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Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine January/February 2019
STORIES INCLUDE: "How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots" by Alexander Jablokov; "The Esteemed" by Robert Reed; "Taking Icarus Home" by Suzanne Palmer; "Written in Mud" by William F. Wu; plus stories and poetry by Sean Monaghan, Sandra McDonald, and others. FEATURES include book reviews, Robert Silverberg's monthly column, and more. Editor: Sheila Williams.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2018
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30 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
284 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 24, 2020
I actually read the January/February 2020 issue, but couldn't find it listed on Goodreads. I don't read too many SF short stories - the ones in The Best of.. anthologies are always so...strange - some in a good way and others....not. I bought this because my friend and fellow teacher Timons Esaias at Seton Hill's MFA program had a story in here. It's GO. NOW. FIX. and the main protagonist is a pillow! It's a great story and I found myself reading a bunch of stories in the magazine - much to my surprise I enjoyed most of them. I'll have to check out more issues!
February 1, 2019
Reading this first issue of Asimov’s for 2019 reminded me not only what a wonderful publication and genre stalwart it is, but the critical role that short-form fiction continues to play in science fiction. What is guaranteed with any issue of Asimov’s is a broad range of styles and subject matter.
The move to a longer bimonthly edition has placed more emphasis on the longer novelettes and novellas. This is significant, especially with the added competition from ‘new’ publishers such as tor.com, where I can subscribe to a newsletter and get all its latest short fiction in a single epub.
However, Asimov’s still has the edge on publishing the best up-and-coming and established writers in the business, I think. It is also one of those perennial targets for aspiring writers; an appearance in Asimov’s invariably guarantees that you have ‘arrived’.
What stood out for me in this issue was ‘The Esteemed’ By Robert Reed and ‘Neom’ by Lavie Tidhar. ‘Written in Mud’ by William F. Mu was fun, if a tad twee, while ‘How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots’ by Alexander Jablokov fell curiously flat. I think ‘Taking Icarus Home’ by the always-interesting Suzanne Palmer could have benefited by being longer. The biggest disappointment for me was ‘Ventiforms’ by Sean Monaghan, author of the phenomenal ‘Crimson Birds of Small Miracles’. This one just fizzled out in the end.
Still, a great start to the year for one of my favourite magazines!
The move to a longer bimonthly edition has placed more emphasis on the longer novelettes and novellas. This is significant, especially with the added competition from ‘new’ publishers such as tor.com, where I can subscribe to a newsletter and get all its latest short fiction in a single epub.
However, Asimov’s still has the edge on publishing the best up-and-coming and established writers in the business, I think. It is also one of those perennial targets for aspiring writers; an appearance in Asimov’s invariably guarantees that you have ‘arrived’.
What stood out for me in this issue was ‘The Esteemed’ By Robert Reed and ‘Neom’ by Lavie Tidhar. ‘Written in Mud’ by William F. Mu was fun, if a tad twee, while ‘How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots’ by Alexander Jablokov fell curiously flat. I think ‘Taking Icarus Home’ by the always-interesting Suzanne Palmer could have benefited by being longer. The biggest disappointment for me was ‘Ventiforms’ by Sean Monaghan, author of the phenomenal ‘Crimson Birds of Small Miracles’. This one just fizzled out in the end.
Still, a great start to the year for one of my favourite magazines!
October 23, 2019
The Esteemed by Robert Reed ★★★★☆
Good time travel stories are hard. This novella took awhile to get through but it was smart, vicious, and full of surprises. It was not a five star for me because the motivations for such endeavors felt off.
Salting The Mine by Peter Wood ★★★★☆
Clever story about natives and colonists finding a way to elude the grasp of a greedy Earth Mining Corp. Enjoyable.
How Sere Looked For a Pair of Boots by Alexander Jablokov ★★★½☆
I enjoy when alien worlds are truly alien; the price was a few pages of disorientation.
Much of this story built on a previous one but the author laid sufficient backstory. This is a multi-species world of archeological significance.
The main character is transitioning into detective work and I would not mind reading another story in this series.
All the Difference by Leah Cypess ★★★½☆
A woman slips into an alternate reality to see if she would have made a difference in the world if she had been braver, if she had married someone different.
Surprise!
Credit to My Nation by Sandra McDonald ★★★☆☆
A non-binary model returns to the Bahamas to try and reconcile their past with their future.
Written In Mud by William F. Wu ★★★☆☆
Zany post-diluvian story about farmers trying to decide how to make a go of land that has mostly gone to the sea.
In a world flooded by the loosed genetically modified animals and plants of old corporations the farmers find unlikely allies.
Ventiforms by Sean Monaghan ★★★☆☆
Long story about a mother traveling far to save her son from his obsession with an art project.
The idea of turning part of an alien landscape into a musical instrument produced some beautiful imagery. But overall, it just felt long.
Taking Icarus Home by Suzanna Palmer ★★★☆☆
Sad heartfelt story of a trader who rescues a runaway looking for a safe place to call home.
The Gorgon by Jay O’Connell ★★½☆☆
Morally questionable HR man questions his employee as to why he wants to quit. When the answer is a future cyber boogeyman it’s not something HR man wants to believe.
I did not enjoy this cyberpunk story. The author read podcast was terrible, so I went back to the paperback.
Neom by Lavie Tidhar ★★½☆☆
Depressing story about life in wealthy middle eastern cities, like Dubai, when you are mixed race/not human and poor.
Average 3.2 Stars
February 24, 2019
This was a pretty average issue. I’m good, but not great is what I felt like most of the stories were saying. But there were definitely stand outs. The esteemed, which took a really interesting look at the effects of time travel and a possible visitor from the future on society, salting the mine, which is inspired by the Andy Griffith show and you can tell and it’s a good thing, and, The Gorgon, which made me ask whether the guys from wolf of wall street are all secretly being controlled by an over arching AI. There are stories that I wish were better. Written in MOD explores post apocalyptic farming but I feel is more inclined toward getting a laugh and then towards making a point and all the difference though well written, didn’t bring anything new to the concept of parallel lives and butterfly affect choices. I can’t finish this review without mentioning credit to my nation which presents a beautiful exploration of gender binary‘s, history, and identity. There aren’t enough stories written from the perspective of non-binary people or that address the history of those people. This one makes this issue worth picking up even for the non-Syfy fans out there.
February 10, 2019
Questo numero di Asimov’s mi porta a riflettere su quel che cerco davvero nella fantascienza. Non credo di essere un lettore di gusto facile, ma sempre più spesso riscontro una complessità che mi sembra ricerca di uno stile sofisticato e poco più.. o forse noi lettori degli anni ’70 siamo abituati a “letture da tram”, come volevano Fruttero e Lucentini?
“How sere looked for a pair of boots” di Alexandr Jablokov, seguito di un racconto già apparso un paio di anni fa, titolo citato in copertina, presenta la stessa protagonista, Sere Glagolit, senza il suo fidanzato Lemuel, ad aiutare la sorella minore Irruni: il suo fidanzato Dothaniel è stato arrestato dai Mimnurrs per essere entrato nella zona proibita dei Losani.. il tono da romanzo rosa adolescenziale è solo un allegro travestimento: Jablokov ricostruisce un mondo popolato da diverse specie (gli Oms o umani concentrati nel quartiere Panetto, ma la Città delle Tempeste è tutta un melting pot) e soprattutto ci rivela via via le complesse relazioni biologiche tra queste specie: i Sosh, volatili alteri.. Questo approccio “in medias res” richiede un certo adattamento da parte del lettore, soprattutto se non ha letto l’episodio precedente.
Tutt’altro l’approccio di Sandra McDonald. Regolare contributrice ad Asimov’s, ha spesso usato il registro del weird, tra horror, ironia e citazioni (si vedano i due racconti pubblicati negli scorsi anni: “The people in the building” e “Riding the blue line with Jack Kerouac”) : il suo “Credit to my country”, umanissimo e dolente, dallo stile scattante e mai oscuro (nonostante il complesso gioco dei pronomi di genere che diremo tra poco), racconta il ritorno a casa, nell’isola di Barbados, di Chris/Unity, una modella partita anni prima. Se ne era andata a Miami esasperata dal provincialismo e dalla grettezza dell’ambiente isolano; ha cambiato sesso (per l’esattezza si definisce “non-binary”, termine ampio che include i vari tipi di trans- e intersessualità); ma deve tornare per la veglia funebre della nonna Millie, che di fatto l’ha allevata. Arriva giusto in tempo per la nona sera, quella dell’ultimo e più allegro festeggiamento; ritrova George, l’amore degli anni scolastici, anch’egli bisessuale e di colore (ma attenzione: ci sono “colori” diversi..), e la diffidenza tra loro sembra allentarsi; più difficile allentare quella con i cugini, il duro Alfred, che pure la difendeva da bambina, prima di entrare nell’esercito e poi esserne espulso; la promiscua Gloria, cinque figli da cinque mariti.. anche perché la nonna ha lasciato la casa in eredità solo a lei.
Dov’è la fantascienza in tutto ciò, in questo racconto di ambientazione efficacemente esotica ma che potrebbe svolgersi oggi (si cita anche la più famosa “Bajan”, cioè “nativa delle Barbados”: Rihanna)? Esiste un apparecchio, la “piramide del tempo”, che leggendo il DNA di una persona riesce a mostrare visioni della vita degli antenati e soprattutto del futuro. Rivolgendosi a operatori certificati prima a Miami, poi a Holetown in Barbados, Unity non è riuscita ad avere visioni; qual è il suo segreto? È stata adottato? O è altro, e potrà dirglielo la cugina Gloria, non certificata ma forse dotata di insospettata profondità? C’entra con il passato schiavista dell’isola?
