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sonofthe's review against another edition
4.0
A couple of the stories from this issue hung with me.
[a:Tom Crosshill|4037364|Tom Crosshill|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360922492p2/4037364.jpg]'s The Magician and Laplace's Demon worked best for me. This is a highly subjective line, but its blend of science fiction and fantasy right up my alley. Occasionally, it was a little heavy-handed on the exposition, but the combination of philosophy and science (I wasn't familiar with Laplace's Demon before this) made the story come back to mind a few times and gave me some good stuff to talk about with friends.
Next was [a:Xia Jia|6476065|Xia Jia|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s Tongtong's Summer. The characters were charming, and the near future technology was interesting. It felt a bit like a short version of a bildungsroman. It didn't give me a lot to think about on its own, but, while reading [a:Ken Liu|2917920|Ken Liu|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1400610835p2/2917920.jpg]'s essay at the end, it added to the encouragement he gave to check out more Chinese science fiction. In fact, after reading Liu's piece, I immediately went out and downloaded an issue of Pathlight. I'm eager to get into it.
[a:Dominica Phetteplace|5553854|Dominica Phetteplace|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s No Vera There left me feeling a bit unsatisfied at the end. After trying to write a quick synopsis, though, I realized that the story dealt with questions, and the partly unresolved feeling of the ending completed the feel of the story. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I'll be certain to check out more from Phetteplace.
The rest of the stories didn't strike me as much, but more of them had the problem of endings for me. The stories from [a:Bennardo|5826059|M. Bennardo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png] and [a:Wallace|6863587|Kali Wallace|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-9e23bac89f169d02e43709e42b361705.png] both left me feeling unsatisfied when I was finished, even though I liked both their writing overall. This problem of endings became more interesting after I finished [a:Daniel Abraham|134|Daniel Abraham|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207149629p2/134.jpg]'s short essay at the end. After just a couple issues, I've already come to look forward to these "Another Word" entries. Abraham gives a look into endings, but rather than taking a more narrow focus on the craft of writing, he pulls back to take a broader view of society and the expectations lots of us have built up.
Like Crosshill's story, [a:Steele|4962709|Allen M. Steele|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s and [a:Reynolds|51204|Alastair Reynolds|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1369753656p2/51204.jpg]'s were a bit heavy on the exposition. They both were on the other side of the line for me, though. They both clearly have a mastery of the craft, but these particular stories were only slightly above average.
Finally is the interview with [a:Kameron Hurley|4369922|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1364153108p2/4369922.jpg]. I still haven't read any of her fiction, but the more I read from her blog and read/hear of her in interviews, the more eager I am to get to her fiction. I like this newer wave (mostly I'm thinking of Hurley, [a:Jemisin|10774625|N. K. Jemisin|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png], and [a:Leckie|3365457|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1402526383p2/3365457.jpg]) of authors who have a definite goal of making fiction more inclusive, but who primarily are interested in making exciting stories. I've even got a copy of Hurley's [b:The Mirror Empire|20646731|The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga, #1)|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399920947s/20646731.jpg|39939919] waiting on my ereader, I've just got to finish up a couple other things first.
Overall, this was a good issue, but I'm more excited to get to the next one. Number 100 is longer and has the first of the new stories from their Chinese SF project.
[a:Tom Crosshill|4037364|Tom Crosshill|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360922492p2/4037364.jpg]'s The Magician and Laplace's Demon worked best for me. This is a highly subjective line, but its blend of science fiction and fantasy right up my alley. Occasionally, it was a little heavy-handed on the exposition, but the combination of philosophy and science (I wasn't familiar with Laplace's Demon before this) made the story come back to mind a few times and gave me some good stuff to talk about with friends.
Next was [a:Xia Jia|6476065|Xia Jia|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s Tongtong's Summer. The characters were charming, and the near future technology was interesting. It felt a bit like a short version of a bildungsroman. It didn't give me a lot to think about on its own, but, while reading [a:Ken Liu|2917920|Ken Liu|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1400610835p2/2917920.jpg]'s essay at the end, it added to the encouragement he gave to check out more Chinese science fiction. In fact, after reading Liu's piece, I immediately went out and downloaded an issue of Pathlight. I'm eager to get into it.
[a:Dominica Phetteplace|5553854|Dominica Phetteplace|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s No Vera There left me feeling a bit unsatisfied at the end. After trying to write a quick synopsis, though, I realized that the story dealt with questions, and the partly unresolved feeling of the ending completed the feel of the story. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I'll be certain to check out more from Phetteplace.
The rest of the stories didn't strike me as much, but more of them had the problem of endings for me. The stories from [a:Bennardo|5826059|M. Bennardo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png] and [a:Wallace|6863587|Kali Wallace|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-9e23bac89f169d02e43709e42b361705.png] both left me feeling unsatisfied when I was finished, even though I liked both their writing overall. This problem of endings became more interesting after I finished [a:Daniel Abraham|134|Daniel Abraham|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207149629p2/134.jpg]'s short essay at the end. After just a couple issues, I've already come to look forward to these "Another Word" entries. Abraham gives a look into endings, but rather than taking a more narrow focus on the craft of writing, he pulls back to take a broader view of society and the expectations lots of us have built up.
Like Crosshill's story, [a:Steele|4962709|Allen M. Steele|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png]'s and [a:Reynolds|51204|Alastair Reynolds|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1369753656p2/51204.jpg]'s were a bit heavy on the exposition. They both were on the other side of the line for me, though. They both clearly have a mastery of the craft, but these particular stories were only slightly above average.
Finally is the interview with [a:Kameron Hurley|4369922|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1364153108p2/4369922.jpg]. I still haven't read any of her fiction, but the more I read from her blog and read/hear of her in interviews, the more eager I am to get to her fiction. I like this newer wave (mostly I'm thinking of Hurley, [a:Jemisin|10774625|N. K. Jemisin|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png], and [a:Leckie|3365457|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1402526383p2/3365457.jpg]) of authors who have a definite goal of making fiction more inclusive, but who primarily are interested in making exciting stories. I've even got a copy of Hurley's [b:The Mirror Empire|20646731|The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga, #1)|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399920947s/20646731.jpg|39939919] waiting on my ereader, I've just got to finish up a couple other things first.
Overall, this was a good issue, but I'm more excited to get to the next one. Number 100 is longer and has the first of the new stories from their Chinese SF project.
friendlymilk's review
5.0
Fun, off-kilter story about corrupted personality backup files, past-worshipping hackers, and identity.
(Read it here!)
(Read it here!)
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