Analog Science Fiction & Fact, September/October 2022

Astounding/Analog

by Trevor Quachri (Editor), Jerry Oltion, Michael Cassutt

Volume XCII, No. 9 & 10.

Contents:
4 • A Fuller Future • [Editorial (Analog)] • essay by Alec Nevala-Lee
8 • Shepherd Moons • novelette by Jerry Oltion
24 • The Power of Apollo (16) • novelette by Marianne J. Dyson
34 • The Science Behind "The Power of Apollo (16)" • [Science Fact (Analog)] • essay by Marianne J. Dyson
39 • Albert Einstein, Two Stills • poem by Robert Frazier
40 • Return Blessing • short story by Raymund Eich
50 • Companion • short story by Ron Collins
54 • The Butcher of Farside Hover • short story by Jonathan Sean Lyster
57 • Emergent • poem by Lynne Sargent
58 • One Night at the Wandering Comet • short story by Liz A. Vogel
60 • Afshar-2: Does Einstein's Bubble Pop? • [The Alternate View] • essay by John G. Cramer
63 • Shoot Your Shot • short story by Rich Larson
66 • Inheritance • short story by Hannah Yang
71 • Bill Johnson (1956-2022) • essay by Emily Hockaday [as by EH (I)]
72 • Self-Regulation • novelette by Ian Creasey
88 • A Very Useful Exoplanet • [Science Fact (Analog)] • essay by Edward M. Wysocki, Jr.
94 • Jebeni Problem • short story by P. K. Torrens
102 • Out of the Red Lands • short story by Marissa Lingen
105 • In Times to Come (Analog, September-October 2022) • [In Times to Come (Analog)] • essay by uncredited
106 • Doom Patch • short story by James Sallis
108 • Labor Dispute • [Probability Zero] • short story by Filip Wiltgren
112 • Bumblebot • short story by Marie Vibbert
114 • The Rebel Feed • short story by Ted Rabinowitz
122 • No One the Wiser • novelette by Tom Greene
142 • Web Accessibility for Aliens • short story by Sean Vivier
152 • What Was Your Inspiration? • short story by Sloane Leong
156 • Stepping Outside • short story by Timons Esaias
158 • Taking the Waters • short story by Tim McDaniel
162 • A Stone's Throw • short story by Gregory Feeley
165 • Each Separate Star • short story by Jonathan Sherwood
170 • Kingsbury 1944 • novella by Michael Cassutt
199 • Guest Reference Library (Analog, September-October 2022) • [The Reference Library] • essay by Catherine H. Shaffer [as by Catherine Shaffer]
201 • Review of non-genre non-fiction book "Never Panic Early" by Fred Haise & Bill Moore • essay by Catherine H. Shaffer [as by Catherine Shaffer]
206 • Brass Tacks (Analog, September-October 2022) • [Brass Tacks] • essay by various
206 •  Letter (Analog, September-October 2022): The Author Responds: • essay by John G. Cramer
208 • Upcoming Events (Analog, September-October 2022) • [Upcoming Events] • essay by Anthony R. Lewis.

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Genres: Science Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2022

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

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is September/October 2022 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, with a large selection of hard SF stories and facts.

