Asimov's Science Fiction - April 1 2013 - Review
Ok, apparently my Kindle is taking the date of this issue seriously, because I just can't find it without using the search function. Weird.
Not that surprising though - for whatever reason Amazon has created a very weird format for these magazines. Could be worse, though - in the Android version, it simply didn't remember where I stopped reading. So every time I reopened the magazine, I had to figure out where I was last (sometimes weeks ago, as I usually read only bits on the cell phone). Basically unusable.
Well, the big reason I read this one is that Neal Asher mentioned his story:
- The Other Gun - Neal Asher
A nice novella on Asher's Commonwealth. It is part of a new trilogy - which should be interesting. This one has some serious steampunk flavor (the novella starts with the main character dropping from orbit in a bathysphere, for crying out loud!), and the sidekick is an human converted into an raptor.
Nice villain, too. The end seems to drag for a bit after the revelation of what the gun is. But still pretty good.
Some of the rest that I thought was worth commenting:
- Writing in the margin - Joel Richards
Mostly about a fictional tech - extracting memories from previous lifes, and the resulting consequences on the world. Very good.
- Through your eyes - Linda Nagata
Linda Nagata has published some awesome books (and I was surprised to hear that she does websites, too?!?!?), specially the Nanotech Succession series - which I remember best for the distributed minds concept. She does not disappoint in this short tale of the effect of personal recording as proof against bad governments. Very topical with all the wearable stuff coming out (Google Glass, iWatch, etc).
- Gray Wings - Karl Bunker
Nice tale of racers (with bio engineered wings) and poverty.
- The Wall - Naomi Kritzer
Great, touching time travel story.
- The Oracle - Ken Liu
Nice, short story on a tech that allows the user to view a significant point in their future. But even with the certainty of that, you can't really tell the context...
Not that surprising though - for whatever reason Amazon has created a very weird format for these magazines. Could be worse, though - in the Android version, it simply didn't remember where I stopped reading. So every time I reopened the magazine, I had to figure out where I was last (sometimes weeks ago, as I usually read only bits on the cell phone). Basically unusable.
Well, the big reason I read this one is that Neal Asher mentioned his story:
- The Other Gun - Neal Asher
A nice novella on Asher's Commonwealth. It is part of a new trilogy - which should be interesting. This one has some serious steampunk flavor (the novella starts with the main character dropping from orbit in a bathysphere, for crying out loud!), and the sidekick is an human converted into an raptor.
Nice villain, too. The end seems to drag for a bit after the revelation of what the gun is. But still pretty good.
Some of the rest that I thought was worth commenting:
- Writing in the margin - Joel Richards
Mostly about a fictional tech - extracting memories from previous lifes, and the resulting consequences on the world. Very good.
- Through your eyes - Linda Nagata
Linda Nagata has published some awesome books (and I was surprised to hear that she does websites, too?!?!?), specially the Nanotech Succession series - which I remember best for the distributed minds concept. She does not disappoint in this short tale of the effect of personal recording as proof against bad governments. Very topical with all the wearable stuff coming out (Google Glass, iWatch, etc).
- Gray Wings - Karl Bunker
Nice tale of racers (with bio engineered wings) and poverty.
- The Wall - Naomi Kritzer
Great, touching time travel story.
- The Oracle - Ken Liu
Nice, short story on a tech that allows the user to view a significant point in their future. But even with the certainty of that, you can't really tell the context...
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