Asimov's - February 2006
Novelettes
“Under the Graying Sea” – Jonathan Sherwood
My Grade: B+
Summary: A woman who is part of a two on a test mission through “the bridge”, a wormhole linking our solar system to another part of the galaxy, discovers a calamitous situation on the other side of the bridge. She tries to find a way to solve the problems and save the bridge and the mission.
Comment: I found Tessa a very appealing point of view character, one who continues striving to solve all the problems she encounters. The story gets a little “techy” at times, but that’s understandable given the character. The ending was truly surprising, and I feel the story was a little marred by the need to add what was essentially an “epilogue”. Overall, I liked this story.
“Unbending Eye” – Jim Grimsley
My Grade: B-
Summary: The author narrates a story told to him by a man in a bar. The man was brought back to life by a research team and then put through experiments to determine why he was the only success in the project (including being repeatedly killed and revived). Before revived, the man has the experience of being in a dusty plain and watched by a glowing eye. Growing emotionally and physically numb, the man kills a couple researchers and escapes. The narrator helps him get overseas.
Comment: I think that the trouble with having a character whose senses are “numb” is that the story itself becomes numb and distant. Having the framing narrator helped a little, but I still felt untouched by the story, no matter how intriguing the concept was. Perhaps using a researcher as narrator would have helped?
“Teen Angel” – R. Garcia Y Robertson
My Grade: B+
Summary: This story is set in Garcia Y Robertson’s world of pirates and SuperCats. A woman who is the functional “concubine” of a pirate leader takes care of two kidnapped children during a space battle and escapes during the battle to a stronghold. There, she has to deal with the pirate leader and eventually escapes her captivity.
Comment: I thought this was one heck of an adventure, with an appealing main character even if she was very submissive at times (understandable given the situation). The world is certainly intriguing, and the story, while plot-driven, was still enjoyable.
Short Stories
“Change of Life” – Kat Meltzer
My Grade: B-
Summary: A middle-aged woman working in a dead-end job finds her self changing into a large, powerful cat (lion, tiger, etc), as are women around the country.
Comment: I thought it was a cute concept, and the story had some style to it, but I didn’t feel like it was any deeper than the concept and the style.
“Are You There” – Jack Skillingstead
My Grade: B-
Summary: A lonely detective, who conducts relationships via internet messaging, finds a device that preserves the mental thoughts of loved ones while investigating a series of killings. He starts a relationship with the “person” on the device, who turns out to be the mother of the killer.
Comment: I was interested by the world in which the story was set, and by the character of the detective, but the story didn’t seem too coherent to me – things happened in the story and I wasn’t quite sure what the justification was (beyond it was neat to happen). I guess perhaps I wanted more from the thoughts of the narrator, which is strange given that he is the point of view character and narrator.
“The Hastillian Weed” – Ian Creasey
My Grade: A-
Summary: A man leading a team working to remove traces of an alien weed from a forest finds himself working to deal with the team, the weed, and the alien who has joined this team (but also has ulterior motives).
Comment: I rather liked this story, and its “slice of life” description of a man struggling with his feeling and thoughts about the effects of the alien presence, but in a realistic context. To me, this was the best story in this issue.
“Kin” - Bruce McAllister
My Grade: B+
Summary: A boy tries to hire an alien to kill the man who can cause the boy’s mother’s pregnancy to be terminated. The alien takes care of the situation, without killing, and the boy and the alien form a bond that plays out in the future.
Comment: A nice and interesting story about one moment in a boy’s life that changes everything. The only part I didn’t understand was the final future “epilogue” where the alien ends up giving the boy a gift – I didn’t feel the alien’s motivations in that action were clear enough. But, besides that (which could have been handled by just removing the “epilogue”), I rather liked this story.
Poetry
“Alien Invasion” – Peter Payack
My Grade: B
Summary: A hook makes you think a certain way.
Comment: Cute hook, but that was it.
“Chaos Theory” – William John Watkins
My Grade: B-
Summary: A poem written on the death of a son about how little events can have big consequences.
Comment: It’s touching, especially the end, but I think carries on the “small things becoming big” theme too long. It also doesn’t explain why the son was undergoing surgery, which I think it important. In some sense, that’s none of the reader’s businesss – yet, it could have been important towards attitude towards the “small thing” (the surgeon’s apparent slip) which could have a big precursor, like a car crash, disease, routine surgery, etc.
“Top Five Hints That You May Be Falling Into a Flat-Screen Black Hole” – Robert Frazier
My Grade: B-
Summary: A discussion on the hyper-real events that occur to the writer (once he gets a big flat-screen TV?).
Comment: I wasn’t quite sure about this one – the events didn’t always sound like events related to watching television (the toothpaste tube, singing?) and seemed more like a random collection of descriptions (dreams) than specific events.
“It’s Not Easy Being Dead” – Bruce Boston
My Grade: B-
Summary: To the tune of “It’s Not Easy Being Green” (the Kermit the Frog song, which is acknowledged), a meditation on what things are like in the grave.
Comment: In summary, when you’re dead you’re dead and in the ground. The link with the Kermit song is the real hook, and after you’re through that link I didn’t feel there was much more to the poem (though the “you’ll be dead too” end was cute).
“Dear Schrodinger” – David Lunde
My Grade: B
Summary: A nerdy reply to Schrodinger’s comments on quantum mechanics, with a snappy comeback as an ending.
Comment: The poem is about the building up to the ending, which was a fun ending, but the middle felt muddled. I also wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be a comment on the classic thought experiment attributed to Schrodinger.
