March 2013

Individual Stories Reviews

Eugene Mirabelli. This Hologram World. (Asimovs October/November 2012)

A beautiful story from Mirabelli, that blends hard SF, theoretical (and historical) mathematics and physics, with a story of painfully heartbreaking humanity. Mind you, I am a bit of a sentimental old fool – but I defy you to read about Richard Feynman’s letter to his dead wife without tears forming.

Individual Stories Reviews

Chet Arthur. The Trouble with Heaven. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2013)

Drier than a dry martini, Arthur provides a blackly humorous look at life on an orbiting habitat for the ultra-rich, and how the wealthy inhabitants behave, how their spoilt children mis(behave) and the lives and loves of a diplomat, a journalist, and a droid who is more than she seems.

Individual Stories Reviews

Alan Smale. The Mongolian Book of the Dead. (Asimovs October/November 2012)

A Chinese invasion of Mongolia leads to an epic journey for an itinerant American travel. The story has a great sense of place, although it did drag a bit for me,as repeated daytime journeys across the barren desert and night-time communion with Mongolian spirituality had a draining affect on me (although not as much as on the protagonist).