Status Updates From Asimov's Science Fiction Ma...

These stories are a lot more mediocre than I had hoped. Hard to get through.

'My Heart is at Capacity' by TJ Berry *****
Wonderfully quirky robot yarn: 'People want their models to make love superbly and then stay up late to do their taxes.'

'The Chartreuse Sky' by KA Teryna and Alexander Bachilo ***

'Super Sprouts' by Ian Creasey **
Weird satire, or oblique polemic in defense of?, genetic engineering that didn't quite click for me. What is the difference between selective breeding of plant strains vs. gene manipulation, for example? It's one of those 'hot button' debates like 'robots will take away our jobs' that it seems SF hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet in terms of its nuances.

'Ano Nuevo' by Ray Nayler *****
'Ready Gas and Pills' by Dominica Phetteplace ****
'Reclaiming the Stars' by James Gunn ***
'Among the Marithei' by Mary Anne Mohanraj *****

'The Metric' by David Scholes *****
Wow, just wow. I was totally blown away by this novelette. Timey-wimey, mumbo-jumbo, quantum-relativistic magic-is-science widget-gumph...but centred on an emotional core that has the reader deeply invested in these characters (and the end of the world as we know it.)

Reclaiming the Stars is the truly idiotic end to one of the stupidest story cycles I've ever read.

Current takes: The first three were pretty meh, though "The Metric" had some good ideas. Probably 3 stars each, though "The Metric" might get 3.5. Feels like the first two rely a little too much on shock to me, and that seems a little lazy.

"Ready Gas and Pills" is pretty geared to my tastes. Liking it so far. 4? 5? We'll see how it goes.