Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2015

by Trevor Quachri (Editor), Catherine Wells (Contributor), Edward M. Lerner (Contributor)

CONTENT

Novella
"Builder of Leaf Houses" by Catherine Wells

Novelettes
"A Case of Identity" by Edward M. Lerner

Short Stories
"Footprints in the Snow" by Bud Sparhawk
"The Museum of Modern Warfare" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"The Master's Voice" by Brendan Dubois
"Paris, 1835" by Bill Johnson

Poems
"Alien Physiology" by Ken Poyner

Non-Fiction
"The Science of 'Night Ride and Sunrise'" by Stanley Schmidt

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2015, Volume CXXXV No. 12
Trevor Quachri, editor
Cover art by Angela Harbum

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Novella

113 pages, ebook

First published October 16, 2015

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

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good issue! Here's how I rated it, from the most enjoyed story to the least:

5 stars
"The Museum of Modern Warfare" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- This one deceived me at first, because I wasn't really hooked until the very end. This is a story that, if it manages to snag you, will stay with you for quite a while.

"Paris, 1835" by Bill Johnson
- Time travel stories have been done so often that there's little left that is new. But this one gave a new twist: at first, travelers can move both downtime and uptime. However, if an anomaly wipes out your future, then you can no longer travel uptime, and are basically marooned in the past. I'd like to see more in this universe... very good!

"Builder of Leaf Houses" by Catherine Wells
- What if you received a complete set of memories that were passed down to you at birth? You wouldn't need to attend school or receive any training, for one thing. But what if you lived in such a society and didn't receive a complete set of memories at birth? How could you hide this fact and try to fit in? A highly recommended story.

4 stars
"A Case of Identity" by Edward M. Lerner
- To love a machine? A whodunit.

3 stars
"Footprints in the Snow" by Bud Sparhawk
- Aliens move next door, and the grumpy neighbor learns to accept them and show care.

2 stars
"The Master's Voice" by Brendan Dubois
- well, RAH, RAH, RAH. (And not much else, sorry.)

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 • Builders of Leaf Houses • 27 pages by Catherine Wells
Excellent. This story engaged me from the beginning and was fun to read. Two humans encounter a native village. The natives were instructed by their leader to stay away, but when PrettyMarks breaks his leg a young native brings them back to the village. The story alternates between the perspective of Marta and the natives.

48 • Footprints In the Snow • 8 pages by Bud Sparhawk
Good. Extraterrestrial refugees get housed in 's neighborhood. He is not pleased.

58 • The Museum of Modern Warfare • 10 pages by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Good. An ambassador years ago fought in the war at Craznzust. She has emotional scars that she has been hiding. Now she to go there see the [controversial] museum that the Cranks have built. There are flashbacks to the horrors of the war which comes to a head when she sees the exhibits.

68 • The Master's Voice • 7 pages by Brendan DuBois
Good/fair. A boy on a martian colony has reached his seventh birthday. One that marks the end of childhood.

78 • Paris, 1835 • 11 pages by Bill Johnson
Good+. A time travel story. One traveler was just documenting history, while others were trying to shape it to match their own.

90 • A Case of Identity • 14 pages by Edward M. Lerner
Good/vg. A qmind detective story. Mary enlists the help of a qmind to help find her fiance who also happens to be a qmind.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novella published in Analog, Dec 2015. It's a sequel to the novel "Beyond the Gates" although it can be read as a standalone. It's a First Contact story between the Thinking Ones and human colonists on the planet Dray. Truth be told, I'm a sucker for First Contact stories. This one is a nicely original take on the subgenre. I really want to read more. I read this for my Hugo nominations. It's on my list.

[Jeffrey Milloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked the back half of this one. I left the nf out; it was generally superficial.

Builders of Leaf Houses - 1/5
Footprints In the Snow - n/a
Museum of Modern Warfare - 4/5
The Master's Voice - 3/5
Paris, 1935 - 4/5
A Case of Identity - 4/5

[Benn Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid issue. Not a bad story in the lot. It's hard to single out any one story as being exceptional as all of them were equally good.

[Lee Pfahler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read only two stories - the novella, "Builders of Leaf Houses" by Catherine Wells and a short story, "The Museum of Modern Warfare" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.