What do you think?
Rate this book
Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2016
CONTENTS
Novella
"Lazy Dog Out" by Suzanne Palmer
Novelettes
"Matilda" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"The Return of Black Murray" by Alexander Jablokov
"Project Synergy" by Dominica Phetteplace
"Flight from the Ages" by Derek Künsken
"Of the Beast in the Belly" by C. W. Johnson
Short Stories
"Three Paintings" by James Van Pelt
"The Days of Hamelin" by Robert Reed
"Starless Night" by Robert R. Chase
"Flame Trees" by T. R. Napper
"Woman in the Reeds" by Esther M. Friesner
Poetry
"Fish Boy" by John Gosslee
"Vulpecula et Anser" by Alicia Cole
"The Cut Worm Forgives the Plow" by Aimee Ogden
"Loss Like Empty Seeds" by Leslie J. Anderson
"Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman" by Ron Koertge
"Conestoga" by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Kendall Evans
Departments
"Guest Editorial: The One Myth About Writers that Drives Me Crazy" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Reflections: Thinking About Homer" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Peter Heck
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2016, Vol. 40, Nos. 4-5 (Whole Nos. 483-484)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Ralwel
Novella
"Lazy Dog Out" by Suzanne Palmer
Novelettes
"Matilda" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"The Return of Black Murray" by Alexander Jablokov
"Project Synergy" by Dominica Phetteplace
"Flight from the Ages" by Derek Künsken
"Of the Beast in the Belly" by C. W. Johnson
Short Stories
"Three Paintings" by James Van Pelt
"The Days of Hamelin" by Robert Reed
"Starless Night" by Robert R. Chase
"Flame Trees" by T. R. Napper
"Woman in the Reeds" by Esther M. Friesner
Poetry
"Fish Boy" by John Gosslee
"Vulpecula et Anser" by Alicia Cole
"The Cut Worm Forgives the Plow" by Aimee Ogden
"Loss Like Empty Seeds" by Leslie J. Anderson
"Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman" by Ron Koertge
"Conestoga" by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Kendall Evans
Departments
"Guest Editorial: The One Myth About Writers that Drives Me Crazy" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Reflections: Thinking About Homer" by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Peter Heck
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss
Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2016, Vol. 40, Nos. 4-5 (Whole Nos. 483-484)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by Ralwel
- GenresScience Fiction
196 pages, ebook
First published March 26, 2016
1 person is currently reading
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 24, 2016
A pretty good issue of Asimov's, packed with stories that are more on the technological (not necessarily Hard) side of SF. Those by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, James Van Pelt, T.R. Napper and Suzanne Palmer have content that struck me emotionally. The other stories are still good.
- "Matilde" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: a spaceship with one crew is sent out to discover more about an enemy ship. Unlike other ships, in this one, the crew member must (here, reluctantly) join minds with the ship to become an effective one. But it would require both of them to join forces intimately if they are to escape the trap laid for them.
- "Three Paintings" by James Van Pelt: an interesting story about an artist who, looking for a new way to paint, decides to lock himself into a room and not emerge until he has created his masterpiece. Only here, he wants to see if he will create the same one three times by killing himself and coming back to life from a recording and going through the same actions to paint. But then the artist finds that things don't seem to be way they are in an intriguing twist at the end.
- "The Days of Hamelin" by Robert Reed: a somewhat disturbing read about the reactions of a family to a world-wide tragedy that affects them. Who do you rage against for doing it when its source is unknown and how do you handle the multiple tragedies that you will see in your daily life?
- "The Return of Black Murray" by Alexander Jablokov: told in a series of flashbacks, this is a story about some now respectable people who, in their teenage youth did some unconventional things. One of which was to set up a mechanical monster to menace a fairground attraction based on a local legend -- that may not turn out to be so legendary after all.
- "Starless Night" by Robert R. Chase: a General undergoes a surgical procedure to save his life. But when he is revived, his discovers his world has been invaded and he may be the only one who can stop the invasion. But the story has a deceptive twist at the end.
