May's Analog in Review

"Test Signal" by David Bartell (na, skip)
"No Traveller Returns" by Dave Creek (nt, OK)
"The Ashes of His Fathers" by Eric James Stone (ss, OK)
"Still-Hunting" by Sarah K. Castle (ss, meh)
"Petite Pilferer Puzzles Piedmont Police" by Walter L. Kleine (ss, good)
"What Drives Cars" by Carl Frederick (ss, good)
"Consequences of the Mutiny" by Ronald R. Lambert (nt, good)
"The Night of the RFIDs" by Edward M. Lerner (ss, meh)

This seemed to be a below-average issue of Analog. There was some heavy-handed politics and some fluff, and nothing that really grabbed me and changed the way I thought about the universe. Can't win them all.

Next up is June's Asimov's. It's good that we're getting into the June stuff this early. However, I think the gains will be short lived. I'll be leaving for England on vacation in mid-June, and I'm not sure what my posting schedule will be. And if there's one thing I know about vacations, it's that I never get as much reading done as I expect. So we'll have to see how it goes. I'm trying to get ahead, but between Masterclass reading and Hugo reading, it's a bit tight.

May F&SF, in a Nutshell

"Reunion" by Robert Reed (ss, good)
"Rebecca's Locket" by S. L. Gilbow (ss, OK)
"Immortal Snake" by Rachel Pollack (nt, meh)
"Firooz and His Brother" by Alex Jeffers (ss, meh)
"Thrilling Wonder Stories" by Albert E. Cowdrey (ss, good)
"Traitor" by M. Rickert (ss, good)
"Circle" by George Tucker (nt, good)

F&SF in May provides us with a heck of a variety, and not one of them is poorly written. We've got aliens, killers, and Native American ghosts. Classic "what-if" sf, fables, and horror. I've got quibbles with some of them, but a few are really thought provoking. Good stuff (and actually reviewed in May!)

Next up is May's Analog, but we'll be into June titles before the first week in June is over, it looks like.

To Whit: Baen's Vol 2, No. 6

"Manumission" by Tobias S. Buckell (good)
"Virtually, A Cat" by Jody Lyn Nye (good)
"Indomitable" by Jack McDevitt (excellent, ss)
"Honorable Enemies" by Mike Resnick (good)
"Scraps of Fog" by Sarah A. Hoyt (OK)
"The Witch of Waxahachie" by Lou Antonelli (good)
"The Knight of Coins" by Margaret Ronald (OK)
"Red Tape and Cold Iron" by Lucy Bond (good)
"Extreme Reservations" by R. J. Ortega (good)

The editors of Baen's appear to know exactly what they want: good, enjoyable sf and fantasy. That's what you get here. It's all good and readable, if rarely ground-breaking.

Next up: F&SF for May. And it's still May!

Interzone #215 Wrap Up

"The Endling" by Jamie Barras; (skipped)
"Dragonfly Summer" by Patrick Samphire; (meh)
"Crystal Nights" by Greg Egan; (excellent)
"Holding Pattern" by Joy Marchand; (OK)
"Street Hero" by Will McIntosh; (good)
"The Imitation Game" by Rudy Rucker; (meh)

Well, I'm very surprised. In the previous two issues of Interzone that I had read, the quality was head-and-shoulders above what I'd come to expect from my sf short-fiction magazines. While not every story was my all-time favorite, they were mostly above average and several of them were even better than that. This issue, with only two good stories (even if one of them is amazing), is disappointing.

Here's hoping for better with Interzone #216. That's the Mundane SF issue edited by Geoff Ryman. It's already generated a bit of discussion, and I'm looking forward to reading it (as soon as it shows up on Ficitionwise).

Next up, Baen's Universe for April & May. W00t! I'm getting this one reviewed while it's still the latest issue available! Real-time reviewing is coming ever closer.

