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oleksandr's review
3.0
This is the November/December 2021 issue of Analog Science Fiction And Fact , the last in 2021. There are a lot of interesting if not great stories and the final to the serial. Contents:
Population and Genius [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Howard V. Hendrix a short piece about the usual approach of most states that they should stimulate population growth and is it a fallacy. 2.5*
The Malady novelette by Shane Tourtellotte an alien race has a disease that affects almost all and that makes them dull and weak. Finally, after a thousand years they find a cure, and readers follow their exponential sophistication growth, as they follow our Earth 1900-1970, with wars, planes, and rockets. The twist at the end is quite well done, but the pace is uneven. 3.5*
Will Nuclear Power Save Us from Global Warming? [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Christina De La Rocha a nice outline of advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power, with an overview what are radioactive wastes, what is alpha and beta radiation, etc. 4*
Mare Cognitum poem by Josh Pearce
Sports Story short story by Brenda Kirk a war veteran of an alien race returns home after being a prisoner of war with humans. He was a champion in the local wrestling version and tries to return to that sport. Interesting aliens but a bland story, maybe intentional to show that if it was about humans it’ll be just a contemporary fiction. 2.5*
From the Maintenance Reports of Perseverance Colony, Year 12 short story by Jo Miles
A human colony ruled/managed by an AI, Factron, who rules both stock of everything and an army of bots. Servobot 43 noticed that the orders from Flatron lead to slow decay of the colony and confronts him. A bit reminiscent of [b:The Secret Life of Bots|48764297|The Secret Life of Bots|Suzanne Palmer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587570930l/48764297._SY75_.jpg|74139779] by [a:Suzanne Palmer|5105382|Suzanne Palmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1533054488p2/5105382.jpg] that won Hugo for best novelette in 2018. 4*
An Hour to Ames short story by Dan Reade an interesting story about duty and guilt. Rachel’s mother is dying of cancer in a hospice, but has been constantly passive-aggressive with her daughter. After relatives once again urge her to visit her mother, she lookalike robot. 4*
Dan Reade [Biolog] essay by Richard A. Lovett an overview by the author why he wrote the story above.
Never to Happen Again short story by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini Christopher has been director of the Museum of Epochal History for three decades but now the museum is about to close. He worries what he will do, will he be retired or send to curate some other collection? This is a punchline type of story, but the twist has been used earlier. 3*
Ars Brevis Est short story by Anatoly Belilovsky a flash fiction of a meeting of an android and a military robot (who are written as an artdroid and a robbot). 2*
No Stranger to Native Shores novelette by Matt McHugh a version of a space Mowgli. This time a human couple visited a newly discovered civilization but died, only their young daughter survived. Now the sister of the girl’s mother, who is an important politician visits the planet w/o knowledge of her surviving relative. 3*
What We Forget poem by Bruce McAllister
The Transparent World short story by Robert Reed a brief introductory talk of some kind of spy agency which was ordered to disclose all data they have on you after your request. Do you really want to see your own past instead of warm memories about it? 3*
The Library at Ecbatana short story by Timons Esaias the vast repository of human knowledge, maybe the last is about to be closed for there are too few users. 2.5*
Constellating the Darkness short story by Howard V. Hendrix a pandemic came from the ocean and slowly goes higher and higher, killing mankind. Two persons in an observatory high above may be the last people. 2.5*
Kardashev Civilizations, Dyson Speres, and Black Holes [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer a Dyson sphere around a black hole can get a lot of energy, how can we detect such civilizations? 3*
The Kindness of Jaguars short story by Monica Joyce Evans The protagonist Silar runs a company that has sells cloned meats including exotics, such as jaguar. Part of its profits is used to restore native habitats and repopulate it. However, a journalist investigator arrives, threating to uncover the fact that the company also overfeed real geese to make foie gras. Silar ought to find a way to protect her company (and her own expensive habits, like nails with jewels). However, unlike a lot of modern works it is not a diatribe against evils of capitalism but more a point that ‘professional activists’ can only have blind spots. 4*
The Water Beneath Our Feet short story by Alice Towey a farmborg named Twelve is ordered by a farmer, his master, to check why one orchard is so dry. He finds out that some squatters are stealing water to irrigate own small garden. Unlike his master, they, like him, like gardening, so he has to find a way to protect them. 3*
Wander On short story by William Paul Jones there is a mining asteroid community of ‘bus drivers’, they care for each other and when one snips, another has to find a way to stop him. 2.5*
Caoimhe's Water Music short story by Mike Wood An Australian ocean-current scientist Dr. Roscoe Meade participates at a conference, constantly distracting to check why his wife and son, who about to land on the Maldives haven’t called him. He listens to a talk by a woman named Caoimhe. She is more an activist than a ‘serious’ scientist and she talks on the harmonics of tides and that climate change may greatly affect them. 2.5*
Moon Unit short story by Bill Frank another survival tale, this time on Enceladus, the icy Saturn’s moon. The protagonist Riley Fuzzle is a mech unit with an uploaded consciousness. He guides mech and biological people at a moon’s excursion when disaster hits. 2*
In Times to Come (Analog, November-December 2021) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited
Kepler's Laws (Part 2 of 2) [Kepler's Law] serial by Jay Werkheiser a great conclusion of the story. It reads a bit like a novelization of TV series, so dysfunctional are ‘Earth’s best’ sent to colonize a planet and keep humanity going. There are ego pissing contests, victims of PTSD, but the science part is good and an introverted Kotori Hayashi, who grows as a character quite profoundly, is a relatable character. 3.5*