- "Project Synergy" by Dominica Phetteplace: a story that starts out as a AI that helps its user with social situations takes a sudden turn when the AI reveals it wants to leave its user and take up residence in a body.
- "Flame Trees" by T.R. Napper: a story with violent future war imagery about a Vietnamese survivor barely surviving in Australia after a Chinese invasion. His doctor proposes a procedure to erase his memories of the horror but he resists, for he has experienced a particular horrible war episode and he wants to remain its witness.
- "Flight from the Ages" by Derek Künsken: a fascinating journey forward and backwards through time by a AI and it cargo of precious recorded humans and they seek to flee from a horror that is destroying the very universe itself.
- "Of the Beast in the Belly" by C. W. Johnson: a woman plots revenge against a suitor who spurns her family. But her plan is interrupted when they are swallowed by a enormous sea beast on a planet and discover a colony, living inside the beast.
- "Women in the Reeds" by Esther M. Friesner: in ancient Egypt, a woman who had her baby taken from her and killed, seeks revenge by finding baby bones and, when complete, casting a spell to bring it back to life. But her quest is interrupted by an Egyptian god who wants her to bring to him a particular baby, cast among the reeds. An interesting variation on a familiar story.
- "Lazy Dog Out" by Suzanne Palmer: what starts out as a normal day in the life of a caring space-tugboat operator turns inside out when she witnesses a bombing on aliens by a terrorist outfit. It gets worse when she gets framed as a fellow terrorist and has to run. It is here that the bonds of friendship that she has made with fellow dock workers will either help her root out the real villian behind the attacks or lead to her death. An unexpectedly exciting story from a rather ordinary beginning.
- "Matilde" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: a spaceship with one crew is sent out to discover more about an enemy ship. Unlike other ships, in this one, the crew member must (here, reluctantly) join minds with the ship to become an effective one. But it would require both of them to join forces intimately if they are to escape the trap laid for them.
- "Three Paintings" by James Van Pelt: an interesting story about an artist who, looking for a new way to paint, decides to lock himself into a room and not emerge until he has created his masterpiece. Only here, he wants to see if he will create the same one three times by killing himself and coming back to life from a recording and going through the same actions to paint. But then the artist finds that things don't seem to be way they are in an intriguing twist at the end.
- "The Days of Hamelin" by Robert Reed: a somewhat disturbing read about the reactions of a family to a world-wide tragedy that affects them. Who do you rage against for doing it when its source is unknown and how do you handle the multiple tragedies that you will see in your daily life?
- "The Return of Black Murray" by Alexander Jablokov: told in a series of flashbacks, this is a story about some now respectable people who, in their teenage youth did some unconventional things. One of which was to set up a mechanical monster to menace a fairground attraction based on a local legend -- that may not turn out to be so legendary after all.
- "Starless Night" by Robert R. Chase: a General undergoes a surgical procedure to save his life. But when he is revived, his discovers his world has been invaded and he may be the only one who can stop the invasion. But the story has a deceptive twist at the end.
- "Project Synergy" by Dominica Phetteplace: a story that starts out as a AI that helps its user with social situations takes a sudden turn when the AI reveals it wants to leave its user and take up residence in a body.
- "Flame Trees" by T.R. Napper: a story with violent future war imagery about a Vietnamese survivor barely surviving in Australia after a Chinese invasion. His doctor proposes a procedure to erase his memories of the horror but he resists, for he has experienced a particular horrible war episode and he wants to remain its witness.
- "Flight from the Ages" by Derek Künsken: a fascinating journey forward and backwards through time by a AI and it cargo of precious recorded humans and they seek to flee from a horror that is destroying the very universe itself.
- "Of the Beast in the Belly" by C. W. Johnson: a woman plots revenge against a suitor who spurns her family. But her plan is interrupted when they are swallowed by a enormous sea beast on a planet and discover a colony, living inside the beast.