Nella sua brevità, questo racconto mi ha ricordato molto “Legami di sangue” di Octavia Butler, perché il “gimmick” fantascientifico è solo un mezzo per esplorare più a fondo le radici dell’ingiustizia e della discriminazione (qui doppia: razziale e sessuale).
Leah Cypess è ormai una contributrice frequente ad Asimov’s, con racconti brevi e leggeri ma acuti (Attachment Unavailable, Best served slow). Questo “All the difference” rientra nel genere con un racconto più articolato, anche se non l’autrice non è citata in copertina nemmeno per nome. Come in quello della McDonald, la fantascienza è poco più che un pretesto per considerazioni personali e relazionali. Esiste la possibilità di viaggiare per 12 ore in un universo parallelo nato da una biforcazione della realtà; una donna di mezza età decide di usarla per togliersi i dubbi nati dalle tipiche crisi: alla riunione ventennale con i compagni di università, si è trovata a chiedersi come sarebbe stata la vita se avesse sposato il brillante ma inaffidabile anziché il solido Jason, se avesse avuto il coraggio di iscriversi a Lettere anziché a Fisica.. riassunto così il racconto fa venire il latte alle ginocchia, ma c’è molta sensibilità psicologica e un finale intelligente, in cui i tipici, tormentosi dubbi del genere “cosa sarei diventata, se avessi sposato Tizio anziché Caio, se mi fossi iscritta a Lettere anziché Fisica (oppure viceversa)” vengono ribaltati di prospettiva.
"Written in Mud" di William F. Wu introduce un benvenuto tema umoristico: il Golfo del Messico è dilagato per centinaia di km nell’entroterra a causa di un terremoto che ha cambiato il profilo geologico degli Stati Uniti; una famiglia di coltivatori per sopravvivere imparerà a trarre profitto da certe mutazioni genetiche dei pesci gatto..
Abbastanza umoristico anche “Salting the mine” di Peter Wood: gli abitanti di un pianeta minerario, dimenticato per decenni dalla multinazionale sfruttatrice, pensavano di poter vivere in pace e armonia con i Darl, i nativi locali; quando vedono ritornare la Trans-Solar, nave da carico della multinazionale stessa, che vuole essere riempita al più presto. Con astuzia contadina riusciranno a respingere queste pretese, grazie anche all’amore scoppiato tra la comandante dell’atronave e la sceriffa del villaggio umano. Un racconto abbozzato, con temi solo accennati come l’Evento sul pianeta “Sosta” oppure il silenzio della Terra.
“Ventiforms” di Sean Monaghan, autore due anni fa del delicato “Crimson birds of small miracles”, narra del viaggio interplanetario di una madre per avere notizie del figlio, aggregatosi a una comitiva di artisti che lavora a modificare il paesaggio di un pianeta ventoso. Accolta umanamente soprattutto dalla artista principale, si renderà conto che il figlio è forse l’unico in grado di ottenere musica dalle formazioni rocciose terraformate, ma per la sua simbiosi con i robot che lavorano le rocce rischia di essere fin troppo assorbito dall’arte..
The Gorgon di Jay O’ Connell è un racconto breve e intenso narrato dal protagonista, un responsabile HR tossico in tutti i sensi della parola; con brillante uso del gergo aziendale e delle relative ossessioni, ci introduce nelle trame di chi deve evitare che il più brillante architetto del software di una grossa azienda informatica abbandoni. A quanto pare non lo farebbe per passare alla concorrenza, ma per ragioni ben più inquietanti.. Molto velocemente il racconto vira al nero e all’angoscia metafisica, con grande efficcaia.
“Taking Icarus home”, della brava Suzanne Palmer, già autrice del finalista all’Hugo “Books of the risen sea” e dell’umoristico “RUR-8”. Forse il miglior racconto di questo numero: scritto in un’ardita seconda persona singolare al presente senza che ciò risulti mai artificioso, ma anzi un efficace espediente, insieme a un linguaggio “da marinaio”, per dare intensità alla storia di un soccorso spaziale da parte di un ruvido mercante, costretto ad attraccare in un planetoide di degenerati cercatori di emozioni e amanti del rischio, per far ricoverare il naufrago che ha recuperato e capire perché è ridotto in quello stato. Ricco di sense of wonder, non fa rimpiangere l’assenza di K.K.Rusch.
“Neom”, di Lavie Tidhar. È la prima cosa che leggo di questo astro nascente della fantascienza, e nel suo piccolo non delude, anzi: è l’efficace descrizione di Neom…, città – porto franco costruita per volontà di un principe saudita ai margini del regno di Saud, centro mondiale dell’innovazione tecnologica; il tutto visto da una donna di origini filippine, come la maggior parte dei lavoratori manuali di quelle aree. Scrittura, narrazione, personaggi efficaci. Peccato solo la brevità: il racconto è poco più di un prologo per un romanzo che immagino sia in fase di scrittura.
