Status Updates From Asimov's Science Fiction, J...

Good story by Octavia Cade mixing in some astronomical histories: Backward Lens of Compromise. I've enjoyed several of her stories in the past.

And a silly, but entertaining Attachment Unavailable by Leah Cypess.

Solid story True Jing from Zack Be.

Great story by Dale Bailey, no surprise there. Okay story by Michael Cassutt. Well written but a letdown payoff that took awhile to build to.

Love Suzzane Palmer's space opera stuff, and I do really like what she was going for here with Stones in the Water, but it didn't work all that well for me.

Meanwhile, KKR's Lieutenant Tightass was excellent, and I'm typically medium on KKR's space stuff, but this one really worked well. Character work (obviously) is key here, but the plot (which can sometimes not gel) also hits solidly.

Cover story Ephemera - good concept, reads more like a thought piece than a story. Just okay.

I have only so far read “Ephemera”, the first story, by Ian R. MacLeod, and I just had to say that I *loved* this requiem for humanity, and I am sad that I am too far behind to campaign for it for a Hugo.

Reading "starship mountain ", by steele.

'Starship Mountsin" Aleen Steele ***
'Straconia' Jack Skillingstad ****
'Liberating Alaska' Harry Turtledove ***
"Attachment Unavailable" Leah Cypress *****

'The Backwards Lens of Compromise' Octavia Cade *****

'True Jing' Zack Be ****

'Rules of Biology' Dale Bailey **
'Unter' Michael Cassutt ***

'Lieutenant Tightass' Kristine Kathryn Rusch **

'Stones in the Water, Cottage on the Mountain' Suzanne Palmer *****

'Ephemera' by Ian R. MacLeod *****

Skipped back here chasing other stories by Suzanne Palmer. “Stones in the Water, Cottage on the Mountain” did not disappoint.

True Jing by Zack Be, 2 stars. Couldn't get into this one.

Unter by Michael Cassutt, 3 stars. This reminded me a lot of John Scalzi's Locked In.