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Jackaroo #2.4 - Maryon’s Gift
Asimov's Science Fiction, March/April 2022
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, March-April 2022. Cover art” by Shutterstock. Stories in this issue:
”Blimpies” by Rick Wilber
”Mender of Sparrows” by Ray Nayler
”Venus Exegesis” by Christopher Mark Rose
”Dollbot Cicily” by Will McIntosh
”Aurora” by Michael Cassutt
”The Short Path to Light” by William Ledbetter
”The Magpie Stacks Probabilities” by Arie Coleman
”Sailing to Merinam” by Marta Randall
”Quake” by Peter Wood
”The Gold Signal” by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman
”Maryon’s Gift” by Paul McAuley
”Do You Remember?” by Steve Rasnic Tem
”Offloaders” by Leah Cypess
plus poetry by Mary Soon Lee, Bruce McAllister, F. J. Bergmann, Ken Poyner, Herb Kauderer
FEATURES: “From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps” (guest editorial) by Kelly Lagor; “Across the Centuries” (Reflections) by Robert Silverberg; “Blinded” by Science” (On the Net)” by James Patrick Kelly; “On Books” (reviews) by Norman Spinrad; “Thought Experiment: Magic, Science, and the Moon in La Voyage Dans La Lune”“ by Kelly Lagor; “The SF Conventional Calendar”“ by Erwin S. Strauss
”Blimpies” by Rick Wilber
”Mender of Sparrows” by Ray Nayler
”Venus Exegesis” by Christopher Mark Rose
”Dollbot Cicily” by Will McIntosh
”Aurora” by Michael Cassutt
”The Short Path to Light” by William Ledbetter
”The Magpie Stacks Probabilities” by Arie Coleman
”Sailing to Merinam” by Marta Randall
”Quake” by Peter Wood
”The Gold Signal” by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman
”Maryon’s Gift” by Paul McAuley
”Do You Remember?” by Steve Rasnic Tem
”Offloaders” by Leah Cypess
plus poetry by Mary Soon Lee, Bruce McAllister, F. J. Bergmann, Ken Poyner, Herb Kauderer
FEATURES: “From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps” (guest editorial) by Kelly Lagor; “Across the Centuries” (Reflections) by Robert Silverberg; “Blinded” by Science” (On the Net)” by James Patrick Kelly; “On Books” (reviews) by Norman Spinrad; “Thought Experiment: Magic, Science, and the Moon in La Voyage Dans La Lune”“ by Kelly Lagor; “The SF Conventional Calendar”“ by Erwin S. Strauss
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
2 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Williams
279 books66 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 18, 2022
The problem with Asimov’s ‘double issues’ is that rather than extend its scope for longer fiction, it instead resorts to what are essentially extracts from novels, ‘Blimpies’ by Rick Wilber here being a case in point. I would much rather read a bunch of shorter stories by other writers, to be honest.
Despite my quibble, this is an unusually strong issue of Asimov’s, with superb stories by Ray Nayler (‘Mender of Sparrows’), Christoper Mark Rose (‘Venus Exegesis’) and Paul McAuley (‘Maryon’s Gift’). The standout though is the novelette ‘Dollbot Cicily’ by Will McIntosh, a gritty take on the role of sexbots in the gig economy.
Despite my quibble, this is an unusually strong issue of Asimov’s, with superb stories by Ray Nayler (‘Mender of Sparrows’), Christoper Mark Rose (‘Venus Exegesis’) and Paul McAuley (‘Maryon’s Gift’). The standout though is the novelette ‘Dollbot Cicily’ by Will McIntosh, a gritty take on the role of sexbots in the gig economy.
October 26, 2022
This is a March/April 2022 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. As always, several solid works, a few weaker ones. The contents and reviews of individual pieces:
From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Kelly Lagor a guest editorial about author’s love of SF movies, which expressed more detailly below.
Across the Centuries [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg is about one of SF works that made a lifelong science fiction reader out of the author, By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein and why it is so great. This moves to how something may persist centuries after the world that created them is gone, as with a Roman coin, re-stamped by ‘barbarians’.
Blinded by Science [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly about the issue of science literacy, low share of women in STEM, etc.
How to Construct the Element poem by Mary Soon Lee a big bang creates atoms. 3*
Magic, Science, and the Moon in Le Voyage Dans La Lune [Thought Experiments] essay by Kelly Lagor how one of the earliest movies was made, what writers created about the Moon over centuries and how their shadows are still on the screen.
