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Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2015
CONTENTS
Novella
"The Long Wait" by Allen M. Steele
Novelette
"Watergirl" by Rudy Rucker and Marc Laidlaw
Short Stories
"The Unveiling" by Christopher Rowe
"Ninety-Five Percent Safe" by Caroline M. Yoachim
"Candy From Strangers" by Jay O'Connell
"Butterflies" by Peter Wood
"Songs in the Key of You" by Sarah Pinsker
Poetry
"Hard Boot" by Trent Walters
"Fromage de Lune" by Robert Borski
Departments
"Editorial: Whirlwind Worldcon; or Shameless Name Dropping" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: The Richard Hakluyt of Space" by Robert Silverberg
"Asimov's Science Fiction Congratulates the Winners of the 2014 Hugo Awards"
"On the Net: Billions and Billions" by James Patrick Kelly
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"Twenty-Ninth Annual Readers' Award"
"Index"
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2015, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Whole No. 468)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Randy Gallegos
Novella
"The Long Wait" by Allen M. Steele
Novelette
"Watergirl" by Rudy Rucker and Marc Laidlaw
Short Stories
"The Unveiling" by Christopher Rowe
"Ninety-Five Percent Safe" by Caroline M. Yoachim
"Candy From Strangers" by Jay O'Connell
"Butterflies" by Peter Wood
"Songs in the Key of You" by Sarah Pinsker
Poetry
"Hard Boot" by Trent Walters
"Fromage de Lune" by Robert Borski
Departments
"Editorial: Whirlwind Worldcon; or Shameless Name Dropping" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: The Richard Hakluyt of Space" by Robert Silverberg
"Asimov's Science Fiction Congratulates the Winners of the 2014 Hugo Awards"
"On the Net: Billions and Billions" by James Patrick Kelly
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"Twenty-Ninth Annual Readers' Award"
"Index"
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2015, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Whole No. 468)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Randy Gallegos
116 pages, Perfectbound
First published January 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
278 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 29, 2015
Great issue.
NOVELLA
The Long Wait by Allen M. Steele - My favorite of the bunch. Fairly simple plot, but great execution. It's all about execution, at the end of the day. You can definitely feel the hand of the SF pro here.
NOVELETTE
Watergirl by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw: I agree with the reviewers below, this is an excellent story, but with some confusing elements. The beginning is so promising and exciting, introducing a couple of original concepts, and the surfer dudes with their lingo are just brilliant. But then towards the end it kind of lost steam for me. I think too many sub-plots are opened throughout the story, and both the billionaire charachter and the "alive waves" ideas didn't get enough development.
SHORT STORIES
The Unveiling by Christopher Rowe : very good short story. Loved the charachterization, and the world the charachters are in is sketched just in the right amount of details.
Ninety-Five Percent Safe by Caroline M. Yoachim - good. Although I was expecting some big surprise ending related to the 95 / 5 proportion, some stunning discovery that unfortunately did not come. Still, good story with alive charachters.
Candy From Strangers by Jay O’Connell. A little too "manga-ish" and juvenile in parts (for my taste), but still enjoyable and with its own depth.
Butterflies by Peter Wood - big bugs! There are big bugs in the woods. Not my cup of tea.
Songs in the Key of You by Sarah Pinsker - wearable personalized music concept, interesting story, but I thought it could have been developed a bit more. I found the charachterization a little bland and YA-ish.
NOVELLA
The Long Wait by Allen M. Steele - My favorite of the bunch. Fairly simple plot, but great execution. It's all about execution, at the end of the day. You can definitely feel the hand of the SF pro here.
NOVELETTE
Watergirl by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw: I agree with the reviewers below, this is an excellent story, but with some confusing elements. The beginning is so promising and exciting, introducing a couple of original concepts, and the surfer dudes with their lingo are just brilliant. But then towards the end it kind of lost steam for me. I think too many sub-plots are opened throughout the story, and both the billionaire charachter and the "alive waves" ideas didn't get enough development.
SHORT STORIES
The Unveiling by Christopher Rowe : very good short story. Loved the charachterization, and the world the charachters are in is sketched just in the right amount of details.
Ninety-Five Percent Safe by Caroline M. Yoachim - good. Although I was expecting some big surprise ending related to the 95 / 5 proportion, some stunning discovery that unfortunately did not come. Still, good story with alive charachters.
