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Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine
May 1997
This month's issue of Analog features an interesting
editorial by Stanley Schmidt on the issue of privatisation of
America's nature parks. He believes the government, bad as it
is, can do a better job of preserving wildlife than the private
sector. To me, it looks as if he has taken the pragmatic view
that some parts of the country and economy are better left to
a government.
Stories featured in this issue are:
- "Finder's Fee" by David Alexander and Hayford Peirce
is a fascinating story that reminds me, a bit, of Larry Niven's
Known Space stories. The protagonist, in deep debt, has only
apparently worthless rocks to sell. As usual, the rocks don't turn
out to be so useful after all. But he has to get the cooperation of
strange aliens to discover their true worth.
- "Relics of the Big Bang" by Chris Vuille, Ph.D. is a
science fact article which covers a lot of cosmological ground:
primodial black holes, spacetime defects, shadow worlds and quark
nuggets are just some of the things covered in this eye-popping
article.
- "This Old Rock" by G. David Nordley looks at a
familiar problem in an unfamiliar place: making your home pass an
inspection so that you can live in it. But this time, the home is an
asteroid and the inspector is one who can find fault with just about
anything. Reminiscent of some of Heinlein's stories about life in
space, this story is one that shows the gritty details of living (and
surviving) in space.
- "Warrior's Honor" by Uncle River looks at a virtual
reality with a difference: the characters's emotions can be felt by
the real-life player. The protagonist wonders whether there could be
any way this feedback could be used to help a society that is
undergoing rapid social-disorder.
- "The Dream of Castles" by Wil McCarthy is a 'cute'
story about the life of an intelligent home whose owners are legally
squatters who don't wish to move. In the end, the house figures out
an imaginative way to protect its owners.
- "The Mendelian Lamp Case" by Paul Levinson is a
somewhat chilling story that shows that you don't need to have high
technology to wage bacteriological warfare. The story is neatly
wrapped up in an ending that hints of future conflicts to come.
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