Mender of Sparrows novelette by Ray Nayler Himmet is a boy (?) living in the Istanbul protectorate. He spends his days seating near mosques, when he sees one of the sparrows fall. He brings it to his acquaintance android Sezgin with whom he was (fighting? Fleeing?) in a Balkan war. In this near future emerged AI granted personhood, but throngs sometimes prosecute and beat/destroy them, while androids try to be helpful. There is also a possibility of consciousness transfer - connectome. As always, Nayler’s work is solid. 4*
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities short story by Arie Coleman there was an at a space station, which the narrator, Emma, who was doing repairs, barely survived because she found an Allen key (L-shaped metal bar) in the place she had felled to. This made the news and as she returns home, both she and her little son start hiding small objects all over the place – a great story of trauma with SF background. 4*
Creation poem by Bruce McAllister 2*
Venus Exegesis novelette by Christopher Mark Rose the narrator is a former military pilot Ling Chen is part of a mission to Venus, together with Gabriel, an environmental scientist and sentient AI Zheng-123783b, with whom/which the narrator has a romantic relation. They find a life, but this life damages their floater and aborts the mission. They also see that Venus can be Earth future. 3*
Dollbot Cicily novelette by Will McIntosh Cicily is homeless woman working in a near future gig-economy and living in tunnels under Vegas. She finds out that at one of her jobs a few years back, she agreed to use face and body as a model for a sexbot. She is enraged (read the small print, ppl!) but because she takes almost any job, she started repairing bots made after her and hacking them to spy/chat with the owners, initially to swindle them. A very interesting piece, 4.5*
Self Portrait poem by F. J. Bergmann canvas in poisonous heavy metals. 2.5*
Sailing to Merinam short story by Marta Randall a fantasy piece, a girl (?) disguised as a boy accompanies her master aboard a ship. With them travels a group of religious fundamentalists, who forbade any female to be aboard. When they suspect that it isn’t a boy, a confrontation starts. However, she has some supernatural abilities, so it won’t be a simple stoning… 2.5*
Quake short story by Peter Wood the narrator, Hannah DeLeon is a part time physics instructor at Appalachian State University. She travels with her husband, Miguel on a business conference, when an earthquake occurs. She finds an uncovered strange stone, which soon is stolen, but new earthquakes occur, seemingly following the stone. She with her hubby follow the thieves and find out what’s going on. 3*
The Robot Aloft poem by Ken Poyner 2*
Aurora novelette by Michael Cassutt there is a secret Russian station Aurora close to the North pole, and Vera Vorobyova headed it two decades ago. Now she slowly drinks herself to death, while new leadership of the station faces a new challenge and asks for her experience – years ago the station was used to shot at the Moon and make a new crater there. Now an asteroid is on a collision course with a space ship and old weapon ought to be used again. 3*
The Gold Signal short story by Jack McDevitt and Larry Wasserman Isabel Shelby helped to invent a faster-than-light drive and an expedition went to Wolf 359 and discover evidence of a civilization. Sounds cliché? – true, but the true idea is answer why the exploration stopped - almost an Analog SF piece. 2.5*
Maryon's Gift [Jackaroo] short story by Paul J. McAuley Iryna Ivakhiv discovered a new planet and gifted it to her niece, Maryon. The niece was of a Gaian sect and transferred rights to them. Now Gaian monks protect this virgin world from spoiling by humans, quarantining it effectively. A rich man want to be first to leave his footprints there and launches an attack. 3.5*
Rewinding History poem by Herb Kauderer new discovering change what we thought we knew about past. 3.5*
The Short Path to Light novelette by William Ledbetter Jager is sent to kill a woman for daring to give birth to a child in space – his employer owns a station that monopolized births in space. Jager had a help of an AI he send away to misdirect his employers. Now a female Jesuit priest came to baptize the child as well as to try to recover the AI – but Rome it seems is against a truly conscious AI. 3*
Do You Remember? short story by Steve Rasnic Tem an old widower daily chats with artificially reconstructed memories of his late wife, which often starts conversations with the phrase from the title. His daughter is wary of this tech, but his grandchild loves it. 3*
Offloaders short story by Leah Cypess written as a log from a chatroom, whose members offer items to be given away for free. This is because a lot of them plan to upload, and there is a debate is it ethical. 3.5*
Blimpies [S'hudonni] novella by Rick Wilber part of a larger series, maybe better read as a novel – Alien Morning. In short, alien amphibious S'hudonni are new Earth overlords and there is a rivalry between their two princes - the good-natured Twoclicks and the vicious Whistle, who’ll share the spoils. Twoclicks invited a man as a reporter, while Whistle kidnapped the man’s sister and placed her on the same world. And there are titular blimps – air floating behemoths… the story is quite in line with old SF adventures (1930s-50s) too YA in spirit. 2*
On Books: What is Consciousness? (Asimov's, March-April 2022) [On Books] essay by Norman Spinrad What is a conscious entity? Answered by reviewing three books: Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution Klara and the Sun and Bela Lugosi's Dead
From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps [Asimov's Editorials] essay by Kelly Lagor a guest editorial about author’s love of SF movies, which expressed more detailly below.
Across the Centuries [Reflections] essay by Robert Silverberg is about one of SF works that made a lifelong science fiction reader out of the author, By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein and why it is so great. This moves to how something may persist centuries after the world that created them is gone, as with a Roman coin, re-stamped by ‘barbarians’.
Blinded by Science [On the Net] essay by James Patrick Kelly about the issue of science literacy, low share of women in STEM, etc.
How to Construct the Element poem by Mary Soon Lee a big bang creates atoms. 3*
Magic, Science, and the Moon in Le Voyage Dans La Lune [Thought Experiments] essay by Kelly Lagor how one of the earliest movies was made, what writers created about the Moon over centuries and how their shadows are still on the screen.
Mender of Sparrows novelette by Ray Nayler Himmet is a boy (?) living in the Istanbul protectorate. He spends his days seating near mosques, when he sees one of the sparrows fall. He brings it to his acquaintance android Sezgin with whom he was (fighting? Fleeing?) in a Balkan war. In this near future emerged AI granted personhood, but throngs sometimes prosecute and beat/destroy them, while androids try to be helpful. There is also a possibility of consciousness transfer - connectome. As always, Nayler’s work is solid. 4*
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities short story by Arie Coleman there was an at a space station, which the narrator, Emma, who was doing repairs, barely survived because she found an Allen key (L-shaped metal bar) in the place she had felled to. This made the news and as she returns home, both she and her little son start hiding small objects all over the place – a great story of trauma with SF background. 4*
Creation poem by Bruce McAllister 2*
Venus Exegesis novelette by Christopher Mark Rose the narrator is a former military pilot Ling Chen is part of a mission to Venus, together with Gabriel, an environmental scientist and sentient AI Zheng-123783b, with whom/which the narrator has a romantic relation. They find a life, but this life damages their floater and aborts the mission. They also see that Venus can be Earth future. 3*
Dollbot Cicily novelette by Will McIntosh Cicily is homeless woman working in a near future gig-economy and living in tunnels under Vegas. She finds out that at one of her jobs a few years back, she agreed to use face and body as a model for a sexbot. She is enraged (read the small print, ppl!) but because she takes almost any job, she started repairing bots made after her and hacking them to spy/chat with the owners, initially to swindle them. A very interesting piece, 4.5*
Self Portrait poem by F. J. Bergmann canvas in poisonous heavy metals. 2.5*
Sailing to Merinam short story by Marta Randall a fantasy piece, a girl (?) disguised as a boy accompanies her master aboard a ship. With them travels a group of religious fundamentalists, who forbade any female to be aboard. When they suspect that it isn’t a boy, a confrontation starts. However, she has some supernatural abilities, so it won’t be a simple stoning… 2.5*
Quake short story by Peter Wood the narrator, Hannah DeLeon is a part time physics instructor at Appalachian State University. She travels with her husband, Miguel on a business conference, when an earthquake occurs. She finds an uncovered strange stone, which soon is stolen, but new earthquakes occur, seemingly following the stone. She with her hubby follow the thieves and find out what’s going on. 3*
The Robot Aloft poem by Ken Poyner 2*
Aurora novelette by Michael Cassutt there is a secret Russian station Aurora close to the North pole, and Vera Vorobyova headed it two decades ago. Now she slowly drinks herself to death, while new leadership of the station faces a new challenge and asks for her experience – years ago the station was used to shot at the Moon and make a new crater there. Now an asteroid is on a collision course with a space ship and old weapon ought to be used again. 3*
The Gold Signal short story by Jack McDevitt and Larry Wasserman Isabel Shelby helped to invent a faster-than-light drive and an expedition went to Wolf 359 and discover evidence of a civilization. Sounds cliché? – true, but the true idea is answer why the exploration stopped - almost an Analog SF piece. 2.5*
Maryon's Gift [Jackaroo] short story by Paul J. McAuley Iryna Ivakhiv discovered a new planet and gifted it to her niece, Maryon. The niece was of a Gaian sect and transferred rights to them. Now Gaian monks protect this virgin world from spoiling by humans, quarantining it effectively. A rich man want to be first to leave his footprints there and launches an attack. 3.5*
Rewinding History poem by Herb Kauderer new discovering change what we thought we knew about past. 3.5*
The Short Path to Light novelette by William Ledbetter Jager is sent to kill a woman for daring to give birth to a child in space – his employer owns a station that monopolized births in space. Jager had a help of an AI he send away to misdirect his employers. Now a female Jesuit priest came to baptize the child as well as to try to recover the AI – but Rome it seems is against a truly conscious AI. 3*
Do You Remember? short story by Steve Rasnic Tem an old widower daily chats with artificially reconstructed memories of his late wife, which often starts conversations with the phrase from the title. His daughter is wary of this tech, but his grandchild loves it. 3*
Offloaders short story by Leah Cypess written as a log from a chatroom, whose members offer items to be given away for free. This is because a lot of them plan to upload, and there is a debate is it ethical. 3.5*
Blimpies [S'hudonni] novella by Rick Wilber part of a larger series, maybe better read as a novel – Alien Morning. In short, alien amphibious S'hudonni are new Earth overlords and there is a rivalry between their two princes - the good-natured Twoclicks and the vicious Whistle, who’ll share the spoils. Twoclicks invited a man as a reporter, while Whistle kidnapped the man’s sister and placed her on the same world. And there are titular blimps – air floating behemoths… the story is quite in line with old SF adventures (1930s-50s) too YA in spirit. 2*
On Books: What is Consciousness? (Asimov's, March-April 2022) [On Books] essay by Norman Spinrad What is a conscious entity? Answered by reviewing three books: Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution Klara and the Sun and Bela Lugosi's Dead
March 6, 2022
A couple of weak stories, but some really good ones as well. Here are my favorites:
- Blimpies by Rick Wilber
A reporter and his sister isolated on an alien planet get caught in up in the power play over disputed territory…Terra itself. Will the blimpies help or hinder?
Pairs well with The Left Hand of Darkness.
- Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. Matthew 10:29-31
A fallen sparrow leads to an existential crisis for a community of androids.
- Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose
What lessons does Venus hold for us? An unusual trio of astronauts adrift in its atmosphere try to read and interpret the evidence they dredge up from the planet’s surface.
- Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh
The ultimate identity theft! In a post-capitalist economy, a homeless gig worker tries to get back a little bit of what is rightly hers. A little love, understanding, and companionship would be nice as well.
- Aurora by Michael Cassutt
When you send your old-timers out to pasture, best keep them around because those ‘new and improved’ might not cut it. Cherish the old guard—nobody is disposable!
- The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman
The randomness of the universe sometimes aligns itself into a helpful—and lifesaving—configuration. Can that randomness be parlayed into future serendipity? A survivor and her family cope with the aftereffects of a brush with death.
- Sailing to Merinam by Marta Randall
Dangerous cargo—a misogynist group of religious fundamentalists suspect something is not quite kosher with the cabin boy. And they are right, just not in the way they first thought.
Ship of fools
On a cruel sea
Ship of fools
Sail away from me
- Garcia/Hunter
- Quake by Peter Wood
A corporation extracting wealth from our national park system, a vague yet menacing government agency, and the time police…all come together in an affair that results in our heroine dropping ‘adjunct’ from her academic title.
- Maryon’s Gift by Paul McAuley
A pristine world, unsullied by previous colonizers, is set aside by its discoverer. Why do idiots want to plant footprints on it? An allegory for today’s trophy hunting, gotta own it mentality.
- Do You Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem
A poignant story about a man and his interactive shrine to his beloved life partner. Does such a shrine help with the grieving process or does it keep one from moving on?
- Offloaders by Leah Cypess
Before uploading yourself, you gotta offload all your stuff. Good luck getting rid of that sourdough starter!
At first glance, an amusing online tale, but with re-reading I see dark undercurrents--a hallucinatory close reading?
- Blimpies by Rick Wilber
A reporter and his sister isolated on an alien planet get caught in up in the power play over disputed territory…Terra itself. Will the blimpies help or hinder?
Pairs well with The Left Hand of Darkness.
- Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. Matthew 10:29-31
A fallen sparrow leads to an existential crisis for a community of androids.
- Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose
What lessons does Venus hold for us? An unusual trio of astronauts adrift in its atmosphere try to read and interpret the evidence they dredge up from the planet’s surface.
- Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh
The ultimate identity theft! In a post-capitalist economy, a homeless gig worker tries to get back a little bit of what is rightly hers. A little love, understanding, and companionship would be nice as well.
- Aurora by Michael Cassutt
When you send your old-timers out to pasture, best keep them around because those ‘new and improved’ might not cut it. Cherish the old guard—nobody is disposable!
- The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman
The randomness of the universe sometimes aligns itself into a helpful—and lifesaving—configuration. Can that randomness be parlayed into future serendipity? A survivor and her family cope with the aftereffects of a brush with death.
- Sailing to Merinam by Marta Randall
Dangerous cargo—a misogynist group of religious fundamentalists suspect something is not quite kosher with the cabin boy. And they are right, just not in the way they first thought.
Ship of fools
On a cruel sea
Ship of fools
Sail away from me
- Garcia/Hunter
- Quake by Peter Wood
A corporation extracting wealth from our national park system, a vague yet menacing government agency, and the time police…all come together in an affair that results in our heroine dropping ‘adjunct’ from her academic title.
- Maryon’s Gift by Paul McAuley
A pristine world, unsullied by previous colonizers, is set aside by its discoverer. Why do idiots want to plant footprints on it? An allegory for today’s trophy hunting, gotta own it mentality.
- Do You Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem
A poignant story about a man and his interactive shrine to his beloved life partner. Does such a shrine help with the grieving process or does it keep one from moving on?
- Offloaders by Leah Cypess
Before uploading yourself, you gotta offload all your stuff. Good luck getting rid of that sourdough starter!
At first glance, an amusing online tale, but with re-reading I see dark undercurrents--a hallucinatory close reading?
April 21, 2022
Himmet is unlike other androids in that he has a dead soldier’s mind uploaded and his past has been a minor cause celebre. In his attempted obscurity he feeds birds that are occasionally mechanical. When he rescues an injured bird it is discovered to illegally contain an upload and Himmet starts to doubt his humanity in “Mender Of Sparrows” by Ray Nayler. A moving and thought-provoking piece. When destitute Cicily, (living in a drainpipe and trying to regain custody of her daughter), sees a dollbot with her own face and body, she decides to investigate further. “Dollbot Cicily” is being used as a sexbot by wealthy males and after not being paid for a repair job she implants overrides and brings all the Cicily’s ‘to life’. Will McIntosh’s tale reiterates how fantasy is so often ruined by reality. A great story! Peter Wood in “Quake” takes us on a corporate retreat to Boone where a series of earth tremors seem to be caused by an alien artifact, while Michael Cassutt takes us to the Arctic Circle where an aging alcoholic ex-profesor of physics is dragooned into resurrecting an old Russian weapon in order to save the “Aurora” space mission. Petey is taken by the S’hudoni as an ambassador to their home planet, but when his sister Kaitlyn is kidnapped and taken there as well it becomes clear that they are both pawns in a power struggle among the local royalty. They need to escape their captivity and make their way back to safety but what part do the mysterious floating indigenous lifeforms known as “Blimpies” play? Entertaining tale from Rick Wilber to close out a good issue.
March 23, 2022
My favorites:
Aurora by Michael Cassutt--Russian former director of scientific outpost now spends all her days drinking vodka until
Do You Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem. An elderly man has an AI projection (that can display memories also) of his late wife in the attic. He talks to her every day,
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler--AI, consciousness placed into new body, fixing injured birds with mechanical parts, Istanbul.
Maybe these were also my favorites?
Offloaders by Leah Cypress--WhatsApp freecycle group when people are uploading their consciousness and don't need stuff anymore.
Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh--Homeless woman whose
And the rest:
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman--An astronaut, her wife, and child are traumatized after the astronaut survived an accident thanks to some odds and ends in strange places.
Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose--venuscraft, AI, climate change, love, deception, murder, hard decisions.
Sailing to the Merinam by Marta Randall--AFAB child disguised as male on sailing ship where females are forbidden.
Quake by Peter Wood--moon pie, earthquakes, could there be
The God Signal by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman--
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley--An alien tells a story of a livable planet that has never been colonized
The Short Path to Light by William Ledbetter--Baby born in zero G, rogue lesbian nun, clever ship's AI.
Blimpies by Rick Wilber--Brother and sister separately imprisoned on alien planet. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I already had read some of his stories set in this S'hudon universe.
Aurora by Michael Cassutt--Russian former director of scientific outpost now spends all her days drinking vodka until
Do You Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem. An elderly man has an AI projection (that can display memories also) of his late wife in the attic. He talks to her every day,
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler--AI, consciousness placed into new body, fixing injured birds with mechanical parts, Istanbul.
Maybe these were also my favorites?
Offloaders by Leah Cypress--WhatsApp freecycle group when people are uploading their consciousness and don't need stuff anymore.
Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh--Homeless woman whose
And the rest:
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman--An astronaut, her wife, and child are traumatized after the astronaut survived an accident thanks to some odds and ends in strange places.
Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose--venuscraft, AI, climate change, love, deception, murder, hard decisions.
Sailing to the Merinam by Marta Randall--AFAB child disguised as male on sailing ship where females are forbidden.
Quake by Peter Wood--moon pie, earthquakes, could there be
The God Signal by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman--
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley--An alien tells a story of a livable planet that has never been colonized
The Short Path to Light by William Ledbetter--Baby born in zero G, rogue lesbian nun, clever ship's AI.
Blimpies by Rick Wilber--Brother and sister separately imprisoned on alien planet. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I already had read some of his stories set in this S'hudon universe.
March 23, 2022
Middle of the road issue in my opinion. Some stories worth reading but I don't see anything I would nominate for any awards. I will review just a few stories.
"Venus Exegesis” by Christopher Mark Rose is a strange story with a bit of an old school Venus vibe. Tells the story of an expedition to Venus and the crew run into all kinds of problems. They starve, discover a strange lifeform in the clouds, problems with AI crew and various interpersonal issues. It has some good elements but mostly a mess with simply too many things going on at once.
“Dollbot Cicily” by Will McIntosh is set in a near future with great economic inequality. Describing "premium" as those with proper jobs and money, and the rest are basically modern slavery. The protagonist is a homeless woman working in the gig economy with small technical repair jobs. One of the things she repairs are lifelike sex dolls and she uses her skill to insert a remote controlled backdoor in some of these, so she can exploit the dolls for her own benefit. Like stealing money or mess with the owners. What starts as being mostly motivated by revenge and money problems, evolves into a strange love story when she starts to develop a serious relationship with one of the owners of a sexdoll she has remote access to.
I generally liked this story. The woman protagonist is an interesting character, but the story could have done with a second rewrite and some more editorial work. Sections ends rather abruptly with weird jumps in time and detail. Some things are well explained whereas as others are lacking or rushed. A bit of an uneven reading experience. Not bad but felt like it could have been better.
“Offloaders” by Leah Cypess in the latest Asimov’s is a nice little flash fiction story. It consists of a transcript from something like a Facebook group of people giving away stuff for free. It is set in a future where people having starting to upload their minds and this is quite a controversial thing for members of this group.
Even though it is only about three pages it manages to create quite a bit of world buliding just with these online conversations. I rarely find these very short stories to work well, but this was a nice exception.
"Venus Exegesis” by Christopher Mark Rose is a strange story with a bit of an old school Venus vibe. Tells the story of an expedition to Venus and the crew run into all kinds of problems. They starve, discover a strange lifeform in the clouds, problems with AI crew and various interpersonal issues. It has some good elements but mostly a mess with simply too many things going on at once.
“Dollbot Cicily” by Will McIntosh is set in a near future with great economic inequality. Describing "premium" as those with proper jobs and money, and the rest are basically modern slavery. The protagonist is a homeless woman working in the gig economy with small technical repair jobs. One of the things she repairs are lifelike sex dolls and she uses her skill to insert a remote controlled backdoor in some of these, so she can exploit the dolls for her own benefit. Like stealing money or mess with the owners. What starts as being mostly motivated by revenge and money problems, evolves into a strange love story when she starts to develop a serious relationship with one of the owners of a sexdoll she has remote access to.
I generally liked this story. The woman protagonist is an interesting character, but the story could have done with a second rewrite and some more editorial work. Sections ends rather abruptly with weird jumps in time and detail. Some things are well explained whereas as others are lacking or rushed. A bit of an uneven reading experience. Not bad but felt like it could have been better.
“Offloaders” by Leah Cypess in the latest Asimov’s is a nice little flash fiction story. It consists of a transcript from something like a Facebook group of people giving away stuff for free. It is set in a future where people having starting to upload their minds and this is quite a controversial thing for members of this group.
Even though it is only about three pages it manages to create quite a bit of world buliding just with these online conversations. I rarely find these very short stories to work well, but this was a nice exception.
March 31, 2022
There are a couple of pretty good stories in this issue from Ray Nayler (an “Istanbul Protectorate” story, Mender of Sparrows) and Marta Randall (Sailing to Merinam, an immersive fantasy) with good backup from Paul McAuley (Maryon’s Gift) and Michael Cassutt (Aurora). The William Ledbetter (his sequel to an earlier Nebula award-winning story) and Steven Rasnic Tem stories are also of some interest. Of the remaining seven pieces, four are average (including the novella or near-novella length stories by Rick Wilber and Will McIntosh which make up a large chunk of the issue) and three are mediocre.
I also note that the non-fiction (which I am generally cool about anyway) is almost uniformly dull this issue: this is not helped by subject matter I’m not much interested in (e.g. ancient Ostrogoth coinage and ancient SF movies).
An average issue, I guess
I also note that the non-fiction (which I am generally cool about anyway) is almost uniformly dull this issue: this is not helped by subject matter I’m not much interested in (e.g. ancient Ostrogoth coinage and ancient SF movies).
An average issue, I guess
March 19, 2022
Some really good short stories this month and a couple meh ones.
Really enjoyed Mender of Sparrows by Ray Naylor, The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman, Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose, and Offloaders by Leah Cypess.
Was less impressed with Blimpies by Rick Wildber. A bit long and another sequel to a story I wasn't much impressed with the first time.
Really enjoyed Mender of Sparrows by Ray Naylor, The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman, Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose, and Offloaders by Leah Cypess.
Was less impressed with Blimpies by Rick Wildber. A bit long and another sequel to a story I wasn't much impressed with the first time.
March 10, 2022
A (excellent):
Quake by Peter Wood
B (very good):
Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh
Aurora by Michael Cassutt
Do you Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem
C (average):
Blimpies by Rick Wilber
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose
The Short Path to Light to William Ledbetter
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman
The Gold Signal by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley
D (poor):
Offloaders by Leah Cypress
F (awful):
Sailing to Merinam by Marta Randall
Quake by Peter Wood
B (very good):
Dollbot Cicily by Will McIntosh
Aurora by Michael Cassutt
Do you Remember? by Steve Rasnic Tem
C (average):
Blimpies by Rick Wilber
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Venus Exegesis by Christopher Mark Rose
The Short Path to Light to William Ledbetter
The Magpie Stacks Probabilities by Arie Coleman
The Gold Signal by Jack McDevitt & Larry Wasserman
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley
D (poor):
Offloaders by Leah Cypress
F (awful):
Sailing to Merinam by Marta Randall
March 3, 2022
Good stories all. I particularly liked "Aurora', "The Short Path to Light", and "Maryon's Gift".
January 8, 2023
A number of good stories. I particularly enjoyed...
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Aurora by Michael Cassutt
The Short Path to Light by William Ledbetter
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley
Blimpies by Rick Wilber
Mender of Sparrows by Ray Nayler
Aurora by Michael Cassutt
The Short Path to Light by William Ledbetter
Maryon's Gift by Paul McAuley
Blimpies by Rick Wilber
August 20, 2022
I feel like I just wrote an IASFM review, and I did. And for the first half of this magazine, I got bogged down it what seems to be the typical molds for an Asimov's story nowadays. I was getting a bit tired of it. Luckily the back half of this issue provided better stories that gave me things to think about; he's my journey through this issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
-We start with "A Mender of Sparrows" by Ray Nayler. I kind of liked this story set in this weird future Turkey where consciousness can transfer between humans, birds, robot humans, and robot birds, but it didn't really grab me or suck me into the world. It wasn't bad, I just probably wasn't in the right place. That equals a 6 out of 14.
-Another bird story is next with Arie Coleman's "The Magpie Stacks Probabilities." An astronaut returns from a near-death experience in space that she only got out of by grabbing a random piece of crap floating nearby. She returns with a hyper-OCD obsession where she must have random crap all over the house. This strains her relationship with her wife and son. I mediocre-yet-not-worthless 6/10 here too.
-A new author for me, Christopher Mark Rose, wrote "Venus Exegesis." This is a cool solar-system-exploration story, which I should really like because I just really liked Ben Bova's Mars, but this isn't my cup of tea. It's about a woman, a man, and a robot scouting Venus and determining that the ecological crisis ravaging Earth previously occurred on Venus. They're looking for evidence to help save Earth. And then everything revolves around the woman and the robot having sex. There's just so much useless characterization in this story that I don't care about the concept anymore. That's how I describe a lot of modern Asmiov's stories: cool sci-fi hooks bogged down by now-sterile characterization of amorous women. I'll still give this a sex because I wouldn't dislike this very much if I hadn't been subjected to so many versions of this, and Rose is a good writer, I'm just reaching the end of a small rope with a small drop.
-Okay, I was just railing against sterile sexed-up female protagonists, but I actually liked "Dollboy City" by Will McIntosh, which focuses on a single mother living in future slums who's trying to win her daughter back from the courts at the same time she discovers her body was scanned and used as the mold for a serious of sex dolls. She then learns to control three of these sex dolls and interacts with their owners in various ways... not usually my thing, but well written and interesting: 7/10.
-"Sailing to Merinam" by Marta Randall is a more fantastical tale of a ship crewed by men carrying a bunch of religious men as passengers. The religious men don't like women on their ships all that much, and a young girl has to disguise herself as a male deckhand aboard the ship. It... goes south, as one might expect. I wasn't too engaged but it was a well-written tale I can't complain about. Two sevens in a row!
-Peter Woods' "Quake" was a good read about a married couple in the throes of marital issues dealing with a science conference where the wife finds a gem that's supposedly causing earthquakes and there's a conspiracy with his job and aliens somehow shows up and... it was good enough , probably a seven.
-Michael Cassutt's "Aurora" was at about the same level as "Quake." It's about a woman who can help fire the laser that will save the world, and most of humanity has joined a group consciousness. That's a running trend for this issue. I probably won't remember this in a year so it gets a seven.
-"The Gold Signal" by McDevitt and Wasserman is a short and forgettable piece about... space debris. Six maybe?
-"Maryon's Gift" by Paul McAuley" is where the issue really picked up for me. It's a campfire tale about a woman who protects a planet from colonization against her dastardly rival. Some big ideas behind this big canvas. It's a fun tale worthy of eight points on my rudimentary ten-point scale.
-Now we're cooking. "The Short Path to Light" by William Ledbetter deals with aliens and AI and solar system politics and religion and adventure and... yeah, it was a good sci-fi romp with some serious characters and themes trapping the story. Eight out of ten. We need more like this.
-"Do You Remember" by Steve Rasnic Tem is a cool black-mirror piece where a man has an interactive recording of his late wife in his upstairs room. It's hard to read, especially when his daughter and granddaughter come over for a visit. Kinda thought-provoking with a good ending... eight out of ten! Three in a row!
-I need to read more Leah Cypress. "Offloaders" is a story about humanity transitioning to a group consciousness told through a Facebook donation group chat. It's screwy storytelling, and I like this kind of crap. Not long, not too much to sink your teeth into, but a pretty good experiment. Four eight-outta-ten in a row! Is this issue gonna be four stars!?
-No, because "Blimpies" by Rick Wilber - the novella, the most important story in the issue - is better than the last issue but still not too good. It is part of a series which I don't understand, so I may be a little hard of it, but this tale of two siblings being caught between two alien factions while the brother attempts to negotiate humanity's surrender to said aliens... I'll give it a seven because I wasn't bored, but nothing more because it wasn't clever or significant.
Overall, a better issue than the last one. Between this and the Reynolds-headlined issue just announced, I may be regretting cancelling my subscription. But seeing as how I'm reading March's issue in August... probably not a great loss. A solid, solid issue, and you'll probably find something you really like here.
-We start with "A Mender of Sparrows" by Ray Nayler. I kind of liked this story set in this weird future Turkey where consciousness can transfer between humans, birds, robot humans, and robot birds, but it didn't really grab me or suck me into the world. It wasn't bad, I just probably wasn't in the right place. That equals a 6 out of 14.
-Another bird story is next with Arie Coleman's "The Magpie Stacks Probabilities." An astronaut returns from a near-death experience in space that she only got out of by grabbing a random piece of crap floating nearby. She returns with a hyper-OCD obsession where she must have random crap all over the house. This strains her relationship with her wife and son. I mediocre-yet-not-worthless 6/10 here too.
-A new author for me, Christopher Mark Rose, wrote "Venus Exegesis." This is a cool solar-system-exploration story, which I should really like because I just really liked Ben Bova's Mars, but this isn't my cup of tea. It's about a woman, a man, and a robot scouting Venus and determining that the ecological crisis ravaging Earth previously occurred on Venus. They're looking for evidence to help save Earth. And then everything revolves around the woman and the robot having sex. There's just so much useless characterization in this story that I don't care about the concept anymore. That's how I describe a lot of modern Asmiov's stories: cool sci-fi hooks bogged down by now-sterile characterization of amorous women. I'll still give this a sex because I wouldn't dislike this very much if I hadn't been subjected to so many versions of this, and Rose is a good writer, I'm just reaching the end of a small rope with a small drop.
-Okay, I was just railing against sterile sexed-up female protagonists, but I actually liked "Dollboy City" by Will McIntosh, which focuses on a single mother living in future slums who's trying to win her daughter back from the courts at the same time she discovers her body was scanned and used as the mold for a serious of sex dolls. She then learns to control three of these sex dolls and interacts with their owners in various ways... not usually my thing, but well written and interesting: 7/10.
-"Sailing to Merinam" by Marta Randall is a more fantastical tale of a ship crewed by men carrying a bunch of religious men as passengers. The religious men don't like women on their ships all that much, and a young girl has to disguise herself as a male deckhand aboard the ship. It... goes south, as one might expect. I wasn't too engaged but it was a well-written tale I can't complain about. Two sevens in a row!