Ammetto di avere un problema con Robert Reed: Questa sua “The Esteemed”, come “Denali” nel numero precedente, è una storia complessa, ben strutturata, scritta con stile incisivo; tuttavia non riesce ad appassonarmi, perché è come se l’autore stesse continuamente esibendo bravura narrativa con salti temporali, cambi di punti di vista, frasi ellittiche o allusive, senza che ce ne sia davvero bisogno. Eppure il suo “Ants of Flanders” era stato uno dei migliori racconti del 2011: forse rimaneggiare vecchi racconti, come afferma nell’introduzione, porta a renderli troppo elaborati?
Nel prossimo numero si annuncia un tributo a Gardner Dozois con la riproposta della sua novella “The Peacemaker”, che vinse il Nebula nell’83; e il ritorno di alcuni degli autori più amati: Allen M. Steele, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michael Swanwick, Greg Egan.. a presto!
“How sere looked for a pair of boots” di Alexandr Jablokov, seguito di un racconto già apparso un paio di anni fa, titolo citato in copertina, presenta la stessa protagonista, Sere Glagolit, senza il suo fidanzato Lemuel, ad aiutare la sorella minore Irruni: il suo fidanzato Dothaniel è stato arrestato dai Mimnurrs per essere entrato nella zona proibita dei Losani.. il tono da romanzo rosa adolescenziale è solo un allegro travestimento: Jablokov ricostruisce un mondo popolato da diverse specie (gli Oms o umani concentrati nel quartiere Panetto, ma la Città delle Tempeste è tutta un melting pot) e soprattutto ci rivela via via le complesse relazioni biologiche tra queste specie: i Sosh, volatili alteri.. Questo approccio “in medias res” richiede un certo adattamento da parte del lettore, soprattutto se non ha letto l’episodio precedente.
Tutt’altro l’approccio di Sandra McDonald. Regolare contributrice ad Asimov’s, ha spesso usato il registro del weird, tra horror, ironia e citazioni (si vedano i due racconti pubblicati negli scorsi anni: “The people in the building” e “Riding the blue line with Jack Kerouac”) : il suo “Credit to my country”, umanissimo e dolente, dallo stile scattante e mai oscuro (nonostante il complesso gioco dei pronomi di genere che diremo tra poco), racconta il ritorno a casa, nell’isola di Barbados, di Chris/Unity, una modella partita anni prima. Se ne era andata a Miami esasperata dal provincialismo e dalla grettezza dell’ambiente isolano; ha cambiato sesso (per l’esattezza si definisce “non-binary”, termine ampio che include i vari tipi di trans- e intersessualità); ma deve tornare per la veglia funebre della nonna Millie, che di fatto l’ha allevata. Arriva giusto in tempo per la nona sera, quella dell’ultimo e più allegro festeggiamento; ritrova George, l’amore degli anni scolastici, anch’egli bisessuale e di colore (ma attenzione: ci sono “colori” diversi..), e la diffidenza tra loro sembra allentarsi; più difficile allentare quella con i cugini, il duro Alfred, che pure la difendeva da bambina, prima di entrare nell’esercito e poi esserne espulso; la promiscua Gloria, cinque figli da cinque mariti.. anche perché la nonna ha lasciato la casa in eredità solo a lei.
Dov’è la fantascienza in tutto ciò, in questo racconto di ambientazione efficacemente esotica ma che potrebbe svolgersi oggi (si cita anche la più famosa “Bajan”, cioè “nativa delle Barbados”: Rihanna)? Esiste un apparecchio, la “piramide del tempo”, che leggendo il DNA di una persona riesce a mostrare visioni della vita degli antenati e soprattutto del futuro. Rivolgendosi a operatori certificati prima a Miami, poi a Holetown in Barbados, Unity non è riuscita ad avere visioni; qual è il suo segreto? È stata adottato? O è altro, e potrà dirglielo la cugina Gloria, non certificata ma forse dotata di insospettata profondità? C’entra con il passato schiavista dell’isola?
Nella sua brevità, questo racconto mi ha ricordato molto “Legami di sangue” di Octavia Butler, perché il “gimmick” fantascientifico è solo un mezzo per esplorare più a fondo le radici dell’ingiustizia e della discriminazione (qui doppia: razziale e sessuale).
