James Sallis. As Yet Untitled. (Asimovs September 2013)
The protagonist clip-clops onto a Western set, and getting hisself a whisky at the bar, a-wonderin’ what role he has in the scenario, and indeed, just who he is.
Ian Creasey. The Unparallel’d Death-Defying Feats of Astoundio… (Asimovs September 2013)
A humorous look at escapology in the far future, with the Astoundio of the title upping the ante with fellow escapologists by escaping from beyond the event horizon of a black hole.
Lead Cypess. What We Ourselves Are Not. (Asimovs September 2013)
Cypess looks at a technological way in which the horrors of the past can be prevented from disappearing into the past, and from the denyers (deniers?) to rewrite that history.
Ian R. MacLeod. The Discovered Country. (Asimovs September 2013)
It’s well told, fresh take on the trope of humans uploading to a virtual space upon death, with the final pages upping the ante, with believable characters and motivations, and more.
Nalo Hopkinson. The Easthound. (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Seven.)
A cracker of a post-apocalypse story, with small groups of children hunkering down, fearing the moment when children become child-killers…
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Seven (ed Jonathan Strahan, Nightshade Books, 2013)
Reviews underway – in the meantime, why not buy yourself a copy from amazon.com | amazon.co.uk – it’s always good value for money.
Aliette de Bodard. The Angel at the Heart of the Rain. (Interzone #246, May-Jun 2013)
Well-written short-short in which a young refugee realises that in embracing her new life she must leave behind the ways of the past.
Asimovs August 2013
Stories by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Gwendolyn Clare, Jack Skillingstead, Gregory Norman Bossert, Leah Thomas, all good ones.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The Application of Hope. (Asimovs August 2013)
Another in Rusch’s ‘Diving’ series, with Captain Tory Sabin having some back-history, issues with high command, and a very personal reason for wanting to go to the rescue of The Ivoire.
Nigel Brown. Sentry Duty. (Interzone #246, May-Jun 2013)
The perils of xeno-(mis)-communication are explored
Jess Hyslop. Triolet. (Interzone #246, May-Jun 2013)
Plants that recite poems are the fantastical element to a story about a couple who see a gift of a plant/poem about them as a good portent for the future, but alas and alack love never runs true…
Carrie Vaughn. The Best We Can. (Tor.com 17 July 2013)
A neat update on Rendezvous With Rama.
Gregory Norman Bossert. Lost Wax. (Asimovs August 2013)
A delicieuse yeastpunk story from Bossert. It’s inventive and clever, the characters are non-normative, and the ending rounds a great story off nicely.
David W. Goldman. The Axiom of Choice. (Nebula Awards Showcase 2013)
Originally in The New Haven Review, a literary fiction magazine, and indeed this story has no sfnal or fantastic elements. But it’s a clever piece of fiction.
Katherine Sparrow. The Migratory Pattern of Dancers. (Nebula Awards Showcase 2013)
An excellent look at a near-future US where the economy and ecology have gone to pot, with many humans, flora and fauna paying the price. Nominee in the Novelette category.
Paul Cornell. Tom. (Solaris Rising 2)
Entertaining take on (ahem) relationships between humans and aliens, through the bond between a human and a female of the aquatic Carviv race, which have arrived on Earth.
Jack Skillingstead. Arlington. (Asimovs August 2013)
Great story from Skillingstead. Revealing the story through a very sick man reflecting on an incident much earlier in his life,
Gwendolyn Clare. Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood. (Asimovs August 2013)
The third story I’ve read by Clare, and she still hasn’t quite hit the mark for me. This is an ok story, but I do expect a bit more in Asimovs than simply ok.
Angelica Gorodischer. By the Light of the Electronic Moon. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2013)
Good to see a non-English story, but the main character does come across a tad Austin Powers and the story does itself feel like something from some decades ago.
Robert Reed. Grizzled Veterans of Many and Much. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2013)
A clever take on human’s uploading to a virtual state, leaving their physical bodies behind – not always easy as it’s been done often enough before.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2013.
Wowza, an issue bulging with 10 stories, with pretty much something for everyone. Van Aaron Hughes and Albert E. Cowdrey being my picks.
Sean McMullen. The Lost Faces. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2013)
In the reign of Emperor Gaius Julius Caeser Augustus Germanicus, a hunter of escaped slaves finds he is more than met his match with a woman with strange powers.
Van Aaron Hughes. The Long View. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2013)
Handled well with a viewpoint and characterisation that takes it beyond what could have been scientist fiction elsewhere.
Steven Utley. The Boy Who Drank From Lovely Women. (Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar/Apr 2013)
The ruminations and reminisces of a man far older than he looks, and he ponders his mostly mis-spent youth, and his many loves, including one in particular that has led him to his current state of affairs.