Candy From Strangers by Jay O’Connell. A little too "manga-ish" and juvenile in parts (for my taste), but still enjoyable and with its own depth.
Butterflies by Peter Wood - big bugs! There are big bugs in the woods. Not my cup of tea.
Songs in the Key of You by Sarah Pinsker - wearable personalized music concept, interesting story, but I thought it could have been developed a bit more. I found the charachterization a little bland and YA-ish.
February 8, 2015
I've been a fan of Allen Steele since his "Coyote" days. "The Long Wait" is another installnent in his new series following the Arkwright Foundation and the mission to send a "seed" ship (the Galactique) several light years away.
"The Long Wait".refers to the wait on Earth for.messages from the Galactique. It also refers to Dhani's wait for her father to return home, for her mother to recover, for her to find her purpose in life. Well-written coming of age story.
The rest of the stories had a nice mix of length and subject matter. "Ninety-Five Percent Safe" was a reminder that 95% is NOT 100%. "Watergirl" was an interesting look at a futuristic surfer culture. "Candy From Strangers" deals with suicide and its aftermath. And On Books has me wanting the Tribute to Poul Anderson Anthology and the Tribute to Robert Silverberg.
"The Long Wait".refers to the wait on Earth for.messages from the Galactique. It also refers to Dhani's wait for her father to return home, for her mother to recover, for her to find her purpose in life. Well-written coming of age story.
The rest of the stories had a nice mix of length and subject matter. "Ninety-Five Percent Safe" was a reminder that 95% is NOT 100%. "Watergirl" was an interesting look at a futuristic surfer culture. "Candy From Strangers" deals with suicide and its aftermath. And On Books has me wanting the Tribute to Poul Anderson Anthology and the Tribute to Robert Silverberg.
May 25, 2015
Superb cover novella by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw, 'Watergirl' reads like Thomas Pynchon getting high on quantum aether. Allen Steele's 'The Long Wait' is predictable and overwritten. The best of the five short stories here is the haunting 'Songs in the Key of You' by Sarah Pinsker.
December 13, 2015
This issue contains 5 short stories, 2 poems, a novella and a novelette as well as the usual variety of essays and articles.
I found the non-fiction columns pretty uninteresting this month although I did like Paul De Filippo's book review column more than usual, especially his lengthy discussion on the passing of writer Lucius Shepard and his then recently published novel "Beautiful Blood." Shepard is an author I will greatly miss.
On the fiction side, the stories are:
The Unveiling • shortstory by Christopher Rowe
Hard Boot • poem by Trent Walters
Watergirl • novelette by Rudy Rucker and Marc Laidlaw
Ninety-Five Percent Safe • shortstory by Caroline M. Yoachim
Candy From Strangers • shortstory by Jay O'Connell
Butterflies • shortstory by Peter Wood
Songs in the Key of You • shortstory by Sarah Pinsker
Fromage de Lune • poem by Robert Borski
The Long Wait • novella by Allen M. Steele
Overall this added up to something I'd call disappointing and at the very low end of an OK read. I would really like to think there are better stories floating out in the ether that could be reined in for publication. Some brief comments:
"The Unveiling" starts the stories off well, although the story itself tilts a little at the end. Set on another planet that is not the most pleasant place (never-ending volcanic eruptions and pollution that would probably make early industrial England look good), we get a short bit about a working class hero, Tayne. Most of this story is from Tayne's viewpoint, but after an "event" we shift oddly to the future and I thought the ending unsatisfying. Still, I liked most of it.
The cover story "Watergirl" is like a time travel retro Hawaiian trip through valley Girl Fast Times tubular surfer dude land. I had enough of that decades ago, but if you are a reader who loves that stuff, well this may play well with you. I was bored frankly and stopped reading after about 5 or 6 pages. I'm sure I missed the good parts.
Jay O'Connell's "Candy From Strangers" was more than a little twisty. I've enjoyed his previous stories in Asimov's and this edgy bit is another good one. We at first think a good Samaritan, Morgan, with some high end net gear is saving a young woman from suicide in front of a train (he does save the woman) and we later learn that he had first hand experience and knew what he was saving her from. In this short story the two dance around each other and play a little tough. Good writing here I thought.
There's nothing really wrong with “Ninety-five Percent Safe” by Caroline Yoachim except that it reads like a very bland dystopian story aimed at 10-12 year olds about leaving nuclear wintered earth for a possibly better life in a space colony. The title reflects the odds that 5% of the people who set off from earth don't make it out the other side of the wormhole.