Leah Cypess è ormai una contributrice frequente ad Asimov’s, con racconti brevi e leggeri ma acuti (Attachment Unavailable, Best served slow). Questo “All the difference” rientra nel genere con un racconto più articolato, anche se non l’autrice non è citata in copertina nemmeno per nome. Come in quello della McDonald, la fantascienza è poco più che un pretesto per considerazioni personali e relazionali. Esiste la possibilità di viaggiare per 12 ore in un universo parallelo nato da una biforcazione della realtà; una donna di mezza età decide di usarla per togliersi i dubbi nati dalle tipiche crisi: alla riunione ventennale con i compagni di università, si è trovata a chiedersi come sarebbe stata la vita se avesse sposato il brillante ma inaffidabile anziché il solido Jason, se avesse avuto il coraggio di iscriversi a Lettere anziché a Fisica.. riassunto così il racconto fa venire il latte alle ginocchia, ma c’è molta sensibilità psicologica e un finale intelligente, in cui i tipici, tormentosi dubbi del genere “cosa sarei diventata, se avessi sposato Tizio anziché Caio, se mi fossi iscritta a Lettere anziché Fisica (oppure viceversa)” vengono ribaltati di prospettiva.
"Written in Mud" di William F. Wu introduce un benvenuto tema umoristico: il Golfo del Messico è dilagato per centinaia di km nell’entroterra a causa di un terremoto che ha cambiato il profilo geologico degli Stati Uniti; una famiglia di coltivatori per sopravvivere imparerà a trarre profitto da certe mutazioni genetiche dei pesci gatto..
Abbastanza umoristico anche “Salting the mine” di Peter Wood: gli abitanti di un pianeta minerario, dimenticato per decenni dalla multinazionale sfruttatrice, pensavano di poter vivere in pace e armonia con i Darl, i nativi locali; quando vedono ritornare la Trans-Solar, nave da carico della multinazionale stessa, che vuole essere riempita al più presto. Con astuzia contadina riusciranno a respingere queste pretese, grazie anche all’amore scoppiato tra la comandante dell’atronave e la sceriffa del villaggio umano. Un racconto abbozzato, con temi solo accennati come l’Evento sul pianeta “Sosta” oppure il silenzio della Terra.
“Ventiforms” di Sean Monaghan, autore due anni fa del delicato “Crimson birds of small miracles”, narra del viaggio interplanetario di una madre per avere notizie del figlio, aggregatosi a una comitiva di artisti che lavora a modificare il paesaggio di un pianeta ventoso. Accolta umanamente soprattutto dalla artista principale, si renderà conto che il figlio è forse l’unico in grado di ottenere musica dalle formazioni rocciose terraformate, ma per la sua simbiosi con i robot che lavorano le rocce rischia di essere fin troppo assorbito dall’arte..
The Gorgon di Jay O’ Connell è un racconto breve e intenso narrato dal protagonista, un responsabile HR tossico in tutti i sensi della parola; con brillante uso del gergo aziendale e delle relative ossessioni, ci introduce nelle trame di chi deve evitare che il più brillante architetto del software di una grossa azienda informatica abbandoni. A quanto pare non lo farebbe per passare alla concorrenza, ma per ragioni ben più inquietanti.. Molto velocemente il racconto vira al nero e all’angoscia metafisica, con grande efficcaia.
“Taking Icarus home”, della brava Suzanne Palmer, già autrice del finalista all’Hugo “Books of the risen sea” e dell’umoristico “RUR-8”. Forse il miglior racconto di questo numero: scritto in un’ardita seconda persona singolare al presente senza che ciò risulti mai artificioso, ma anzi un efficace espediente, insieme a un linguaggio “da marinaio”, per dare intensità alla storia di un soccorso spaziale da parte di un ruvido mercante, costretto ad attraccare in un planetoide di degenerati cercatori di emozioni e amanti del rischio, per far ricoverare il naufrago che ha recuperato e capire perché è ridotto in quello stato. Ricco di sense of wonder, non fa rimpiangere l’assenza di K.K.Rusch.
“Neom”, di Lavie Tidhar. È la prima cosa che leggo di questo astro nascente della fantascienza, e nel suo piccolo non delude, anzi: è l’efficace descrizione di Neom…, città – porto franco costruita per volontà di un principe saudita ai margini del regno di Saud, centro mondiale dell’innovazione tecnologica; il tutto visto da una donna di origini filippine, come la maggior parte dei lavoratori manuali di quelle aree. Scrittura, narrazione, personaggi efficaci. Peccato solo la brevità: il racconto è poco più di un prologo per un romanzo che immagino sia in fase di scrittura.
Ammetto di avere un problema con Robert Reed: Questa sua “The Esteemed”, come “Denali” nel numero precedente, è una storia complessa, ben strutturata, scritta con stile incisivo; tuttavia non riesce ad appassonarmi, perché è come se l’autore stesse continuamente esibendo bravura narrativa con salti temporali, cambi di punti di vista, frasi ellittiche o allusive, senza che ce ne sia davvero bisogno. Eppure il suo “Ants of Flanders” era stato uno dei migliori racconti del 2011: forse rimaneggiare vecchi racconti, come afferma nell’introduzione, porta a renderli troppo elaborati?
