Asimov's - January 2006

Novelettes

“In the Space of Nine Lives” – R. R. Angell
My Grade: B
Summary: A pilot on a generational ship goes through trials related to the journey and in his emotions as he deals with his role.
Comment: I thought this was a nice story, but also felt it went on too long – yet I liked the “character study” aspect of it.

“World Without End, Amen” – Allen M. Steele
My Grade: B-
Summary: A computer researcher who helped invent the artificial intelligence that now runs society tries to kill himself, isn’t able to do it, but eventually finds a solution to his dilemma.
Comment: I found the artificial intelligence interesting, especially its role in making the world “safe” for people, but the main character of the story didn’t do anything for me and I felt the ending was a bit too easy.

“Ghost Wars” – Stephen Baxter
My Grade: B-
Summary: A crew on a warship fighting aliens strikes an alliance with a faction of the aliens to assassinate a prominent alien leader and thus return the balance of power between humans and aliens.
Comment: To me, this felt like a stock story with characters that fit certain stereotypes, and the ending (with one character sacrificing for the success of the journey) was a little too easy.

Short Stories

“An Episode of Stardust” – Michael Swanick
My Grade: B-
Summary: A dwarf riding on a train frames a story from a “fey”. The “fey” is the prisoner of two police officers and tells his tale of the recovery of a mysterious bag.
Comment: This feels to me like a derivative of the world of Swanick’s Darger/Surplus stories (eg, “The Dog Said Bow-Wow”), but not as good as those stories. An entertaining world, but nothing more.

“World of No Return” – Carol Emshwiller
My Grade: A-
Summary: An alien stranded on Earth becomes a helper to an elderly woman.
Comment: I really liked this story, especially the slow measured pacing. The ending was somewhat difficult because I’d grown attached to the characters, but it felt true to the story and the characters themselves. In my opinion, the best story in the issue.

“The Last McDougal’s” – David D. Levine
My Grade: B-
Summary: An older man running a restaurant has a troubled relationship with his granddaughter.
Comment: The story plot felt forced to me, and the characters felt like general character archetypes (and not specific people).

“Storm Poet” – Kim Antineau
My Grade: B
Summary: A young man who is part of a magical family learns about the scope of his powers, during a drought that is striking the region.
Comment: This felt very dated to me, with the stock situations of magic people with connection to the earth who can cause events (in this case, bring rain). I did like the main character, and that saved the story for me.

Poetry

“Field Trip” – Sophie M. White
My Grade: B
Summary: Thoughts from a student during a field trip to the remnants of an observatory.
Comment: I enjoyed it but it felt incomplete to me.

“Tesla’s Pigeon” – James Gurley
My Grade: B-
Summary: Tesla comforts his beloved pigeon during an electrical storm.
Comment: This was a very intellectual poem, and in the end I think the intellectualism betrayed the poem and made it more about style than about substance.

“Compute This” – Kendall Evans & David C. Kopaska-Merkel
My Grade: C
Summary: Musing on computers becoming aware and changing their relationship to humans.
Comment: You could consider this poem a companion to the story “World Without End, Amen”, This felt like something written in a quick dash, and in my opinion didn’t have much depth to it.