I found “Butterflies” by Peter Wood to be a real bit of fluff. It is intentionally a modern alt-history send-up of 1950's Giant Bug movies. I would have rather read something a bit more exciting. Maybe the giant butterfly could have given the boy a ride, or maybe the big dragonfly could have actually eaten something ... like our protagonist. Sigh. This was a real dud.
More stuff that seems aimed at pre-teens comes with “Songs in the Key of You” by Sarah Pinsker. The gadget of the day, if you can afford it, are musical bracelets with songs specifically written and recorded for the owner(s). I never quite got the concept, but your bracelet plays your song when you enter a room or building for example, to announce you. I can imagine this cacophony of sound would drive me insane in short order. The clever title of of this story of course plays with the title of a Stevie Wonder album from long ago which I doubt the average young reader would even know of. The story opens with some punky entitled drama queen bullies picking on a girl in the school cafeteria who can't afford the fancy stuff so she hums her own tunes. The story really isn't bad after the cliched start; I just expect something a lot better from the magazine.
The novella by Allen M Steele, “The Long Wait” saved the issue for me. This is kind of old-fashioned storytelling that he is good at. Big generation ship kind of stuff. Steele has written a lot of stories and I have rarely been disappointed by him. I've read quite a bit of his stuff in Asimov's over the years (parts of his Coyote sequence in particular) that I really enjoyed. He is one of my favorite science fiction authors. This is one of four related stories that are going to be released as a novel in 2016. In this segment of the story we follow the progress of the seed ship 'Galactique' from the viewpoint of various characters in a family on Earth - and the long wait is the increasing amount of time for communications to and from the ship as the journey progresses. More than this to the story obviously but I enjoyed it very much. Whet my appetite for more of this story.
So out of 7 stories there were really only two that I thought rather good ... O'Connell's "Candy From Strangers" and Steele's "The Long Wait."
overall, 2 1/2 stars
I found the non-fiction columns pretty uninteresting this month although I did like Paul De Filippo's book review column more than usual, especially his lengthy discussion on the passing of writer Lucius Shepard and his then recently published novel "Beautiful Blood." Shepard is an author I will greatly miss.
On the fiction side, the stories are:
The Unveiling • shortstory by Christopher Rowe
Hard Boot • poem by Trent Walters
Watergirl • novelette by Rudy Rucker and Marc Laidlaw
Ninety-Five Percent Safe • shortstory by Caroline M. Yoachim
Candy From Strangers • shortstory by Jay O'Connell
Butterflies • shortstory by Peter Wood
Songs in the Key of You • shortstory by Sarah Pinsker
Fromage de Lune • poem by Robert Borski
The Long Wait • novella by Allen M. Steele
Overall this added up to something I'd call disappointing and at the very low end of an OK read. I would really like to think there are better stories floating out in the ether that could be reined in for publication. Some brief comments:
"The Unveiling" starts the stories off well, although the story itself tilts a little at the end. Set on another planet that is not the most pleasant place (never-ending volcanic eruptions and pollution that would probably make early industrial England look good), we get a short bit about a working class hero, Tayne. Most of this story is from Tayne's viewpoint, but after an "event" we shift oddly to the future and I thought the ending unsatisfying. Still, I liked most of it.
The cover story "Watergirl" is like a time travel retro Hawaiian trip through valley Girl Fast Times tubular surfer dude land. I had enough of that decades ago, but if you are a reader who loves that stuff, well this may play well with you. I was bored frankly and stopped reading after about 5 or 6 pages. I'm sure I missed the good parts.
Jay O'Connell's "Candy From Strangers" was more than a little twisty. I've enjoyed his previous stories in Asimov's and this edgy bit is another good one. We at first think a good Samaritan, Morgan, with some high end net gear is saving a young woman from suicide in front of a train (he does save the woman) and we later learn that he had first hand experience and knew what he was saving her from. In this short story the two dance around each other and play a little tough. Good writing here I thought.
There's nothing really wrong with “Ninety-five Percent Safe” by Caroline Yoachim except that it reads like a very bland dystopian story aimed at 10-12 year olds about leaving nuclear wintered earth for a possibly better life in a space colony. The title reflects the odds that 5% of the people who set off from earth don't make it out the other side of the wormhole.