Contents:
A Fuller Future [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Alec Nevala-Lee an interesting overview of the life of the creator of the biodome concept R. Bukminster Fuller. 4*
Shepherd Moons novelette by Jerry Oltion a story, which had to became obsolete almost immediately – a fictional version of what should happen on September 26th, 2022, the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) craft is scheduled to impact the asteroid Dimorphos slowing its orbit around its twin asteroid Didymos. Here, the mission is successful, but DART hit an alien (?) structure on the asteroid. The narrator is then sent for a first-contact mission. Finds Santa Claus there, or an alien who chose this form as less threatening. 3*
The Power of Apollo (16) novelette by Marianne J. Dyson a little incoherent story – a narrator is on the Moon, needs resources, so she scavenges stuff from the Apollo mission. Mainly written as an educa-ment about the mission and what it brought. 2.5*
The Science Behind "The Power of Apollo (16)" [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Marianne J. Dyson gives more info and is better structured than the story. There was a telescope coated in gold (for better refraction). 3.5*
Albert Einstein, Two Stills poem by Robert Frazier two photos, on later he is alone. 3*
Return Blessing short story by Raymund Eich Jeffrey is a lazy guy formally working to better know local insect-like sentients but actually doing minimum work just to continue receiving weekly allotments from his dad. He received a lot of items from the locals and now one asks for "Return Blessing". He finally satisfies the native making a crossbow for him! Giving weapons to he doesn’t really know or care who!, but there is a final twist. 2*
Companion short story by Ron Collins a robot, made of mechanical and organic parts has to serve an old woman, but he wanders off to other people from his previous employment. His memory it wiped but this doesn’t help, what is the problem? 3*
The Butcher of Farside Hover short story by Jonathan Sean Lyster a story how to fit more people than physically possible to a shuttle to save them. The idea per se is 5-stars but it was already used in one of the answers to The Cold Equations, therefore not truly unseen before. 3*
Emergent poem by Lynne Sargent more a wise statement than a poem. 2*
One Night at the Wandering Comet short story by Liz A. Vogel a humorous flash fic about a guy drinking milk at a bar, when an alien enters and asks the same. Not really funny. 2*
Afshar-2: Does Einstein's Bubble Pop? [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer the paradox how wave function collapses instantly. There is an experiment that shows that the wave maybe doesn’t vanish. 3*
Shoot Your Shot short story by Rich Larson a guy snouts a coke and goes for a club pick-up. A beautiful girl seems more than willing and then… 2.5*
Inheritance short story by Hannah Young two parallel stories – one narrated by Grace, the older of two sisters, whose mother is shifting to dementia, the relations between the two were very tout; another consists of memories of her mother about Grace. The SF element here is that memories can be transferred and the mother chooses an ‘ungrateful’ daughter to get them. 4*
Bill Johnson (1956-2022) essay by EH (I) I haven’t read the author, who passed away.
Self-Regulation novelette by Ian Creasey another installment in stories about a guy Drake, who supplies mad scientists with materials for their doomsday devices. A great homage to B-movies and old SF. This time we, readers, follow his alt-reality version (with horns and tail), another dissatisfied consumer accuses him of selling a defective Monsterbane to his alt-reality copy who ended up dead. It turns out that alt-reality Drakes created a quality control board, which supervises all of them. 5*
A Very Useful Exoplanet [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Edward M. Wysocki, Jr. how planets for Mission of Gravity were detected (or actually weren’t). 4*
Jebeni Problem short story by P. K. Torrens a Yugoslav (alt-reality?) space mission to the world Nova Dolmatia. Before colonizing, only a married couple of Mara and Atli and an AI are active and due to cryosleep one astronaut has aphasia and another - had motor skill impairments. They try to find out whether local ‘Sacks’ are sentient. An interesting story but the writing is a bit turgid. 3.5*
Out of the Red Lands short story by Marissa Lingen on an environmentally devastated Earth a woman from Luxembourg invents a mining robot that can help the colonization of Mars. 2.5*
Doom Patch short story by James Sallis a narrator is an artist who lost his inspiration, so us uses a drug from the title to get the spark back. 2.5*
Labor Dispute [Probability Zero] short story by Filip Wiltgren a flash fic – the narrator is either a kind of customs guy of a buyer of smuggled goods (not clear at the start) at an interstellar port stops a rich guy with a monkey-like alien. 3*
Bumblebot short story by Marie Vibbert the nearest future, the narrator works with two inventors to introduce a mechanical bee to help the dwindling natural bee population. At the same time, she, a lone mother has some personal problems. A solid piece-of-life story. 3.5*
The Rebel Feed short story by Ted Rabinowitz a colony receives messages from upcoming fleets (slower than light, years yet to arrive), which deliver tech ideas, making local R&D unnecessary. The narrator tries to sell local inventions as ‘received from the fleet’. Good piece. 3.5*
No One the Wiser novelette by Tom Greene another Earth after the environmental collapse, the narrator is Josie, who is a mayor Aqua Clara in Texas, a community with a secret underground aquifer. A corporate representative named Tyler comes to her town, formally to check if a nearby tribe of Folivores (leave-eaters) violates Intellectual Property by using company’s biota in their stomachs. It seems that actually Tyler has another agenda. 4*
Web Accessibility for Aliens short story by Sean Vivier the narrator helps make a dating app accessible to different alien species. 4.5*
What Was Your Inspiration? short story by Sloane Leong a critique of a cancel culture. a woman artist knows that her colleagues were (unjustly?) canceled and is extremely sensitive in making her work, but still gets axed by web-based comments. 4*
Stepping Outside short story by Timons Esaias a flash-fic about a guy, Winfield, who escapes his mother and fiancées (whom he dislikes for they won't give him all their money). He goes to Venus and walks out onto the surface, assuming it is an old SF Earth-like watery planet. 3*
Taking the Waters short story by Tim McDaniel a humorous piece – alien ships try to take our oceans away – it turns out they are crazy about our pollutants. A deal is made. Predictable by nice. 3.5*
A Stone's Throw short story by Gregory Feeley Romeo and Juliet story on two satellites of Neptune. 2.5*
Each Separate Star short story by Jonathan Sherwood Elisa works the Space Surveillance Network in the USA (our present). She detects an object with changing speeds which was earlier seen as a white noise. Solid science, real Analog! 4*
Kingsbury 1944 novella by Michael Cassutt a memoir of a centurian man from 2020 how he worked with a team of SF fans and E.E. "Doc" Smith or explosives factory during WW2. 3*