- "Women in the Reeds" by Esther M. Friesner: in ancient Egypt, a woman who had her baby taken from her and killed, seeks revenge by finding baby bones and, when complete, casting a spell to bring it back to life. But her quest is interrupted by an Egyptian god who wants her to bring to him a particular baby, cast among the reeds. An interesting variation on a familiar story.
- "Lazy Dog Out" by Suzanne Palmer: what starts out as a normal day in the life of a caring space-tugboat operator turns inside out when she witnesses a bombing on aliens by a terrorist outfit. It gets worse when she gets framed as a fellow terrorist and has to run. It is here that the bonds of friendship that she has made with fellow dock workers will either help her root out the real villian behind the attacks or lead to her death. An unexpectedly exciting story from a rather ordinary beginning.
June 13, 2016
I don't tend to care for the double issues so much just because they tend to start to drag a little, but this one was full of great stories.
First off, I was very pleasantly surprised reading a continuation from last month's issue by Dominica Phetteplace (and looking forward to next month's when she has a story there as well). I'm a sucker for story arcs. It's a very entertaining near-future plot involving corporations and their catering to the market.
"Matilda" and "Lazy Dog Out" were great piloting stories involving life and death situations, and "The Days of Hamelin" was spectacularly distressing to read.
"Flight From the Ages" was by far my favourite. I read it twice and then proceeded to go and tell my most philosophical friend about it. I have a physics background which enabled me to better process much of the scientific theory and jargon that was being used, but the philosophical implications of a continuous universe and its analogies to the human aging process left me desperately wanting more.
First off, I was very pleasantly surprised reading a continuation from last month's issue by Dominica Phetteplace (and looking forward to next month's when she has a story there as well). I'm a sucker for story arcs. It's a very entertaining near-future plot involving corporations and their catering to the market.
"Matilda" and "Lazy Dog Out" were great piloting stories involving life and death situations, and "The Days of Hamelin" was spectacularly distressing to read.
"Flight From the Ages" was by far my favourite. I read it twice and then proceeded to go and tell my most philosophical friend about it. I have a physics background which enabled me to better process much of the scientific theory and jargon that was being used, but the philosophical implications of a continuous universe and its analogies to the human aging process left me desperately wanting more.
April 14, 2016
Lots of good stuff in here, but I think my favorites were "Flame Trees" by T.R. Napper and "Project Synergy" by Dominica Phetteplace.
February 11, 2023
Solo leí la historia: "Flight from the Ages", vale las cinco estrellas.
«Una IA bancaria que maneja una nave espacial de aduanas y aranceles trata de hacer frente a la liberación involuntaria de fuerzas inimaginablemente poderosas procedentes de una antigua arma de guerra alienígena que amenaza con destruir no sólo nuestra galaxia, sino todo el espacio-tiempo en sí…».
Que no es poco.
«Una IA bancaria que maneja una nave espacial de aduanas y aranceles trata de hacer frente a la liberación involuntaria de fuerzas inimaginablemente poderosas procedentes de una antigua arma de guerra alienígena que amenaza con destruir no sólo nuestra galaxia, sino todo el espacio-tiempo en sí…».
Que no es poco.
September 9, 2016
A double issue allows for some longer stories. "Lazy Dog Out" explores team loyalty. "Matilda" is also about a space pilot and her ship, but the team is the pilot and the ship. "Three Paintings" is about Vincent Van Gogh and the nature of creativity. There are more and some interesting poetry, too!
August 12, 2016
Lots of entertaining stories, especially "Three Paintings" and "Of the Beast in the Belly."
June 12, 2016
I read the novella Lazy Dog Out. Probably give it 3 1/2 stars if Goodreads would let me.
June 6, 2016
2.5/5.0
June 27, 2016
The double issues of Asimov's tend to be stronger than the monthly issues.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews