Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Volume 123, Issue 10, October 2003

Astounding/Analog

by Stanley Schmidt (Editor), Vernor Vinge (Contributor), Gregory Benford (Contributor)

Vol. CXXIII, No. 10. Cover art by Dominic Harman.

Contents:
• "Scarce Skills and Scattered Substitutes," essay by Stanley Schmidt
• "The Cookie Monster," novella by Vernor Vinge
• "The Power of Rotting Plants, or How SF Solved Global Warming," essay by Gregory Benford, Martin I. Hoffert, and Robert A. Metzger
• "A New Man," novelette by Shane Tourtellotte
• "Unseen," novelette by Robert R. Chase
• "The Universe as Seen by WMAP," essay by John G. Cramer
• "Just an Average Guy," short story by Richard Foss
• "Halloweentown," short story by Brian Plante
• "Moonstruck" Part 2 of 4," serial by Edward M. Lerner
• "The Reference Library," essay by Thomas A. Easton
• "Upcoming Events," essay by Anthony R. Lewis

Genres: Science Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Stanley Schmidt is an American science fiction author. Between 1978 and 2012 he served as editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.

Reviews

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

8 • The Cookie Monster • 33 pages by Vernor Vinge
Good/VG. Coincidence that I happened to finish this magazine on Groundhog day? Dixie gets a new job at the help desk for LotsaTech. On her first day answering questions after six days of training she gets an infuriating email and decides to go track down the source.
This was really good, and a fun read, but I wouldn't have pegged it for a Hugo (2004 best novella).

49 • A New Man • 13 pages by Shane Tourtellotte
OK. Josh committed some crimes due to uncontrollable anger. He had part of his brain rewritten. Now, thirteen years later, he has been released. How can he cope with the situation and were there any side effects to the treatment?

62 • Unseen • 13 pages by Robert R. Chase
Good+. Rick is a biologist working with bacteria. He wonders why he can't keep his specimens alive. It's an invisible organism feeding on them. He quickly changes his thesis. What other implications may this have?

82 • Halloweentown • 10 pages by Brian Plante
Good+. In a sanitized future there is no physical social interaction. Today Eva and Ben get to go to outside. It's to Halloween town to go trick-or-treating in an otherwise abandoned convention center with fake houses where robots give out educational "treats."

92 • Moonstruck • 42 pages by Edward M. Lerner
VG/Excellent. Part 2 of 4. In part 1 aliens come to Earth claiming friendship, but really being instigators of nuclear war. We meet Swelk at the end of part 1. She is shunned by other Krulirim, and deliberately kept out of the loop. She finds a way of gleaning information, gets caught and escapes to Earth, where she is sort of welcomed, but the rest of part 2 is mostly whether the humans can trust her or not, e.g. is the mothership really a fake or not?

[Marthe Dangreux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cookie Monster n'a rien à voir avec votre monstre préféré de Sesame Street. C'est un roman court (novella chez nos amis américains) qui a gagné le prix Hugo en 2004. On y suit Dixie Mae lors de son premier jour au service client de Lotsatech. Une étrange enquête commence quand elle reçoit un email rageur. le début est assez étonnant et je n'ai pas pu prévoir où allait l'histoire. Vernor Vinge joue bien des mystères et sait faire résonner son histoire avec le contexte actuel (le roman date de 2003 ! C'était assez visionnaire.) J'ai trouvé le récit un peu décousu et aride par moment mais j'ai adoré la conclusion - c'est le meilleur dans les récits courts de SF je trouve - et ce qu'elle sous-entend. Au final, Une Heure-Lumière très agréable.

[Adom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent story. I would have been much more impressed if I hadn't read a bunch of time-loop fics and ideas surrounding simulations, though I imagine this was ahead of its time. Like a lot of Vinge's stories, technological development is determined by what is required by the story. This normally doesn't bother me too much since I'm interested in what story he wants to tell, but here I think it undercut the story, since decisions/analysis made by the characters relied on implausible ideas about what sorts of technologies are possible.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Computers.

[Jim Paprocki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t particularly care for the narrative and dialogue, but the core idea being explored was super cool, and revealed at a masterly pace.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premier livre de ala collection une heure lumière que je n'apprécie pas. On voit arriver la chute trop facilement et l'histoire n'a pas réussi à m'entraîner.

[Trevor Durham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super Philip K. Dick, super thought-out, though I couldn't find myself naturally falling into the writing.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this soon after it came out and won the Hugo.

Typical Vinge quality, very entertaining with some intriguing moral questions.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Computer simulated personalities; modern slavery (?); Enhanced isolated brain/brain in a vat story