Nel prossimo numero si annuncia un tributo a Gardner Dozois con la riproposta della sua novella “The Peacemaker”, che vinse il Nebula nell’83; e il ritorno di alcuni degli autori più amati: Allen M. Steele, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michael Swanwick, Greg Egan.. a presto!
part-read
June 27, 2020Read "Ventiforms" by Sean Monaghan for the 2020 Sir Julius Vogel Award nominations. 3 stars.
March 17, 2019
Another great issue full of many great stories. We get a mix of tales, some humorous, some horrific, featuring aliens, time travel, and space travel.
"How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots" by Alexander Jablokov takes place in a world filled with many different types of aliens who use each other's body parts, waste products, moltings, and parasites to trade with each other. Hey, everybody's got something that someone else wants.
"Credit to My Nation" by Sandra McDonald is a time travel story featuring a non-binary person in the Carribean. It's a quest for identity that indicates you need to know the past in order to chart a way to the future.
"Written in Mud" by William F. Wu is a humorous piece about farmers dealing with an earthquake that leaves their farm underwater. They have a conversation with a genetically modified catfish and it ends on a literally corny punchline.
In "All the Difference" by Leah Cypess, a woman visits a parallel universe to see how different her life would have been if she'd married a different man and is surprised by what she finds out. This was my favorite story in the issue.
"Ventiforms" by Sean Monaghan is about a women traveling to a planet that is being turned into a gigantic work of art in order to find her son. "The Gorgon" by Jay O'Connell is a horror story about how the singularity can go awry. "Salting the Mine" by Peter Wood is a humorous story about colonists on a mining planet standing up to a big corporation. "Neom" by Lavie Tidhar is a flash fiction slice of life piece about a maid living in a futuristic middle eastern city.
"Taking Icarus Home" by Suzanne Palmer is written in the second person. Unless I missed it, the narrator's gender is never revealed, although the cover art for this issue indicates the narrator is female. Our narrator rescues a person from an escape pod and ends up being the designated adult in a space station full of people who act like children.
We end with "The Esteemed" by Robert Reed which is about a time traveler who visits Earth at different points in history to stop first nuclear war, then global warming, then other large-scale disasters. However, the time traveler isn't all he seems. I liked this story a lot.
The editorial for this issue mentions that it's unfair stories in free online magazines get more award nominations than stories in print magazines. This is a fair point. Stories in free magazines get read (or listened to in the case of podcasts) by more people and thus get more nominations even though stories in print magazines are just as good. The only way I can think to fix this bias is to only allow people who've read everything to make nominations, but I don't think this is practical. I think we just have to accept the fact that all awards are going to be biased in some way.
This is why the Bram Stoker award, for example, isn't a "best story" award, but rather an award for "superior achievement". They know there's no way for everyone to read everything, so they acknowledge that the story that wins the award isn't necessarily the best story. Juried awards like the Arthur C. Clarke award require their judges to read widely so great stories are less likely to be missed, but having a small panel of judges introduces its own kind of bias towards the judges' personal tastes.
Some day, someone will write a computer algorithm that accurately rates the quality of every story, but until that day comes, we have to acknowledge that there will be lots of great stories which don't get award nominations due to a lack of visibility.
"How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots" by Alexander Jablokov takes place in a world filled with many different types of aliens who use each other's body parts, waste products, moltings, and parasites to trade with each other. Hey, everybody's got something that someone else wants.
"Credit to My Nation" by Sandra McDonald is a time travel story featuring a non-binary person in the Carribean. It's a quest for identity that indicates you need to know the past in order to chart a way to the future.
"Written in Mud" by William F. Wu is a humorous piece about farmers dealing with an earthquake that leaves their farm underwater. They have a conversation with a genetically modified catfish and it ends on a literally corny punchline.
In "All the Difference" by Leah Cypess, a woman visits a parallel universe to see how different her life would have been if she'd married a different man and is surprised by what she finds out. This was my favorite story in the issue.
"Ventiforms" by Sean Monaghan is about a women traveling to a planet that is being turned into a gigantic work of art in order to find her son. "The Gorgon" by Jay O'Connell is a horror story about how the singularity can go awry. "Salting the Mine" by Peter Wood is a humorous story about colonists on a mining planet standing up to a big corporation. "Neom" by Lavie Tidhar is a flash fiction slice of life piece about a maid living in a futuristic middle eastern city.
"Taking Icarus Home" by Suzanne Palmer is written in the second person. Unless I missed it, the narrator's gender is never revealed, although the cover art for this issue indicates the narrator is female. Our narrator rescues a person from an escape pod and ends up being the designated adult in a space station full of people who act like children.
We end with "The Esteemed" by Robert Reed which is about a time traveler who visits Earth at different points in history to stop first nuclear war, then global warming, then other large-scale disasters. However, the time traveler isn't all he seems. I liked this story a lot.
