This issue is a tribute to Asimov’s former editor Gardner Dozois and features one of his stories, 1983’s “The Peacemaker” about melting icecaps leading to rising oceans. Several people reminisce about how funny and charming Gardner was. I wasn’t previously familiar with him, but he has more Hugo awards than anyone else, and it sounds like he was both a great writer and editor. Continue reading
Another great issue full of many great stories. We get a mix of tales, some humorous, some horrific, featuring aliens, time travel, and space travel.
“How Sere Looked for a Pair of Boots” by Alexander Jablokov takes place in a world filled with many different types of aliens who use each other’s body parts, waste products, moltings, and parasites to trade with each other. Hey, everybody’s got something that someone else wants. Continue reading
When I first cracked open this book and saw it contained words such as Teixcalaanlitzlim, I thought it would be a lot of work to get through. But once I dove in, it wasn’t that difficult. Sure, there are a few alien words here and there, but not so many that it becomes a chore. Just the right amount to add spice. Plus, there’s a pronunciation guide in back in case you’re wondering how these words are supposed to sound. (This book focuses a lot on linguistics and the differences between languages.) Continue reading
“It seemed to me that everyone knows they will die one day. My feeling was nobody can stop death; it doesn’t matter if it comes from a Talib or cancer. So I should do whatever I want to do.”
Malala Yousafzai was raised in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, often called the Switzerland of the East since rich people from around the world used to go on holiday there. Almost anywhere you go in Swat, you’ll find the remains of old Buddhist temples. Malala relates the ancient history of the area as if it were her own family history. Continue reading
E. T. A. Hoffman is best known for his story “Nutcracker and Mouse King” which was turned into the famous ballet. “Nutcracker” isn’t included in this volume, but this collection does contain “Mademoiselle De Scuderi” which many consider to be the first detective story. Some also credit Hoffman with starting the Romantic movement. Continue reading
The Voynich Manuscript has remained a mystery for centuries. First off, it’s written in an unknown script by an unknown author. It might be a hitherto unknown language, a cipher, or just plain nonsense. It features images of unknown plants, possible star charts featuring zodiac-like imagery, and pictures of naked women bathing in pools connected by tubes which may be balneological (relating to healing baths). Several pages are missing from it. Continue reading
Erzsébet (Elizabeth) Báthory was a medieval Hungarian countess, best known for bathing in blood to keep herself young. While it’s a myth that she bathed in blood, there was a trial in which she was said to have tortured and killed several servant girls. The trial itself, however, was rather irregular, so whether Elizabeth Bathory was indeed guilty or not is still an open question. Continue reading
“Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan” -Ezekiel 16:3
The city of Ugarit was destroyed around 1200 BC and rediscovered in 1928. It was a Canaanite city-state like Jerusalem. Until the Ugaritic texts were discovered, all we knew about the Canaanites was what was said of them in the Bible. The texts that survive are fragmentary, but at least give us a small window into what the Canaanites believed. The Ugaritic texts have similarities to both the Gilgamesh epic and passages in the Bible. Continue reading
Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory was a medieval Hungarian countess who supposedly tortured and killed hundreds of girls and bathed in their blood to keep herself young. Her story has been exaggerated a lot over the years. There’s no evidence she really bathed in blood, and the number of dead girls was wildly inflated. In fact, it’s even possible that she was completely innocent (see Tony Thorne’s book, Countess Dracula: The Life and Times of Elisabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess.)
Kimberly Craft has written the best non-fiction book making the case that Elizabeth was indeed guilty of at least some of the crimes she was accused of (Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory), so I was interested to see how she’d tell the tale in a fictional manner. Continue reading
So I’ve got a subscription to Asimov’s Science Fiction now. I generally consume most of my short fiction in podcast form, but I apparently can’t say no to door-to-door salesmen, so here we are. But you know what? For once I’m glad I gave in to the salesman’s pitch, because this is really good stuff.
I’ve gotten bored with the whole post-apocalyptic, dystopian thing of late, so I’m happy to report most of the stories in this issue are optimistic. They’re also hard sci-fi for the most part. There was also a lot of diversity in terms of the nationality of the characters. Aliens, when they exist, are usually off screen, which serves to make them more mysterious and awe inspiring. Continue reading