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 • Shepherd Moons • 16 pages by Jerry Oltion
Good+. Priya is observing when there is a test of ramming an asteroid, really its moon. At the last second they see that see there is an artificial dome. Too late it’s gone. Priya immediately volunteers to be on the manned mission to investigate.

24 • The Power of Apollo (16) • 10 pages by Marianne J. Dyson
OK. Ashley is out scavenging from the Apollo 16 landing site. Or was it scientific investigation? Or saving Sarah. I wasn’t clear on why she was out there. I think the story was an excuse to give us some history and name drop.

40 • Return Blessing • 10 pages by Raymund Eich
Good/OK. Jeffery wonders what the natives want. They give him crafts and say “return blessing.”

50 • Companion • 4 pages by Ron Collins
Good/VG. A companion robot has inexplicably wandered away from Mrs. Lee. Told from the perspective of the BRE, and why is it having such memories?

54 • The Butcher of Farside Hover • 4 pages by Jonathan Sean Lyster
Good/VG. Rob lost an arm as the catastrophe hatch closed. Then another module went. All that’s left is a maintenance beetle meant for two people, but there are six people.

58 • One Night at the Wandering Comet • 2 pages by Liz A. Vogel
OK. Maimee having heard from his doctor gives the narrator milk. Possibly incidental but the narrator thinks it was foreboding to the events later that evening.

63 • Shoot Your Shot • 3 pages by Rich Larson
OK. At a crowded dance joint, Jan takes a chance at picking up a beautiful girl.

66 • Inheritance • 6 pages by Hannah Yang
Very Good/Good. Ma has decided to leave her memories, but to Grace, who doesn’t want them, rather than to Lily who was looking forward to having them.

72 • Self-Regulation • 16 pages by Ian Creasey
OK/Fair. The premise of multiverses is OK, but being able to conjure them up at will, and destroy them (just for kicks) seems really farfetched both physically and why would that even be a thing? The meat of the story is Drake sold monsterbane to a customer. It didn't protect him and he died and his alternate is [sort of] suing Drake.

94 • Jebeni Problem • 8 pages by P. K. Torrens
OK. Mara and Alti are trying to learn more about the Sacks. Possibly an intelligent species. They’re also experiencing problems coming out of cryosleep.

102 • Out of the Red Lands • 4 pages by Marissa Lingen
Fair/OK. Emma builds a robot that can cheaply separate the iron and oxide. Fine for this planet, but for Mars a necessity. Can she get funding?

106 • Doom Patch • 2 pages by James Sallis
Fair/OK. The narrator lives in a pleasant society, but feels his art is suffering.

110 • Bumblebot • 4 pages by Marie Vibbert
OK. Nelly is working in her garden, watching two grad students with a robot bee, wondering how one bee can help.

114 • The Rebel Feed • 8 pages by Ted Rabinowitz
Very Good. Victor has a great product, but his financiers only trust it if it’s from a particular source. He gets an old acquaintance to vouch for it’s provenance. She does, but has a hidden agenda.

122 • No One the Wiser • 20 pages by Tom Greene
Good. Tyler, a representative of a big company, comes to a small hot town in the southwest to investigate the follivores that are tampering with the company’s product. IP infringement. He asks Josie, the local legal authority, to come with him.

142 • Web Accessibility For Aliens • 10 pages by Sean Vivier
Good/VG. Flash is trying to design websites that are configured to the user. He’s having a hard time convincing his boss who thinks it’s too costly.