The editorial for this issue mentions that it's unfair stories in free online magazines get more award nominations than stories in print magazines. This is a fair point. Stories in free magazines get read (or listened to in the case of podcasts) by more people and thus get more nominations even though stories in print magazines are just as good. The only way I can think to fix this bias is to only allow people who've read everything to make nominations, but I don't think this is practical. I think we just have to accept the fact that all awards are going to be biased in some way.
This is why the Bram Stoker award, for example, isn't a "best story" award, but rather an award for "superior achievement". They know there's no way for everyone to read everything, so they acknowledge that the story that wins the award isn't necessarily the best story. Juried awards like the Arthur C. Clarke award require their judges to read widely so great stories are less likely to be missed, but having a small panel of judges introduces its own kind of bias towards the judges' personal tastes.
Some day, someone will write a computer algorithm that accurately rates the quality of every story, but until that day comes, we have to acknowledge that there will be lots of great stories which don't get award nominations due to a lack of visibility.
June 15, 2019
Another compilation of stories & poems. My only “Huh?” moment was “The Esteemed” by Robert Reed. I read it twice, and still din’t quite understand what was going on at the end.
January 3, 2019
Asimov's is a premier SF magazine. I wish their Kindle copy matched their print copy. Unfortunately, the Kindle copy has several very annoying qualities. First, the cover photo is less than half a page in size, but on my Paperwhite, it cannot be zoomed into or otherwise enlarged. I don't know why, because books on Kindle have full-page cover photos. Worse, this issue has the Index for the 2018 run, but those pages are so small they fit four to half a page. They're like microfilm. Again, as a Kindle Paperwhite reader, I cannot zoom in on them nor enlarge them, so they are of no benefit to me. And further, the calendar of Con's at the end is also another d**n postage stamp that can't be resized and so is unreadable. The stories have many typos of the nature of broken words ("Ste phen" Hawking) and of broken words of multiple hypenation which should be all-in-one but instead are more like all in-one: they can't seem to keep them together. I also resent the Amazon habit of breaking periodicals up into separate departments, rather than just treating them like book chapters. In other words, you cannot just 'page through' the issue like you can through a book. Worse, if you want to post a Goodreads Update to your Currently Reading, you can only make a guess at your progress, because the machine doesn't keep track of pages, only percentages, but the percentages are only of the disparate stories or articles, not of the entire issue. I'm very frustrated by this needless disintegration of the publication, and by the many typos. I think I even found one wrong word (starts with same letter, but not the word needed there). I flagged them all using the Report Error function, but I'm not confident that all that doesn't just go right into the 'bit bucket,' never to be seen or heard from again. I know Asimov's has a small Classifieds section, but it seems to have been entirely omitted, without a mention. I expect better quality from Asimov's, and I regret that I'm not getting it here. There are companies that can produce a page-by-page .PDF version of a publication, with all the attributes of .PDF, including being able to see a full-page layout, in color, with page following page, consecutively. That software would be far better than this mess on a Kindle.
February 24, 2019
There’s too much good stuff to read these days within easy reach… If I could tell my 20-year old self living in Spain that I could buy any science fiction magazine and read it instantly on an electronic reader, I would dismiss it as a dream.
Well, the dream has come true so long already! And I was too busy to realize… As part of a new year reading resolution, I have decided to read more short fiction from magazines. I started with Asimov’s and Clarkesworld. Uncanny will follow soon.
Highlights in this Asimov’s issue were “Neom” by Lavie Tidhar, a short, sad tale about loneliness and the oppressive pass of time, set on a future city built in the desert; “Credit to my Nation” by Sandra McDonald, the story of a trans character that needs to confront past and family when returning to their home country in the Caribbean for a funeral; and “Taking Icarus Home”, by Suzanne Palmer, a deep space story about an unexpected rescue that poses a dilemma.
Second to that first group is “Ventiforms”, by Sean Monaghan, a novelette that takes us to a strange planet beaten by strong winds, where a mother travels searching for his son; “The Gorgon” by Jay O’Connell, an atmospheric story where transhumanism meets cosmic horror; and the funny, classic sci-fi flavored “Salting the Mine”, by Peter Wood.
Well, the dream has come true so long already! And I was too busy to realize… As part of a new year reading resolution, I have decided to read more short fiction from magazines. I started with Asimov’s and Clarkesworld. Uncanny will follow soon.
Highlights in this Asimov’s issue were “Neom” by Lavie Tidhar, a short, sad tale about loneliness and the oppressive pass of time, set on a future city built in the desert; “Credit to my Nation” by Sandra McDonald, the story of a trans character that needs to confront past and family when returning to their home country in the Caribbean for a funeral; and “Taking Icarus Home”, by Suzanne Palmer, a deep space story about an unexpected rescue that poses a dilemma.
