Asimov 's SF - April/May 2011

Asimov's always had more fantasy in it than Analog's, and this issue is no exception, which explains why I took so much time to finish this issue (and stopped in the middle to read The Line War).

There were plenty of enjoyable stories in the middle of the slow ones:

- Clockworks, by William Preston, was an interesting mistery with a sociopath surgeon building a doomsday weapon... but getting a conscience introduced surgically and going to the other side.

- The Homecoming, by Mike Resnick. Resnick can be counted for interesting aliens, and this is no exception. A very nice short story.

- The Fnoor Hen, By Rudy Rucker. Rucker's stories are always well in the weird side (I'm viewing his Wetware and Software books, in the bookcase behind my computer, as I write this - a very good example). Somewhat entertaining.

- A Response for EST17 - Tom Purdom. Pretty good. Remote first contact (only first for one side, though...) with very interesting premises. The tiny solar sail based starships with emulated humans remind me somewhat of Charles Stross...

- The one that got away - Esther M. Friesner. I literally LOL in the end. A very funny terror/comedy short story.

- Becalmed - by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Interesting story about a linguist in a cultural war. I felt the conclusion was a bit disappointing compared to the build-up, however.

- A very interesting article about Isaac Asimov.

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