152 • What Was Your Inspiration? • 4 pages by Sloane Leong
OK. Technology allowing the viewer to know the artist’s emotions while creating a piece have led to the downfall of two VRtists already. Shay thinks about this while creating her newest piece.

156 • Stepping Out • 2 pages by Timons Esaias
OK. Winfield takes a walk outside while thinking about how life has let him down.

158 • Taking the Waters • 4 pages by Tim McDaniel
Good+. Dr. Zee wonders why aliens are taking our ocean water and confronts one of them.

162 • A Stone's Throw • 3 pages by Gregory Feeley
OK/Good. Lovers are separated when one faction leaves for a moon in a retrograde orbit. Akintoye plans an attempt which would be futile, but is helped by a Mind.

165 • Each Separate Star • 5 pages by Jonathan Sherwood
Good+. Elisa works on tracking space debris. She wrote a program that works differently than the Space Surveillance Network’s does. It detects something as her boss peers over her shoulder.

170 • Kingsbury 1944 • 29 pages by Michael Cassutt
Good/OK. Alfred "Lefty" Kramer tells us how he worked in a munitions plant near the end of World War II. This was after he left baseball to join the Army, got hurt in training, and went to college. The manager thought it was great that he could be both a chemical engineer and a ringer for his baseball team. The group of scientists who called themselves the Siberians didn't let him into their pet projects.

[Infosifter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good issue and I enjoyed most of the stories. I particularly liked the ones by Torrens, Vibbert, Vivier, and Green.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the DART mission (designed to change the trajectory of a large body) to a moonlet orbiting a small asteroid destroys what looks like a dome it seems like we’ve discovered aliens in the worst possible way, but a subsequent mission discovers much more in “Shepherd Moons” by Jerry Oltion. “The Power Of Apollo (16)” by Marianne J. Dyson takes us back to the Moon where a little-known experiment from Apollo 16 is still live…and dangerous. Neat little story. “The Butcher Of Farside Hover” by Jonathan Sean Lyster solves a problem of fitting six people into a two-person shuttle in a radical way, while Hannah Yang shows us a daughter estranged from her mother dying of Alzheimer’s, who must decide whether to accept her mother’s memories. This “Inheritance” might at least explain her behaviour. In an alternate Universe Drake sells weapons but is competing as well as colluding with himself (from other Universes) while trying to avoid a lawsuit for stealing technology from a rival in Ian Creasey’s wild Goulartian “Self-Regulation”. Victor is a shady entrepreneur on a frontier planet who has finally hit paydirt with a bio-engineered bug, but it doesn’t come from an accepted source. He convinces a rival to fudge the bona fides for a large payment but he finds he may be playing out of his league in “The Rebel Feed” by Ted Rabinowitz. Then we have one of the highlight stories - Tom Greene’s enthralling “None The Wiser”, where an ageing mayoress of a West Texas town, after a mysterious global Breakdown, is hiding a renewed aquifer. Into the mix comes a representative of AHI intent on rooting out a secret held by itinerant folivores - humans augmented to be ruminants. A genuine page-turner. Michael Cassutt closes things with a visit to an armaments factory in “Kingsbury, 1944”, where Edward Elmer (E. E.) Doc Smith and his visionary colleagues, The Siberians, are secretly designing futuristic inventions. Derring-do of an old school kind. A good issue.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kingsbury 1944 was 5 stars and highly recommended.

[Michael Goodine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent issue of Analog. Somewhat above-average, I suppose.

I liked Jerry Oltion's "Shephard Moons." It's not a fantastic story, but it is timely and Oltion's prose is always fun.

Raymund Eich's "Return Blessing" made me laugh. It's got a cute ending.

Hannah Yang's "Inheritance" is quite good.

Some might find Michael Cassult's "Kingsbury 1944" a bit too on-the-nose but I really enjoyed it. When a novella in Analog really draws me in, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

[Lee Pfahler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the novella "Kingsbury 1944" by Michael Cassutt. It was very good and interesting how he incorporated actual people and places into the story with the background story of baseball.

[Edward ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

All but one story was brilliant and it just confused me. And that could just be on me.

[Ellen Satter · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent as always

[Marta E C R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good edition; 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Mark Catalfano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked “Web Accessibility for Aliens” by Sean Vivier, and “What Was Your Inspiration?” by Sloane Leong

[Luke Van Santen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several very good stories!