To Sum Up: April/May Asimov's

"Memory Dog" by Kathleen Ann Goonan (nt, good)
"Slidin'" by Neal Barrett, Jr. (ss, skipped)
"The House Left Empty" by Robert Reed (ss, good)
"An Almanac for the Alien Invaders" by Merrie Haskell (ss, OK)
"An Art, Like Everything Else" by Nick Wolven (ss, good)
"An Alien Heresy" by S. P. Somtow (nt, good)
"Ghost Town" by Catherine Wells (ss, good)
"Strangers When We Meet" by Kate Wilhelm (nt, good)
"Another Country" by Matthew Johnson (ss, good)
"The Advocate" by Barry B. Longyear (ss, OK)
"The Room of Lost Souls" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (na, good)

I was a little surprised that there weren't any stories in this issue that were immediately award-worthy. Usually some of the best of the year goes into the two yearly double issues for the digest magazines. Overall impression: good, but nothing to necessarily write home about. (But writing about it on teh Intertubes? Solid gold, of course.)

And hey, I got the reviews done while it's still on the shelves! Next up will be Interzone #215, a little late since #216, the Mundane SF issue edited by Geoff Ryman came out recently. Still, with a little more acceleration, I hope to be reliably reviewing things during or before their official month of publication, the better to serve y'all.

The Summary for April's F&SF

"First Editions" John Stoddard (good)
"Five Thrillers" Robert Reed (excellent)
"The Nocturnal Adventure of Dr. O and Mr. D." Tim Sullivan (meh)
"The Fountain of Neptune" Kate Wilhelm (good)
"The 400-Million-Year Itch" Steve Utley (OK)

Robert Reed is in top form, Stoddard and Wilhelm are fun and interesting, and those more than makes up for the average quality stories from Sullivan and Utley.

You know, it turns out I don't skip as many stories when I read these issues as I thought I was. It speaks highly of the general level of quality that even mediocre stories seem to usually hold my interest.

The Story So Far

"Let me explain…no, there is too much. Let me sum up." - Inigo Montoya

So, what have I covered so far?

Baen's Universe, Vol. 2, No. 5

• David Brin's "The Smartest Mob" (good)
  
• Eric James Stone's "Premature Emergence" (good)
  
• E. Catherine Tobler, "Waking Ophelia" (skipped)
  
• David Gerrold, "Spiderweb" (skipped)
  
• John Lambshead, "The Temple of Thorns" (skipped)
• Rudyard Kipling, "Unprofessional" (skipped)
• Countdown to Armageddon, Episode Three by Edward M. Lerner
• The Ancient Ones, Episode Five by David Brin
• Fish Story, Episode Eleven, The End of Mankind by Dave Freer, Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis
• Alma Alexander, "Hourglass" (good)
• Mike Resnick, "Sluggo" (good)
  
• Holly Messinger, "End of the Line" (skipped)

F&SF, March

• Alexander Jablokov, "The Boarder" (good)
• Albert E. Cowdrey, "The Overseer" (excellent)
• Nancy Springer, "Rumple-what?" (good)
• K. D. Wentworth, "Exit Strategy" (good)
• Richard Paul Russo, "The Second Descent" (meh)
• Richard Mueller, "A Ten Pound Sack of Rice" (skipped)

Analog, March

• Catherine Asaro, "The Spacetime Pool" (good)
• Robert R. Chase, "Not Even the Past" (good)
• John G. Hemry, "The Bookseller of Bastet" (good)
• Howard V. Hendrix, "Knot Your Grandfather's Knot" (skipped)
• James C. Glass, "Helen's Last Will" (good)
• Joe Haldeman, "Marsbound" Part II (good)

Asimov's March

• Brian Stableford, "Following the Pharmers" (good)
• Cat Rambo, "Kallakak's Cousins" (good)
• Stephen Utley, "The World Within the World" (good)
• Elizabeth Bear, "Shoggoths in Bloom" (excellent)
• Ian Creasey, "How it Feels" (good)
• Tom Purdom, "Sepoy Fidelities" (good)
• Jack O'Brien, "Classics of Science Fiction: The Cold Equations" (excellent)
• Sue Burke, "Spiders" (good)
• Carol Emshwiller, "Master of the Road to Nowhere" (good)

Given the number of posts I've been making and the number of stories published in five magazines over a month (counting Interzone, which I haven't reviewed yet), I think I'll speed up my April posts to try to get closer to real-time.