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Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
March 2002

This month's issue of Asimov's features a Reflections column by Robert Silverberg who talks about the establishment of a new Science Fiction award: the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, which is awarded to an author whose body of work deserveds to be 'rediscovered' by current day readers. The first award has been given to Olaf Stapledon.

Stories featured in this issue are:

"A Speaker for the Wooden Sea" by Ian Watson. An interesting look at a very different world whose 'seas' are literally made of wood. Into this world steps an explorer who hopes to become rich by making an exotic drug found on this world. But events take an unexpected turn when the wood of the sea turns out to be not so inert after all.
"The Wild Girls" by Ursula Le Guin. A story that starts off slow but gradually builds to a good climax in a tale set within a different but interesting social system. A group of soldiers kidnaps some girls which are then sold except for a baby who is left for dead. Bus as their lives develop and they become valuable comodities, the dead baby will come back to haunt them all in a chilling way.
"The Passenger" by Paul McAuley. An interesting tale set in a future after a war in space. A salvage team sent to salvage a ship makes an interesting discovery; parts of its life support system are missing and one of its crew is unaccounted for. The solution to the mystery is obvious but the question of how remains and that makes the story interesting.
"Captains of Industry" by Matthew Jarpe. A story that starts with an interesting premise but whose ending does not quite depend on. The story is set in a future where, in order to run business empires spanning many worlds, CEOs live on a relativistic ship. Trouble comes when two corporations try to claim a planet and all the CEOs can do is watch as a 'proxy' fight takes place in non-relativistic time.
"Life in the Sardine Lane" by R. Neube. A story set in a future after World War III, where most of the survivors roam the solar system in huge 'grain ships' provided by an alien species, barely making it on rations. The only way to get out is via a scholarship to Mars; and the captain of one of the ships may be able to provide help to someone who needs it.
"Getting the News" by Jim Grimsley. A tale set in the future where a human colony is sharing a solar system with an alien species and is at war with it. A probe, made up of an AI and a human occupant is sent to monitor the alien colony. Events reach a critical point when an alien warship appears, hinting at a renewal of the war but subsequent events hint things may not be all they seem but little may be know about that in this tale.

Norman Spinrad gives another 'review-essay' where he looks at what is wrong with the Science Fiction market today; there isn't simply enough of "the right stuff" anymore. He feels there is not enough good sophisticated genre fiction anymore to keep readers interested in the genre, leading to a loss of interest and readers in SF.

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Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine March 2002

Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
March 2002