Best SF

Felicity Shoulders. Small Towns. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan/Feb 2012)

Mark Watson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:27:09 +0000

Just after the end of the Great War, two lives come together. One is a man who returns to his devasted home town who copes with the changes by building a small-scale replica. The other is a tiny woman (and I mean tiny as in Thumbelina rather than a person of restricted growth). Whilst he wants to see the world as a smaller place than it is, she experiences it as a much bigger place, but it does not make for a happy relationship.

Tochi Onyebuchi. Dust to Dust. (Panverse Three)

Mark Watson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:06:12 +0000

A story which begins with a date setting which is that of the day of the birth of my first son. Whilst waiting for him to make his appearance, my wife and I were watching the Berlin Wall coming down, thinking that with the end of the Cold War, he would be growing up in a much safer world than the one we had known. Ha!

Onyebuchi brings us a story set in the grey eastern Europe of the last year of the 80s, with murder afoot, and some ancient evils being called upon, as the creatures wreaking death is not of this earth. Or, more correctly, is of this Earth. A final confrontation sees justice down, with the monster warned ‘it would ill behoove you to attack me again’. I do like a story with an ill behooving!

Analog. December 2011.

Mark Watson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:57:48 +0000

Content :

Ray of Light. Brad R. Torgeson.
The Impossibles. Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (a legal drama)
Not for Ourselves Alone. Charles E. Gannon.
Turning it Off. Susan Forest.
Freudian Slipstream. Brad Aiken.
Hidden. Kyle Kirkland.
Art for Splendor’s Sake. Dave Creek.

E.J. Swift. The Complex. (Interzone #238, Jan/Feb 2012)

Mark Watson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:50:26 +0000

A first-published story by Swift, and it’s a good one, showing more assurance that you often get.

A spaceship is due to visit a penal colony planet, to return prisoners who have served their sentence back to Earth. Yun has served her long sentence, and is has a place on the spaceship for its return journey, but does not want to take that place. The story unfolds her backstory, the situation on Earth, and why she has no desire for that future.

Eric Del Carlo. Friendlessness. (Asimovs January 2012)

Mark Watson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:23:23 +0000

A young man, socially awkward, finds that having run out of the money to pay for a professional Friend, he is reliant on his own limited skill set for interpersonal communications, in a world were those skills are prized, and public. However, in returning to his childhood home he stumbles upon someone who puts him back in touch with himself. The story zips through quite quickly and fairly obviously.

Carol Johnstone. God of the Gaps. (Interzone #238, Jan-Feb 2010).

Mark Watson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:15:04 +0000

A story that starts with xeno-monstrosities leaping out of every corridor, with every opening door leading to more horrors. Fortunately, it’s a theme park activity, and a young teacher escorting a pupil is grateful to see the sign to the shop at the end of the ‘ride’. However, they find their way to a museum dedicated to UFOs and alien abductions, and what seems like cheesy fun takes a darker turn. Johnstone’s protagonist provides a darkly comic Glaswegian take on things.

Tyler Keevil. Fearful Symmetry. (Interzone #238, Jan-Feb 2012)

Mark Watson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:09:40 +0000

Science thriller set in a remote wilderness in eastern Europe, post-something. There’s climate change to contend with, and the story revolves around the exact nature of an animal in the forests which is killing the locals. Simply hunting it down isn’t an option, as the genetic mutations rife in animals (and humans) requires the authorities to identify exactly what the creature is, for should it be a genetically new animal, it must be preserved.

Keevil sets the scene well, as a female western scientist has to deal with reluctant support from the local scientists, and more openly hostile reaction from the local hunters. The tension builds as they trek through the forest and realise that the hunters have become the hunters. There’s a taut finish in a story that delivers what it sets out to.

Jack McDevitt. Maiden Voyage. (Asimovs January 2012)

Mark Watson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:15:05 +0000

Readers familiar with McDevitt’s ‘Academy’ novels will doubtless be particularly pleased to read a story featuring the early days of Priscilla Hutchins, who is evidently a central figure in the six novels.

As I’m not in that position the story as a singleton looks at the maiden voyage of a young spaceship pilot. More specifically, the flight which she is in control of whilst under supervision, the completion of which will get her a full licence. The story sets out her background, what has called her to space, what in her personality makes the loneliness and the distances travelled something not to be feared.

A further intriguing element is the background of ancient monuments left across our galaxy by a much earlier predecessor race (or races), and the planet which is her destination, which holds more than first thought. What doesn’t quite work for me is the ending (spoiler alert!) where she comes across the corpse of a member of the predecessor race, the first ever found and clearly one of the greatest scientific finds of all time, but decides to keep quiet to let the corpse rest in peace.

But notwithstanding this ending, I’ll make a mental note to get a hold of the Academy novels when I’m retired and got the time to read novels. Of course that mental note will disappear about 10 seconds after I pressed the Publish button, so let’s hope I stumble across this dusty review in 8 years time when I’m mapping out my retirement reading..

Katherine Marzinsky. Recyclable Material. (Asimovs January 2012)

Mark Watson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:05:38 +0000

First published story for Marzinsky, a short (just over 1000 words) one in which a robot follows its programming. Fortunately.

Not a whole lot to get a hold of, reviewing-wise, with perhaps a comment that the author strains just that little too hard style-wise.

Ray Cluley. Fata Morgana. (Interzone #238 Jan-Feb 2012)

Mark Watson — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:26:50 +0000

Excellent fantasy from Cluley, with a setting that convinces – a city rising from the sea on aged timbers, whose inhabitants live off the sea. Those closer to the sea are richer, whilst those further away have to eke out a living, and it is one of these ‘uppers’ who is the protagonist, a young man who dreams of life far away in the fabled city build on sand, Fata Morgana.

There’s more than a touch of Dickens in the setting and telling of the story, as he is orphaned, brought up by his unpleasant uncle, in a society where the rich and the poor live cheek by jowl, with little chance of improving oneself, a sort of mashup of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. Cluley creates a vivid setting with some great imagery and detail, and provides a story that demands a sequel.