“Under the Graying Sea” – Jonathan Sherwood
My Grade: B+
Summary: A woman who is part of a two on a test mission through “the bridge”, a wormhole linking our solar system to another part of the galaxy, discovers a calamitous situation on the other side of the bridge. She tries to find a way to solve the problems and save the bridge and the mission.
Comment: I found Tessa a very appealing point of view character, one who continues striving to solve all the problems she encounters. The story gets a little “techy” at times, but that’s understandable given the character. The ending was truly surprising, and I feel the story was a little marred by the need to add what was essentially an “epilogue”. Overall, I liked this story.
“Unbending Eye” – Jim Grimsley
My Grade: B-
Summary: The author narrates a story told to him by a man in a bar. The man was brought back to life by a research team and then put through experiments to determine why he was the only success in the project (including being repeatedly killed and revived). Before revived, the man has the experience of being in a dusty plain and watched by a glowing eye. Growing emotionally and physically numb, the man kills a couple researchers and escapes. The narrator helps him get overseas.
Comment: I think that the trouble with having a character whose senses are “numb” is that the story itself becomes numb and distant. Having the framing narrator helped a little, but I still felt untouched by the story, no matter how intriguing the concept was. Perhaps using a researcher as narrator would have helped?
“Teen Angel” – R. Garcia Y Robertson
My Grade: B+
Summary: This story is set in Garcia Y Robertson’s world of pirates and SuperCats. A woman who is the functional “concubine” of a pirate leader takes care of two kidnapped children during a space battle and escapes during the battle to a stronghold. There, she has to deal with the pirate leader and eventually escapes her captivity.
Comment: I thought this was one heck of an adventure, with an appealing main character even if she was very submissive at times (understandable given the situation). The world is certainly intriguing, and the story, while plot-driven, was still enjoyable.
Short Stories
“Change of Life” – Kat Meltzer
My Grade: B-
Summary: A middle-aged woman working in a dead-end job finds her self changing into a large, powerful cat (lion, tiger, etc), as are women around the country.
Comment: I thought it was a cute concept, and the story had some style to it, but I didn’t feel like it was any deeper than the concept and the style.
“Are You There” – Jack Skillingstead
My Grade: B-
Summary: A lonely detective, who conducts relationships via internet messaging, finds a device that preserves the mental thoughts of loved ones while investigating a series of killings. He starts a relationship with the “person” on the device, who turns out to be the mother of the killer.
Comment: I was interested by the world in which the story was set, and by the character of the detective, but the story didn’t seem too coherent to me – things happened in the story and I wasn’t quite sure what the justification was (beyond it was neat to happen). I guess perhaps I wanted more from the thoughts of the narrator, which is strange given that he is the point of view character and narrator.
“The Hastillian Weed” – Ian Creasey
My Grade: A-
Summary: A man leading a team working to remove traces of an alien weed from a forest finds himself working to deal with the team, the weed, and the alien who has joined this team (but also has ulterior motives).
Comment: I rather liked this story, and its “slice of life” description of a man struggling with his feeling and thoughts about the effects of the alien presence, but in a realistic context. To me, this was the best story in this issue.
“Kin” - Bruce McAllister
My Grade: B+
Summary: A boy tries to hire an alien to kill the man who can cause the boy’s mother’s pregnancy to be terminated. The alien takes care of the situation, without killing, and the boy and the alien form a bond that plays out in the future.
Comment: A nice and interesting story about one moment in a boy’s life that changes everything. The only part I didn’t understand was the final future “epilogue” where the alien ends up giving the boy a gift – I didn’t feel the alien’s motivations in that action were clear enough. But, besides that (which could have been handled by just removing the “epilogue”), I rather liked this story.
Poetry
“Alien Invasion” – Peter Payack
My Grade: B
Summary: A hook makes you think a certain way.
Comment: Cute hook, but that was it.
“Chaos Theory” – William John Watkins
My Grade: B-
Summary: A poem written on the death of a son about how little events can have big consequences.
Comment: It’s touching, especially the end, but I think carries on the “small things becoming big” theme too long. It also doesn’t explain why the son was undergoing surgery, which I think it important. In some sense, that’s none of the reader’s businesss – yet, it could have been important towards attitude towards the “small thing” (the surgeon’s apparent slip) which could have a big precursor, like a car crash, disease, routine surgery, etc.
“Top Five Hints That You May Be Falling Into a Flat-Screen Black Hole” – Robert Frazier
My Grade: B-
Summary: A discussion on the hyper-real events that occur to the writer (once he gets a big flat-screen TV?).
Comment: I wasn’t quite sure about this one – the events didn’t always sound like events related to watching television (the toothpaste tube, singing?) and seemed more like a random collection of descriptions (dreams) than specific events.
“It’s Not Easy Being Dead” – Bruce Boston
My Grade: B-
Summary: To the tune of “It’s Not Easy Being Green” (the Kermit the Frog song, which is acknowledged), a meditation on what things are like in the grave.
Comment: In summary, when you’re dead you’re dead and in the ground. The link with the Kermit song is the real hook, and after you’re through that link I didn’t feel there was much more to the poem (though the “you’ll be dead too” end was cute).
“Dear Schrodinger” – David Lunde
My Grade: B
Summary: A nerdy reply to Schrodinger’s comments on quantum mechanics, with a snappy comeback as an ending.
Comment: The poem is about the building up to the ending, which was a fun ending, but the middle felt muddled. I also wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be a comment on the classic thought experiment attributed to Schrodinger.
posted by yeff at 2:27 PM
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