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A review by oleksandr
Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2021 by Douglas P. Marx, Benjamin C. Kinney, Charles Q. Choi, Jerry Oltion, Sandy Parsons, Harry Turtledove, Martin Dimkovski, Raymund Eich, Deborah L. Davitt, J. Northcutt, anne m. gibson, Dan Helms, Em Liu, Adam-Troy Castro, Norman Spinrad, Marie DesJardin, Daniel james Peterson, Evan Dicken, Jay Werkheiser, Trevor Quachri, Michael Meyerhofer, Nick Wolven, Brian Rappatta
3.0
This is January-February 2021 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact, the leading SF pro-zine. Here follow reviews of individual works. Overall impression is that this issue is rather weak
Monumental Thinking [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Rosemary Claire Smith if there should be new faces on bank notes and new statues, whom (chiefly among scientists) to glorify? 3*
Mixed Marriage novelette by Dan Helms a kind of 70s SF – population explosion on Earth led to people waking only one day per week. A boy from Friday plans to marry a girls from Sunday – and people’s cultures differentiated because different days don’t meet. 3*
Constructing a Habitable Planet [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Julie Novakova what characteristics a solar system should have to have a habitable planet? 4*
Julie Nováková? [Biolog] essay by Richard A. Lovett a short bio of Czech SF author 3*
My Hypothetical Friend short story by Harry Turtledove aliens start trade with Earth, local manager makes a gift to alien of kids figurines (like from happy meal) from his collection. 2.5*
A Shot in the Dark novelette by Deborah L. Davitt a man living as a hermit on Uranus, with only AI for a company, receives an order to meet a strange object flying nearby. The story narrated by him and shows his extreme introversion, esp. after he got a message that he has a daughter. 3*
Photometric Evidence of the Gravitational Lensing of SAO23820 by a Nonluminous Low-Mass Stellar Object short story by Jay Werkheiser a protagonist wrote an article, where his experimental data are not in line with current theories, and was ostracized from the scientific community. 3.5*
Conference of the Birds short story by Benjamin C. Kinney an AI surveillance system self trains to follow hackers by evolution-like methods only to change sides. 2.5*
Interstellar Pantomime short story by Martin Dimkovski a space ship from Earth meets alien ship and makes a show for it by showing small models of both ships meeting and sharing some stuff. Interesting idea of von Neumann machines aimed at first contact. 2.5*
Matter and Time Conspire short story by Sandy Parsons a flash fic about kids making time machine to visit their mom to shift her to marry another man, which creates a new version of them. Mom becomes aware and orders to restore all… 2.5*
The Tale of Anise and Basil short story by Daniel James Peterson some strange aliens order an earthman to invent a perfect story. 2*
The Practitioner short story by Em Liu future medical care workers have a view of doctors of the past, in this case an illegal abortionist in the 1965 USA. 2*
What Were You Thinking? short story by Jerry Oltion a programmer, who works on emerging rules in animals, decides to create a model of his girlfriend cat to find out why it barfs and finds much more 3.5*
Hidden Things poem by Jennifer Crow flow of consciousness…
The Liberator novelette by Nick Wolven an agent under cover comes to a community of people, who don’t want to follow regulations on genetic perfection. He has a personal grudge because he was born with defects. He find out that each coin has two sides. 2.5*
The Nocturnal Preoccupations of Moths novelette by J. Northcutt, Jr. Mars colony is about a few thousand strong and Earth stops sending food. A team of biologists tries to save a horde of different seeds, which should be used one day to grow on Mars. I had a suspicion that it is like a real life story and in the after note it is confirmed 2.5*
Changing Eyes short story by Douglas P. Marx a Mars colony uses highlanders from Earth, including Tibet during terraforming. Now they blast their way to the heart of Mars to get heat, but a calamity happens. 2*
The Last Science Fiction Story short story by Adam-Troy Castro a flash-fic about people always wanting to know what is behind the next corner. 3.5*
A Working Dog short story by Anne M. Gibson an inventor creates autonomous lawnmowers, which a a great hit on the market, only to find out that dogs chase them and harm themselves. She tries to change dogs by training, but finds it easier to change lawnmowers. 3.5*
Wave Function Collapse Revealed [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer a description of author’s quantum handshake theory with background to problems of quantum theory. Way above my head but interesting. 3*
So You Want to Be a Guardian Angel short story by Michael Meyerhofer a pilot’s pitch to newcomers that their work of shooting space debree is only for show and all work is done by AI. 2*
Choose One short story by Marie DesJardin aliens gather a group of humans with diverse talents. Each day more and more of them vanish (killed?). only a narrator – professional dancer remains. 2*
We Remember Better short story by Evan Dicken two siblings got a way to relive one memory of their abusive mother. Do they need to see the world from her POV? 2.5*
The Last Compact short story by Brian Rappatta a boy from Mars has a virtual friend – a less known Roman god Sancus (a god of trust (fides), honesty, and oaths) is about to be wiped away because boy’s family moves away and has to free storage space. 2.5*
Riddlepigs and the Cryla short story by Raymund Eich dinosaurs were re-created and but in a forest next to farms that grow pigs with organs to transplant. Dinos attack pigs, farmers are angry, a biologist narrator cannot get how can they call for destruction of dinos habitat. 2.5*
Belle Lettres Ad Astra novelette by Norman Spinrad a writer hired to write as many alien minds as he can to feed AI while a human ship is on the way to a discovered Dyson sphere over 1000 light years away. 2*
If poem by Bruce McAllister …