Brass Tacks (Analog, November-December 2021) [Brass Tacks] essay by various usual ‘thanks for gooв stuff’ plus a brief discussion on making satellites black instead of reflective. 3*
Population and Genius [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Howard V. Hendrix a short piece about the usual approach of most states that they should stimulate population growth and is it a fallacy. 2.5*
The Malady novelette by Shane Tourtellotte an alien race has a disease that affects almost all and that makes them dull and weak. Finally, after a thousand years they find a cure, and readers follow their exponential sophistication growth, as they follow our Earth 1900-1970, with wars, planes, and rockets. The twist at the end is quite well done, but the pace is uneven. 3.5*
Will Nuclear Power Save Us from Global Warming? [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Christina De La Rocha a nice outline of advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power, with an overview what are radioactive wastes, what is alpha and beta radiation, etc. 4*
Mare Cognitum poem by Josh Pearce
Sports Story short story by Brenda Kirk a war veteran of an alien race returns home after being a prisoner of war with humans. He was a champion in the local wrestling version and tries to return to that sport. Interesting aliens but a bland story, maybe intentional to show that if it was about humans it’ll be just a contemporary fiction. 2.5*
From the Maintenance Reports of Perseverance Colony, Year 12 short story by Jo Miles
A human colony ruled/managed by an AI, Factron, who rules both stock of everything and an army of bots. Servobot 43 noticed that the orders from Flatron lead to slow decay of the colony and confronts him. A bit reminiscent of [b:The Secret Life of Bots|48764297|The Secret Life of Bots|Suzanne Palmer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587570930l/48764297._SY75_.jpg|74139779] by [a:Suzanne Palmer|5105382|Suzanne Palmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1533054488p2/5105382.jpg] that won Hugo for best novelette in 2018. 4*
An Hour to Ames short story by Dan Reade an interesting story about duty and guilt. Rachel’s mother is dying of cancer in a hospice, but has been constantly passive-aggressive with her daughter. After relatives once again urge her to visit her mother, she lookalike robot. 4*
Dan Reade [Biolog] essay by Richard A. Lovett an overview by the author why he wrote the story above.
Never to Happen Again short story by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini Christopher has been director of the Museum of Epochal History for three decades but now the museum is about to close. He worries what he will do, will he be retired or send to curate some other collection? This is a punchline type of story, but the twist has been used earlier. 3*
Ars Brevis Est short story by Anatoly Belilovsky a flash fiction of a meeting of an android and a military robot (who are written as an artdroid and a robbot). 2*
No Stranger to Native Shores novelette by Matt McHugh a version of a space Mowgli. This time a human couple visited a newly discovered civilization but died, only their young daughter survived. Now the sister of the girl’s mother, who is an important politician visits the planet w/o knowledge of her surviving relative. 3*
What We Forget poem by Bruce McAllister
The Transparent World short story by Robert Reed a brief introductory talk of some kind of spy agency which was ordered to disclose all data they have on you after your request. Do you really want to see your own past instead of warm memories about it? 3*
The Library at Ecbatana short story by Timons Esaias the vast repository of human knowledge, maybe the last is about to be closed for there are too few users. 2.5*
Constellating the Darkness short story by Howard V. Hendrix a pandemic came from the ocean and slowly goes higher and higher, killing mankind. Two persons in an observatory high above may be the last people. 2.5*
Kardashev Civilizations, Dyson Speres, and Black Holes [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer a Dyson sphere around a black hole can get a lot of energy, how can we detect such civilizations? 3*
The Kindness of Jaguars short story by Monica Joyce Evans The protagonist Silar runs a company that has sells cloned meats including exotics, such as jaguar. Part of its profits is used to restore native habitats and repopulate it. However, a journalist investigator arrives, threating to uncover the fact that the company also overfeed real geese to make foie gras. Silar ought to find a way to protect her company (and her own expensive habits, like nails with jewels). However, unlike a lot of modern works it is not a diatribe against evils of capitalism but more a point that ‘professional activists’ can only have blind spots. 4*
The Water Beneath Our Feet short story by Alice Towey a farmborg named Twelve is ordered by a farmer, his master, to check why one orchard is so dry. He finds out that some squatters are stealing water to irrigate own small garden. Unlike his master, they, like him, like gardening, so he has to find a way to protect them. 3*
Wander On short story by William Paul Jones there is a mining asteroid community of ‘bus drivers’, they care for each other and when one snips, another has to find a way to stop him. 2.5*
Caoimhe's Water Music short story by Mike Wood An Australian ocean-current scientist Dr. Roscoe Meade participates at a conference, constantly distracting to check why his wife and son, who about to land on the Maldives haven’t called him. He listens to a talk by a woman named Caoimhe. She is more an activist than a ‘serious’ scientist and she talks on the harmonics of tides and that climate change may greatly affect them. 2.5*
Moon Unit short story by Bill Frank another survival tale, this time on Enceladus, the icy Saturn’s moon. The protagonist Riley Fuzzle is a mech unit with an uploaded consciousness. He guides mech and biological people at a moon’s excursion when disaster hits. 2*
In Times to Come (Analog, November-December 2021) [In Times to Come (Analog)] essay by uncredited
Kepler's Laws (Part 2 of 2) [Kepler's Law] serial by Jay Werkheiser a great conclusion of the story. It reads a bit like a novelization of TV series, so dysfunctional are ‘Earth’s best’ sent to colonize a planet and keep humanity going. There are ego pissing contests, victims of PTSD, but the science part is good and an introverted Kotori Hayashi, who grows as a character quite profoundly, is a relatable character. 3.5*
Brass Tacks (Analog, November-December 2021) [Brass Tacks] essay by various usual ‘thanks for gooв stuff’ plus a brief discussion on making satellites black instead of reflective. 3*
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