Usual disclaimer: I'm hopelessly far behind on Asimov's Science Fiction; I'm actually writing this review in the March-of-2021 timeframe. I know I said maybe I'd catch up in 2020; maybe I'll catch up in 2021 instead.
This issue featured a tribute to Gardner Dozois, the long-time editor of the magazine. I knew of him primarily as an editor, both in the context of this magazine as well as various "year's best" anthologies. I hadn't realized he was also widely respected as an author within the science fiction community, but had put his own writing career on hold due to his success as an editor. Based on the various tributes, I suspect I would not have liked him in person, but I very much respect his work.
Peacemaker, by Gardner Dozois
- Very well written.
- Other than the quality of the writing, there wasn't much here that I liked. A bunch of religious fruitcakes, a barely-qualifies-as-science-fiction plot, a very telegraphed plot twist, I just didn't care for this story.
- Overall: 2/5
Instantiation, by Greg Egan
- Very well written.
- Like everything of Egan's that I've read, it started out with a very interesting concept. Unlike most of Egan's longer work, I actually thought it reached a relatively satisfying conclusion rather than descending into meaningless gibberish.
- As with pretty much every computer-related story, a lot of things were either hand-wavy or just glossed over entirely. In this particular case, that didn't bug me too much.
- Overall: 4/5
Tourists, by Rammel Chan
- Weird. Just interesting enough to keep me reading though.
- Plot twist was predictable.
- Overall: 3/5
Eighteen Songs by Debussy, by Michael Swanwick
- Very weird. At least it's short.
- Apparently Swanwick was horny as hell when he wrote this?
- Overall: 1/5
How I Found Harry's All-Night Hamburgers, by Lawrence Watt-Evans
- Very well written.
- Entertaining and a welcome return to an old world, although the addiction angle slightly turned me off.
- Overall: 4/5
Terrible Trudy on the Lam, by Eileen Gunn
- Very well written.
- Laugh-out-loud funny and very entertaining.
- Overall: 5/5
January March, by Tom Purdom
- Well written.
- I just couldn't get into it; I had no interest in the plot or the characters.
- Overall: 3/5
The Starry Sky Over the Southern Isle, by Zhao Haihong
- Is this even science fiction?
- Well written, just not my cup of tea.
- Overall: 2/5
Transport, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- Oh no, this is going to be about a dumb kid? Oh good, it's not.
- Easier to follow than a lot of Rusch's stuff.
- Magical technology, never explained.
- Overall: 3/5
Isla Tiburon, by Alex Irvine
- Oh great, some sort of dystopian future ruled by...water companies?!
- I just couldn't get into this at all. Luckily it was short.
- On the positive side, I learned about the largest island in the Gulf of California. I'm sure that'll come in handy someday during pub trivia.
- Overall: 2/5
The Lights Go Out, One by One, by Kofi Nyameye
- Humans harnessing wormholes to go intergalactic, I like it.
- Wait, a human made the right decision. What exactly is supposed to be the conflict here?
- So clearly this story was written to appeal to people who think humanity should voluntarily go extinct. Those people can fuck right off.
- Overall: 2/5
Mr. Death Goes to the Beach, by Jack Dann
- An annoying boy has a weird conversation with Death and is then yelled at by his annoying mother.
- Where exactly is the science here?
- Overall: 2/5
The Lost Testament, by Allen M. Steele
- The second part of a story started a few issues earlier. I didn't really remember that story at first, but it came back to me as I read this.
- As with most of Steele's writings, I quite enjoyed this even though I didn't find the world believable and there was at least one plot hole that really irked me.
- Overall: 4/5