By the Will of the Gods novelette by Charles Q. Choi a shun orphan after his parents die in a spaceship crush becomes a pupil in a temple. The world is a mix of old and new – in that star system there is another planet where ancient aliens created gates to other worlds, even while local population is still superstitious. Boy’s tutor is killed and he takes it to solve the murder. 3.5*
Monumental Thinking [Editorial (Analog)] essay by Rosemary Claire Smith if there should be new faces on bank notes and new statues, whom (chiefly among scientists) to glorify? 3*
Mixed Marriage novelette by Dan Helms a kind of 70s SF – population explosion on Earth led to people waking only one day per week. A boy from Friday plans to marry a girls from Sunday – and people’s cultures differentiated because different days don’t meet. 3*
Constructing a Habitable Planet [Science Fact (Analog)] essay by Julie Novakova what characteristics a solar system should have to have a habitable planet? 4*
Julie Nováková? [Biolog] essay by Richard A. Lovett a short bio of Czech SF author 3*
My Hypothetical Friend short story by Harry Turtledove aliens start trade with Earth, local manager makes a gift to alien of kids figurines (like from happy meal) from his collection. 2.5*
A Shot in the Dark novelette by Deborah L. Davitt a man living as a hermit on Uranus, with only AI for a company, receives an order to meet a strange object flying nearby. The story narrated by him and shows his extreme introversion, esp. after he got a message that he has a daughter. 3*
Photometric Evidence of the Gravitational Lensing of SAO23820 by a Nonluminous Low-Mass Stellar Object short story by Jay Werkheiser a protagonist wrote an article, where his experimental data are not in line with current theories
Spoiler
observing effects of a possible black dwarf star, which should appear in our universe only if it was like 1000 times olderConference of the Birds short story by Benjamin C. Kinney an AI surveillance system self trains to follow hackers by evolution-like methods only to change sides. 2.5*
Interstellar Pantomime short story by Martin Dimkovski a space ship from Earth meets alien ship and makes a show for it by showing small models of both ships meeting and sharing some stuff. Interesting idea of von Neumann machines aimed at first contact. 2.5*
Matter and Time Conspire short story by Sandy Parsons a flash fic about kids making time machine to visit their mom to shift her to marry another man, which creates a new version of them. Mom becomes aware and orders to restore all… 2.5*
The Tale of Anise and Basil short story by Daniel James Peterson some strange aliens order an earthman to invent a perfect story. 2*
The Practitioner short story by Em Liu future medical care workers have a view of doctors of the past, in this case an illegal abortionist in the 1965 USA. 2*
What Were You Thinking? short story by Jerry Oltion a programmer, who works on emerging rules in animals, decides to create a model of his girlfriend cat to find out why it barfs and finds much more
Spoiler
that even humans maybe aren’t self-conscious but follow rulesHidden Things poem by Jennifer Crow flow of consciousness…
The Liberator novelette by Nick Wolven an agent under cover comes to a community of people, who don’t want to follow regulations on genetic perfection. He has a personal grudge because he was born with defects. He find out that each coin has two sides. 2.5*
The Nocturnal Preoccupations of Moths novelette by J. Northcutt, Jr. Mars colony is about a few thousand strong and Earth stops sending food. A team of biologists tries to save a horde of different seeds, which should be used one day to grow on Mars. I had a suspicion that it is like a real life story and in the after note it is confirmed
Spoiler
Saving collection of seedbank during blockade of LeningradChanging Eyes short story by Douglas P. Marx a Mars colony uses highlanders from Earth, including Tibet during terraforming. Now they blast their way to the heart of Mars to get heat, but a calamity happens. 2*
The Last Science Fiction Story short story by Adam-Troy Castro a flash-fic about people always wanting to know what is behind the next corner. 3.5*
A Working Dog short story by Anne M. Gibson an inventor creates autonomous lawnmowers, which a a great hit on the market, only to find out that dogs chase them and harm themselves. She tries to change dogs by training, but finds it easier to change lawnmowers. 3.5*
Wave Function Collapse Revealed [The Alternate View] essay by John G. Cramer a description of author’s quantum handshake theory with background to problems of quantum theory. Way above my head but interesting. 3*
So You Want to Be a Guardian Angel short story by Michael Meyerhofer a pilot’s pitch to newcomers that their work of shooting space debree is only for show and all work is done by AI. 2*
Choose One short story by Marie DesJardin aliens gather a group of humans with diverse talents. Each day more and more of them vanish (killed?). only a narrator – professional dancer remains. 2*
We Remember Better short story by Evan Dicken two siblings got a way to relive one memory of their abusive mother. Do they need to see the world from her POV? 2.5*
The Last Compact short story by Brian Rappatta a boy from Mars has a virtual friend – a less known Roman god Sancus (a god of trust (fides), honesty, and oaths) is about to be wiped away because boy’s family moves away and has to free storage space. 2.5*
Riddlepigs and the Cryla short story by Raymund Eich dinosaurs were re-created and but in a forest next to farms that grow pigs with organs to transplant. Dinos attack pigs, farmers are angry, a biologist narrator cannot get how can they call for destruction of dinos habitat. 2.5*
Belle Lettres Ad Astra novelette by Norman Spinrad a writer hired to write as many alien minds as he can to feed AI while a human ship is on the way to a discovered Dyson sphere over 1000 light years away. 2*
If poem by Bruce McAllister …
By the Will of the Gods novelette by Charles Q. Choi a shun orphan after his parents die in a spaceship crush becomes a pupil in a temple. The world is a mix of old and new – in that star system there is another planet where ancient aliens created gates to other worlds, even while local population is still superstitious. Boy’s tutor is killed and he takes it to solve the murder. 3.5*