving this issue 5 stars.

[uzhuj]

Only did the podcast version of: Mariposa de Hierro short story by Matt McHugh.
A young migrant girl is followed by a swarm of mechanical bees. How this effects her and how this fits into the vision of megacorporations. Good story, well written. A bit of a jab at tech leaders.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a future police state installed by Corporations a loosely organized online resistance movement has been using graffiti to create a meme of “Enough”. Nanomachines and a cloak of invisibility help in William Ledbetter’s tale. Deborah L. Davitt takes us to the alien spacecraft Ae’ahauka’e, where both the Chinese and Americans have suspicions about its intentions. Although ostensibly terraforming Venus, its abilities worry humanity in “A Long Journey Into Light”. Auston Habershaw’s Torrhoid assassin gets personally involved with his new target after a Lhassa family group wipe out an entire native intelligent species in “Brood Parasitism”, while Sean Monaghan takes us to the space between Mars and Phobos, where Chuck Grimshaw is having a really bad day courtesy of a sabotaged space suit, which his dead ex’s brother gifted him. Luckily two sassy robot helpers have an idea in “Daisy And Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts”. Gregor Hartmann shows us an experiment where the subjects are paid to undertake drug trials, ostensibly to correct shrinking brains. But when Franklin sees the results of desynchronizing brain hemispheres he suspects a more sinister reason in “Undertow”. Starling and her grandmother Ganny, are Belters who have been evicted from their whirligig space station, which slingshots payloads across the Solar System. The eviction is illegal and prelude to a hostile takeover of a number of corporations and is backed, silently, by the Martian government. Fleeing with everything that wasn’t nailed down they decide to wage a guerrilla war in the hopes of creating an alliance of Belters and break the monopolies. “Ganny Goes To War” is a long and entertaining novella from veteran David Gerrold. A very good issue.

[Brendan Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites so far ... The novella was great (Ganny Goes to War by David Gerrold) which was very Heinlein-esque ... and lots of other great hard-scifi stories.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag. Usually I prefer novellas or novelettes, this time the short stories provided the highlights.