Second to that first group is “Ventiforms”, by Sean Monaghan, a novelette that takes us to a strange planet beaten by strong winds, where a mother travels searching for his son; “The Gorgon” by Jay O’Connell, an atmospheric story where transhumanism meets cosmic horror; and the funny, classic sci-fi flavored “Salting the Mine”, by Peter Wood.
March 3, 2020
A solidly acceptable issue.
"How Sere Looked For a Pair of Boots" (3.75 stars) by Alexander Jablokov was challenging, but well worth it. "The Esteemed" (2.75) by Robert Reed (who I almost always love) left me wanting, especially compared to the length.
All the short stories were good, except maybe "Credit to My Nation" (2.5) felt overly one dimensional, but passable.
Di Filippo's reviews irked me. I just don't like this plot summary - everything is amazing style of book review. (Haven't been able to safely rely on reviews in Asimov's in a good long while.)
All the other stories were solid threes or higher.
Frankly, its been a while since I've read an Asimov's that I enjoyed more than not, and am glad to have read this one.
"How Sere Looked For a Pair of Boots" (3.75 stars) by Alexander Jablokov was challenging, but well worth it. "The Esteemed" (2.75) by Robert Reed (who I almost always love) left me wanting, especially compared to the length.
All the short stories were good, except maybe "Credit to My Nation" (2.5) felt overly one dimensional, but passable.
Di Filippo's reviews irked me. I just don't like this plot summary - everything is amazing style of book review. (Haven't been able to safely rely on reviews in Asimov's in a good long while.)
All the other stories were solid threes or higher.
Frankly, its been a while since I've read an Asimov's that I enjoyed more than not, and am glad to have read this one.
January 17, 2019
My favorite stories:
- How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots by Alexander Jablokov. Echoes of Robert Towne's Chinatown - except Sere doesn't end up with a bandage on her nose. Good xeno-noir-ish fun.
- The Esteemed by Robert Reed. What if Robert Preston had a time machine?
- Taking Icarus Home by Suzanne Palmer. A confused youth taken advantage of by the idle rich with too much time on their hands. An interplanetary trader helps bring him (and herself) home.
- Ventiforms by Sean Monaghan. Planetary installation artist Shilinka Switalla returns in this cautionary tale of an artist getting sucked into the act of creation.
- How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots by Alexander Jablokov. Echoes of Robert Towne's Chinatown - except Sere doesn't end up with a bandage on her nose. Good xeno-noir-ish fun.
- The Esteemed by Robert Reed. What if Robert Preston had a time machine?
- Taking Icarus Home by Suzanne Palmer. A confused youth taken advantage of by the idle rich with too much time on their hands. An interplanetary trader helps bring him (and herself) home.
- Ventiforms by Sean Monaghan. Planetary installation artist Shilinka Switalla returns in this cautionary tale of an artist getting sucked into the act of creation.
September 21, 2025
Alexander Jablokov opens the issue with the entertaining tale of "How Sere Looked For A Pair Of
Boots" in a truly alien setting - sometimes even inside aliens! Leah Cypess examines a woman's life choices and what might have been and finds that knowing may not be worth the effort in "All The Difference". A mother goes to extreme lengths to reconnect with her son on a strange planet in Sean Monaghan's affecting "Ventiforms" and Robert Reed closes a strong issue with the gripping tale of a time-travelling worldchanger who makes a mistake... many times.
Boots" in a truly alien setting - sometimes even inside aliens! Leah Cypess examines a woman's life choices and what might have been and finds that knowing may not be worth the effort in "All The Difference". A mother goes to extreme lengths to reconnect with her son on a strange planet in Sean Monaghan's affecting "Ventiforms" and Robert Reed closes a strong issue with the gripping tale of a time-travelling worldchanger who makes a mistake... many times.
August 6, 2019
Read the novella The Esteemed by Robert Reed.
August 5, 2019
Read so far:
Just Deserts • [Asimov's Editorials] • essay by Sheila Williams
• Looking Backward • [Reflections] • essay by Robert Silverberg
• The Moral of the Double Slit Experiment • poem by Michael Meyerhofer
• Cosmologist, Space Traveler, Hero • [On the Net] • essay by James Patrick Kelly about Stephen Hawkins
• How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots • [Sere] • novella by Alexander Jablokov **
• Credit to My Nation • short story by Sandra McDonald ****
• Your Clone Meets a Deppelgänger • poem by Robert Frazier
Just Deserts • [Asimov's Editorials] • essay by Sheila Williams
• Looking Backward • [Reflections] • essay by Robert Silverberg
• The Moral of the Double Slit Experiment • poem by Michael Meyerhofer
• Cosmologist, Space Traveler, Hero • [On the Net] • essay by James Patrick Kelly about Stephen Hawkins
• How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots • [Sere] • novella by Alexander Jablokov **
• Credit to My Nation • short story by Sandra McDonald ****
• Your Clone Meets a Deppelgänger • poem by Robert Frazier
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews