Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2011

Jonathan Hamilton #3 - The Copenhagen Interpretatio

by Sheila Williams (Editor), Chris Beckett (Contributor), Paul Cornell (Contributor)

CONTENTS

Novelettes
"Day 29" by Chris Beckett
"The Copenhagen Interpretation" (Jonathan Hamilton #1) by Paul Cornell

Short Stories
"Pug" by Theodora Goss
"Dunyon" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"The Music of the Sphere" by Norman Spinrad
"Bring on the Rain" by Josh Roseman
"Twelvers" by Leah Cypess
"The Messenger" by Bruce McAllister

Poetry
"E" by R. M. Kaye
"page twentyfourhundredandseventythree" by W. Gregory Stewart
"Gene's Dreams" by Joe Haldeman

Departments
"Editorial: What's in a Title?" by Sheila Williams
"Reflections: The Fantastic Voyages of Sir John Mandeville" (Reflections series) by Robert Silverberg
"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo
"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. Strauss

Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2011, Vol. 35, No. 7 (Whole No. 426)
Sheila Williams, editor
Cover art by NASA

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

116 pages, Perfectbound

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Sheila Williams is the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form.

Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Williams’ interest in science fiction came from her father who read Edgar Rice Burroughs books to her as a child. Later Ms. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Elmira College in Elmira, New York, although she studied at the London School of Economics during her junior year. She received her Master's from Washington University in St. Louis. She is married to David Bruce and has two daughters.

She became interested in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (as it was then titled) while studying philosophy at Washington University. In 1982 she was hired at the magazine, and worked with Isaac Asimov for ten years. While working there, she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (at one time called the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing). In 2004, with the retirement of Gardner Dozois, she became the editor of the magazine.

Along with Gardner Dozois she also edited the "Isaac Asimov's" anthology series. She also co-edited A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women (2001) with Connie Willis. Most recently she has edited a retrospective anthology of fiction published by Asimov's: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology. Booklist called the book "A gem, and a credit to editor Williams."
She has been nominated for 4 Hugo Awards as editor of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

See also Sheila Williams's entry in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing outstanding in this issue to me. Some good stories were a novellette titled Day 29 by Chris Becket, short story Dunyon by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and an interesting poem called E by R M Kaye.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been trying to read all of this year's speculative fiction short story award nominees. At the same time, I realized that I didn't finish reading all of last year's, and it made me look through a few of the more recent years' lists as well. When I saw Cornell's name on the lists I paid attention because I really liked London Falling and I know how popular his comic books are as well. I quickly found out that this is Cornell's third short story about Jonathan Hamilton, so I read the other two stories first, then this one. They're basically alternate history sci-fi spy thrillers, though each is quite different in tone. The second was nominated for a lot of awards, as was this one, which was nominated for the 2011 BSFA, 2012 Hugo and 2012 Locus Award. This one wasn't my favorite, but it's a good story. I helped me to understand more about the politics on this world, the religion, and the "balance" that the character kept referring to, which may be both religious and political in nature but seems to be also thought of as a scientific principle. Which leads back to the punny name of the story. Which I only found out about when I searched for the story so that I could read it online, I'm not claiming to actually have known about it or anything. Anyway, I'm enjoying the world that Cornell has been developing, each story stands alone but it's more fun to read all of them. They're still available online if you're interested. Cornell announced that he has another Hamilton story in the upcoming Rogues, so this would be a good time to catch up on these stories.

[prk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the 2012 Hugo Voter Packet.

A quirky Science Fiction / Alternate Universestory, nominally beginning in Copenhagen, and ending up in orbit, designed entirely around playing with the scientific term of the same name. Realising I'd heard of the scientific expression before, I looked it up before reading, and was quite glad, as Cornell seems to very deliberately have several scenes which are deliberately designed with multiple interpretations, including the final one. Had I not suspected that was deliberate, I would have been rather disappointed with the ending, instead it made it rather deliciously frustrating. I very much enjoyed the plot and action driven aspects of the story, although a little frustrated with the throwaway lines suggesting interesting scientific developments, but just assumed common day by the protagonist.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alternate history, the third in a series about a spy named Jonathan Hamilton. It is self-contained, but there are definite hints that it would be more enjoyable if one were familiar with the earlier works. The conceit is that in this world quantum mechanical devices exist which perform tasks that seem almost magical. I enjoyed this story, but felt like I was reading an excerpt from a novel.

[Sunil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story has some interesting ideas here and there, and it's a cool mix of hard science fiction and spy thriller (and alternate history, apparently, which would explain a lot). But I couldn't really get into it or care about any of the characters; I didn't realize it was part of a series. Plus, in the end, it's three characters delivering long monologues of backstory interspersed with action scenes written with excessive use of exclamation points. The whole thing is kind of a mess, really.

[Mike Ehlers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story, read online.

Hard story to get into, even tho I think I've read a story in this series before. Very ornate setting, combining old European court manners with sci fi "folds" and weapons and space travel. Good action, but not that satisfying in the end.

[Alytha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting world, reminding me of Michael Swanwick's Darger and Surplus stories. I'm not sure what to call it, retro-future maybe?

However, this feels like a part of something bigger, nothing about the tech or the setting is explained much, so it's pretty confusing.

[Katharine (Ventureadlaxre) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get into it.

[Chris Cutler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Hugo-nominated short story. I liked the world a lot, and enjoyed the puzzle of discovering it. However, it was left more scattered and bleak than I prefer.