I found “Butterflies” by Peter Wood to be a real bit of fluff. It is intentionally a modern alt-history send-up of 1950's Giant Bug movies. I would have rather read something a bit more exciting. Maybe the giant butterfly could have given the boy a ride, or maybe the big dragonfly could have actually eaten something ... like our protagonist. Sigh. This was a real dud.
More stuff that seems aimed at pre-teens comes with “Songs in the Key of You” by Sarah Pinsker. The gadget of the day, if you can afford it, are musical bracelets with songs specifically written and recorded for the owner(s). I never quite got the concept, but your bracelet plays your song when you enter a room or building for example, to announce you. I can imagine this cacophony of sound would drive me insane in short order. The clever title of of this story of course plays with the title of a Stevie Wonder album from long ago which I doubt the average young reader would even know of. The story opens with some punky entitled drama queen bullies picking on a girl in the school cafeteria who can't afford the fancy stuff so she hums her own tunes. The story really isn't bad after the cliched start; I just expect something a lot better from the magazine.
The novella by Allen M Steele, “The Long Wait” saved the issue for me. This is kind of old-fashioned storytelling that he is good at. Big generation ship kind of stuff. Steele has written a lot of stories and I have rarely been disappointed by him. I've read quite a bit of his stuff in Asimov's over the years (parts of his Coyote sequence in particular) that I really enjoyed. He is one of my favorite science fiction authors. This is one of four related stories that are going to be released as a novel in 2016. In this segment of the story we follow the progress of the seed ship 'Galactique' from the viewpoint of various characters in a family on Earth - and the long wait is the increasing amount of time for communications to and from the ship as the journey progresses. More than this to the story obviously but I enjoyed it very much. Whet my appetite for more of this story.
So out of 7 stories there were really only two that I thought rather good ... O'Connell's "Candy From Strangers" and Steele's "The Long Wait."
overall, 2 1/2 stars
September 23, 2017
The novella was excellent as were a couple of the short stories. The rest was just ok.
February 22, 2018
A great Alan Steele novella and several good stories. Now I'm only 3 years behind!
December 19, 2014
An average issue, with a weird tale quantum/nano heavy story by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw, an entertaining one by Peter Wood and the next story in Allen M. Steele series about sending a star ship to colonise another star.
- "The Unveiling" by Christopher Rowe: on an autocratic world, a man and his crew labour to clean statues in preparation for an event. But it would have a darker side when the man encounters a sculptor from off-world who made one of the statues and makes comment that would be considered seditions. Later events would show how sometimes revolutions could be lead be the least expected people.
- "Watergirl" by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw: a wacky story full of nano and quantum talk about two people who come to the notice of a man who apparently gives water in a bay 'intelligence' by injecting it with nano-structures; but he needs their quantum-intelligent surfboards to properly control the water. Into this tale is injected a story about the death of the girlfriend of one of the man whose scattered ashes proceed to be incorporated into the water - with fascinating consequences.
- "Ninety-Five Percent Safe" by Caroline M. Yoachim: on a Earth rendered nearly inhospitable, a girl struggles to convince his parent to migrate to another world through a wormhole that, for reasons unknown, only lets 95% of the ships through. The girl finally takes matters into her own hands; with consequences to the family when they get together at the other end of the wormhole.
- "Candy From Strangers" by Jay O’Connell: an unsettling tale of a man who stops a woman from committing suicide: only to offer her a suicide pill unless she wishes to talk to him. And when she does, the story takes an unusual turn with the man helping the woman to take back control of her life -- only for the woman to take control of his life.
- "Butterflies" by Peter Wood: an entertaining tale with a big what-if: what-if insects were mutated to giant size by the nuclear bomb tests. Only instead of becoming monsters to be killed, they become creatures to be used for various jobs as this tale of a biologist denied tenure by her department head shows, especially when she discovers the head involved in some illegal activities.
- "Songs in the Key of You" by Sarah Pinsker: a tale about a teenage girl who, as is common in such tales, are isolated from their group. In this case, she lacks the money to buy arm bands that play music that announces the individual. But she has the skill to create original musical pieces; and it is using that skill and taking some risks will she learn not only to fit in but to be find her calling.
