Marc Laidlaw. Childrun. Wandering bard Gorlen Vizenfirthe makes a re-appearance in F&SF after a ten year absence, no doubt good news for those who delight in cod-mediaeval bardery, with a heigh-ho nonny no. In entering a village he bespies the sign identifying the name of the village (in the title) and ponders the reason for […]
Alexander Jablokov. The Boarder. Another in the ‘historical space race’ faction milieu, as a Russian boarder in the family home who previously worked on the Soviet space program gives another perspective on the period increasingly seen as the halcyon days by certain generations of SF writer. A good read, and gives as good an impression […]
David Gerrold. A Quantum Bit Exists in Two States Simultaneously : On This issue is book-ended by two shorts from Gerrold. In the first the protagonist has a conversation at a diner with Pope Daniel the First of The Church of the Chocolate Bunny, who challenges him to consider the nature of sainthood and whether […]
Matthew Hughes. Inner Huff. Further comic adventures of Guth Bandar (last seen in ‘A Little Learning’ F&SF June 2004), who has a pig of a day in the noosphere. Robert Reed. From Above. A hackberry tree in the woods is a very gentle rural setting for a story in which a higher intelligence responds to […]
Mark W. Tiedemann. Rain from Another Country. Even after her death, Ann Myref is trying to seek closure on her broken relationship with Will. Travelling off-Earth, something she was simply too afraid to do whilst alive, is perversely less of a problem as she has arranged for a temporary upload of herself to travel to […]
A Best SF Review-LiteTM, on account of my having read this issue about a month ago and not having the finer points of the stories in my mind any more. Robert Reed. How it Feels. How what feels? Alien possession. Not the icky bit about the how they get in, but the interesting bit of […]
PDF version reviewed. Daniel Grotta. RAW. A professional photographer, courtesy of some hi-tech kit and a run in with a bolt of lightning, finds that he can communicate, via the digital camera, with an alternate dimension. Not only that, but he is able to communicate with his long-dead sister, who in this other reality is […]
