Sean McMullen. The Twilight Year. A historical tale with the merest whiff of the fantastical. England in the mid-sixth century is the setting, with the populace struggling under the few remaining vestiges of Roman rule, and under the blanket of volcanic cloud spewed from the eruption of Krakatoa. In such times perhaps a mighty hero […]
Real physical versions of Asimovs are to hand, which I find I read much more quickly than the e-versions of late (having spent most days at work in front of a screen, reading off a screen is not much of a relaxation!) – so I expect to be up to date with the US mags by the end of the month!
Ian McDonald. Little Goddess. The (PDF) issue gets off to a strong start with the reminisences of a girl who has been the ‘Kumari Devi’, a Living Goddess. She remembers how she as a young child she was chosen, the bloodcurdling rituals, the separation from family, and the years waited on hand and foot, worshipped […]
Ruth Nestvold. Looking Through Lace. Anthropological and xeno-linguistic SF are probably to Asimovs what Scientist SF is to Analog, and there is a danger in using these softer sciences to set up a puzzle which needs solving in the same way as Scientist Fiction uses physics or chemistry to set up a similar conundrum. Ursula […]
A slightly weaker than usual issue perhaps – certainly for someone like me for whom the opening SF mystery did little for, and certainly considering the calibre of the authors in this issue.
A collection more in tune with my preferences than last year’s, with the exclusion of Analog stories being the primary cause of that.