- "The Long Wait" by Allen M. Steele: next in his on-going series of stories about the effort to launch a ship to another star system, this one focuses on the child of the two people involved in the launch and are now settling in for the long wait for the ship to reach its destination. As she (the child) grows up, she goes through many of the hardships faced by those who live mostly isolated lives dedicated to a task (keeping in contact with the ship) leading to family breakups. Late in the tale, a crisis erupts that would bring the family back together. As with most tales in the middle of a series, this doesn't really have a real start or end but it still a workable story.
- "The Unveiling" by Christopher Rowe: on an autocratic world, a man and his crew labour to clean statues in preparation for an event. But it would have a darker side when the man encounters a sculptor from off-world who made one of the statues and makes comment that would be considered seditions. Later events would show how sometimes revolutions could be lead be the least expected people.
- "Watergirl" by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw: a wacky story full of nano and quantum talk about two people who come to the notice of a man who apparently gives water in a bay 'intelligence' by injecting it with nano-structures; but he needs their quantum-intelligent surfboards to properly control the water. Into this tale is injected a story about the death of the girlfriend of one of the man whose scattered ashes proceed to be incorporated into the water - with fascinating consequences.
- "Ninety-Five Percent Safe" by Caroline M. Yoachim: on a Earth rendered nearly inhospitable, a girl struggles to convince his parent to migrate to another world through a wormhole that, for reasons unknown, only lets 95% of the ships through. The girl finally takes matters into her own hands; with consequences to the family when they get together at the other end of the wormhole.
- "Candy From Strangers" by Jay O’Connell: an unsettling tale of a man who stops a woman from committing suicide: only to offer her a suicide pill unless she wishes to talk to him. And when she does, the story takes an unusual turn with the man helping the woman to take back control of her life -- only for the woman to take control of his life.
- "Butterflies" by Peter Wood: an entertaining tale with a big what-if: what-if insects were mutated to giant size by the nuclear bomb tests. Only instead of becoming monsters to be killed, they become creatures to be used for various jobs as this tale of a biologist denied tenure by her department head shows, especially when she discovers the head involved in some illegal activities.
- "Songs in the Key of You" by Sarah Pinsker: a tale about a teenage girl who, as is common in such tales, are isolated from their group. In this case, she lacks the money to buy arm bands that play music that announces the individual. But she has the skill to create original musical pieces; and it is using that skill and taking some risks will she learn not only to fit in but to be find her calling.
- "The Long Wait" by Allen M. Steele: next in his on-going series of stories about the effort to launch a ship to another star system, this one focuses on the child of the two people involved in the launch and are now settling in for the long wait for the ship to reach its destination. As she (the child) grows up, she goes through many of the hardships faced by those who live mostly isolated lives dedicated to a task (keeping in contact with the ship) leading to family breakups. Late in the tale, a crisis erupts that would bring the family back together. As with most tales in the middle of a series, this doesn't really have a real start or end but it still a workable story.
October 30, 2015
The longer stories were the strongest in this issue.
The Unveiling by Christopher Rowe
A pretty straightforward tale of labor and rebellion. Well-written but too tame for my tastes. If I had to choose either polished & safe or rough & risky with my fiction, I would choose the latter.
Watergirl by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw
A longer piece with a great surfer vibe and some interesting technology involving computerized surfboards and sentient water. I'm a huge fan of the notion of sentience / free will at the quantum level, so this one hit the spot.
Ninety-Five Percent Safe by Caroline M. Yoachim
Set on a very overcrowded earth, with a 95% safe portal to a distant utopia, this is a family drama with distinct YA sensibilities. As a fan of neither YA nor family drama, this one didn't do much for me.
Candy From Strangers by Jay O’Connell
The protagonist is definitely not a nice person here as he pushes people, especially vulnerable women, into suicide. I enjoyed it though not as much as either Watergirl or The Long Wait.
Butterflies by Peter Wood
A story about, well, giant insects. I liked that spec-fic element and the mental image of giant, dangerous insects caught in nets has stuck with me. However, this didn't work for me as a story with an emotional character arc. It's rather telling that I can't actually remember the plot.
Songs in the Key of You by Sarah Pinsker
In this story, teenagers wear bracelets that play customized theme songs. Naturally, the richer students have much better songs, leading to a bullying scenario. I always appreciate stories that feature an element of kindness. As with the previous story, 95% Safe, however, it was too YA for my tastes.
The Long Wait by Allen Steele
A longitudinal piece following the life of a young girl whose parents operate an observatory that stays in contact with a ship sailing off into the stars. I appreciated the large scope of this one and felt it really captured what it means to spend your whole life in pursuit (or centered around) a single idea.