-Peter Woods' "Quake" was a good read about a married couple in the throes of marital issues dealing with a science conference where the wife finds a gem that's supposedly causing earthquakes and there's a conspiracy with his job and aliens somehow shows up and... it was good enough , probably a seven.
-Michael Cassutt's "Aurora" was at about the same level as "Quake." It's about a woman who can help fire the laser that will save the world, and most of humanity has joined a group consciousness. That's a running trend for this issue. I probably won't remember this in a year so it gets a seven.
-"The Gold Signal" by McDevitt and Wasserman is a short and forgettable piece about... space debris. Six maybe?
-"Maryon's Gift" by Paul McAuley" is where the issue really picked up for me. It's a campfire tale about a woman who protects a planet from colonization against her dastardly rival. Some big ideas behind this big canvas. It's a fun tale worthy of eight points on my rudimentary ten-point scale.
-Now we're cooking. "The Short Path to Light" by William Ledbetter deals with aliens and AI and solar system politics and religion and adventure and... yeah, it was a good sci-fi romp with some serious characters and themes trapping the story. Eight out of ten. We need more like this.
-"Do You Remember" by Steve Rasnic Tem is a cool black-mirror piece where a man has an interactive recording of his late wife in his upstairs room. It's hard to read, especially when his daughter and granddaughter come over for a visit. Kinda thought-provoking with a good ending... eight out of ten! Three in a row!
-I need to read more Leah Cypress. "Offloaders" is a story about humanity transitioning to a group consciousness told through a Facebook donation group chat. It's screwy storytelling, and I like this kind of crap. Not long, not too much to sink your teeth into, but a pretty good experiment. Four eight-outta-ten in a row! Is this issue gonna be four stars!?
-No, because "Blimpies" by Rick Wilber - the novella, the most important story in the issue - is better than the last issue but still not too good. It is part of a series which I don't understand, so I may be a little hard of it, but this tale of two siblings being caught between two alien factions while the brother attempts to negotiate humanity's surrender to said aliens... I'll give it a seven because I wasn't bored, but nothing more because it wasn't clever or significant.
Overall, a better issue than the last one. Between this and the Reynolds-headlined issue just announced, I may be regretting cancelling my subscription. But seeing as how I'm reading March's issue in August... probably not a great loss. A solid, solid issue, and you'll probably find something you really like here.
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June 10, 2022Another great issue that seemed to have more stories packed in than usual. Here are a few of my favorites:
"Blimpies" by Rick Wilbur is another installment in his S'hudonni Empire series. Peter Holman has gone to S'hudon on a diplomatic mission and finds himself in the middle of a power struggle between two brothers, one of whom has kidnapped Peter's sister, Kait. A suspenseful story to end the issue!
"The Short Path to Light" by William Ledbetter involves AI on board ships, kidnapping, politics, and Jesuits--an interesting combination.
"Aurora" by Michael Cassutt centers around a retired Director who is recalled because sometimes old knowledge is needed.
Some great poetry is included, too: "How to Construct the Elements" by Mary Soon Lee; "Self Portrait" by F.J. Bergmann; "Rewinding History" by Herb Kauderer.
The Guest Editorials included two from Kelly Lagor: "From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps" and "Thought Experiment: Magic, Science, and the Moon in La Voyage Dans La Lune." A nice change of pace!
"Blimpies" by Rick Wilbur is another installment in his S'hudonni Empire series. Peter Holman has gone to S'hudon on a diplomatic mission and finds himself in the middle of a power struggle between two brothers, one of whom has kidnapped Peter's sister, Kait. A suspenseful story to end the issue!
"The Short Path to Light" by William Ledbetter involves AI on board ships, kidnapping, politics, and Jesuits--an interesting combination.
"Aurora" by Michael Cassutt centers around a retired Director who is recalled because sometimes old knowledge is needed.
Some great poetry is included, too: "How to Construct the Elements" by Mary Soon Lee; "Self Portrait" by F.J. Bergmann; "Rewinding History" by Herb Kauderer.
The Guest Editorials included two from Kelly Lagor: "From SF to Philosophy in Thirteen Steps" and "Thought Experiment: Magic, Science, and the Moon in La Voyage Dans La Lune." A nice change of pace!
March 3, 2024
Review and rating (for now) are solely for "Mender of Sparrows", a first-rate novelette by Ray Nayler.
Copy online at the author's website: https://www.raynayler.net/mender-of-s...
This is a story set in an android ghetto in his fictional Istanbul Protectorate. It's a story of a threatened community, of courage and grace under pressure, of people working together to keep hope alive. And it's good SF, about the connectome of consciousness. One of Nayler's best stories, a strong 4 stars for me. Not to be missed.
Copy online at the author's website: https://www.raynayler.net/mender-of-s...
This is a story set in an android ghetto in his fictional Istanbul Protectorate. It's a story of a threatened community, of courage and grace under pressure, of people working together to keep hope alive. And it's good SF, about the connectome of consciousness. One of Nayler's best stories, a strong 4 stars for me. Not to be missed.
May 9, 2022
I liked "Blimpies" by Rick Wilber and "Mender of Sparrows" by Ray Nayler
June 5, 2022
The novelettes in this were quite good. Really enjoyed "Mender of Sparrows."
July 5, 2022
Pretty enjoyable. Quite a random mix of stories, so there's some nice variety in style and tone.
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