The Unveiling by Christopher Rowe
A pretty straightforward tale of labor and rebellion. Well-written but too tame for my tastes. If I had to choose either polished & safe or rough & risky with my fiction, I would choose the latter.
Watergirl by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw
A longer piece with a great surfer vibe and some interesting technology involving computerized surfboards and sentient water. I'm a huge fan of the notion of sentience / free will at the quantum level, so this one hit the spot.
Ninety-Five Percent Safe by Caroline M. Yoachim
Set on a very overcrowded earth, with a 95% safe portal to a distant utopia, this is a family drama with distinct YA sensibilities. As a fan of neither YA nor family drama, this one didn't do much for me.
Candy From Strangers by Jay O’Connell
The protagonist is definitely not a nice person here as he pushes people, especially vulnerable women, into suicide. I enjoyed it though not as much as either Watergirl or The Long Wait.
Butterflies by Peter Wood
A story about, well, giant insects. I liked that spec-fic element and the mental image of giant, dangerous insects caught in nets has stuck with me. However, this didn't work for me as a story with an emotional character arc. It's rather telling that I can't actually remember the plot.
Songs in the Key of You by Sarah Pinsker
In this story, teenagers wear bracelets that play customized theme songs. Naturally, the richer students have much better songs, leading to a bullying scenario. I always appreciate stories that feature an element of kindness. As with the previous story, 95% Safe, however, it was too YA for my tastes.
The Long Wait by Allen Steele
A longitudinal piece following the life of a young girl whose parents operate an observatory that stays in contact with a ship sailing off into the stars. I appreciated the large scope of this one and felt it really captured what it means to spend your whole life in pursuit (or centered around) a single idea.
February 14, 2017
A couple of interesting stories, nothing major to write home about. A bit disappointed really.
January 4, 2015
This is a somewhat mixed issue. I really liked the Allen Steele novella, The Long Wait, about a family who maintain a listening post for the first starship, carrying just sperm and eggs. The other Sam in my sf club thought that making them save the Earth from an asteroid was very hokey, but I thought it worked since the focus was on the human element. I also liked the Sarah Pinsker story, "Songs in the Key of You" a high school drama centered around a device that plays programmable theme songs. I thought it rang true to the way kids actually behave and can see it shifting from sf to real world any day now. I also liked The Unveiling by Christopher Rowe, about working class laborers in a totalitarian state the day the revolution came. The Jay O'Connell story about suicides was also interesting. But I found the Rudy Rucker/Marc Laidlaw story confusing and chaotic, the Peter Wood story unrealistic in its treatment of giant insects and academia, and Caroline M. Yachim's Ninty-Five Percent Safe to have holes you could smuggle a three-year old through.
April 22, 2015
I felt like the stories were a little hit-and-miss in this one.
I really liked "Ninety-Five Percent Safe", as well as "Songs in the Key of You." "Candy From Strangers" was an interesting concept, but I felt like it almost went a little too deep to be a good light read.
The others didn't seem all that memorable to me.
The icing on the cake in this one is the novella, "The Long Wait." It's a sequel to the other stories submitted by Allen Steele within the past year titled "The Legion of Tomorrow" and "The Prodigal Son" continuing with the legacy of the Arkwright Foundation and the Galactique. Apparently there's one more story to come and I can't wait to get to it.
I really liked "Ninety-Five Percent Safe", as well as "Songs in the Key of You." "Candy From Strangers" was an interesting concept, but I felt like it almost went a little too deep to be a good light read.
The others didn't seem all that memorable to me.
The icing on the cake in this one is the novella, "The Long Wait." It's a sequel to the other stories submitted by Allen Steele within the past year titled "The Legion of Tomorrow" and "The Prodigal Son" continuing with the legacy of the Arkwright Foundation and the Galactique. Apparently there's one more story to come and I can't wait to get to it.
December 3, 2016
I really enjoyed this one. The cover story left me cold, but the novella "The Long Wait" (Allen M. Steele) was a really nice character piece, and all the short pieces were quite good. I most liked "Ninety-five Percent Safe" (Caroline M Yoachim), which, though it was on reflection a bit gimmicky, nevertheless really tugged my parental emotions.
January 6, 2015
I liked the Pinsker & O'Connell stories best. And "Watergirl" was OK.
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