Asimov’s, May/June 2026
“Failed Attempts at Predation” by A.M. Dellamonica
“The Language of Machines” by Betsy Aoki
“A Penrose Dirge” by Chris Campbell
“Sophie Simpson’s Whizz-Bang Day at World War I” by Dale Bailey
“The girl Who Stole Life” by Zhou Wen, translated by Xueting C. Ni
“Half Inside the Spirit Box” by Stephanie Feldman
“The Sky Above the Earth Below” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Unspeakable Knowns” by Donald McCarthy
“Alpha Gal” by Greg Egan
“Hot” by Cecelia Holland
Reviewed by Mina
There were some good gems in this issue.
“Failed Attempts at Predation” by A.M. Dellamonica is a lovely, warm novelette, despite the main character being autistic. Sedge is seemingly stranded in the wilds in the middle of an abandoned land reclamation project. His only company is Gus, a pilot recovering from a coma who keeps trying to loot his tech; Meeth, a three-legged bobcat kitten who has learned to use buttons linked to basic words, and Apis, a vintage AI housekeeper.
The tale starts off simply, slowly gaining complexity, as we learn more about the world and the Pied Piper virus affecting bots. But the main focus is the growing relationship between Sedge and Gus—there should be more of such warmth in SF.
“The Language of Machines” by Betsy Aoki is a beautiful story. Again, we start off simply with new layers of complexity being added along the way. We meet New Humans, spiral machines, Old Humans, a sentient warship and… thoughtful baobabs. And all must learn to communicate with each other. We are introduced to Rach, Taz, Catullus A and Venture. I love the line: “This entire situation seems complex and has many branchings.”
I found “A Penrose Dirge” by Chris Campbell simply irritating. Nobody will ever match Douglas Adams, regardless of how many footnotes they use. However, I was never a fan of Terry Pratchett, so perhaps I am missing the point? The story is set just before the universe ends… again. Most of it is a conversation between the conductor of each end, and each new beginning, and one of his creations.
“Sophie Simpson’s Whizz-Bang Day at World War I” by Dale Bailey starts with a school outing. Anyone who has been the odd one out, the friendless and bullied one at school, will feel for Sophie. However, the tale then turns into real horror—not that it’s hard to make World War I awful—with undertones of Carrie. I’m always disappointed when the underdog finds strength through violence. There was an interesting theory on conscription though—who can and can’t avoid it.
“The Girl Who Stole Life” by Zhou Wen, translated by Xueting C. Ni is a novelette after my heart. As a former translator, I was fascinated by this exploration of language learning and neurolinguistics. It’s a close look at how we mirror others and the consequences of breaking down barriers between individual consciousnesses.
The narrator meets Zhao Wen at university: whereas the narrator has accepted a humble existence, Zhao Wen is ambitious. Initially, her ambition is fuelled by her desire to help her mother. She finds a way to mirror the knowledge, thoughts and desires of others… but it comes at a high cost. Read this story for the science behind it (Mu wave suppression) and a thought-provoking look at sense of self and its loss. The beginning only makes sense at the end—I am not a fan of horror but this was beautifully subtle.
In “Half Inside the Spirit Box” by Stephanie Feldman, we meet an escape artist and a medium. The escape artist, Winston Montecarlo, is asked to show that the medium, Madame Livermore, is a fraud. She turns out to have a gift but not the one Winston was expecting. And she discovers his secret identity. Are they friends or enemies? And what is the voice Winston keeps hearing in his head? If you like your stories to leave you with a shudder, then this will be up your street.
The novelette “The Sky Above the Earth Below” by Steve Rasnic Tem is a melancholic tale. Grace’s life starts on Earth and will end on Mars. We meet a young Grace on Earth running a carbon-capture project; an Earth where advanced climate change is wreaking havoc. Her most meaningful relationship also founders. We meet an elderly and lonely Grace on Mars, part of a project to make it habitable for humans. There is a creepy hint of AI doing its own thing and that human birth rates may not be high enough. The miracle is that Grace can see beauty in even the most desolate landscape. A quiet tale where the horror comes after extrapolating and contemplating the seeds sown by the author.
And I learned two new words: pareidolia and kenopsia.
“Unspeakable Knowns” by Donald McCarthy is a terrible tale but well written. We’re allowed into the mind of a war criminal, as he plays games with reporters to justify an unjust war. He enjoys himself and is clearly a sociopath. To be honest, I don’t need to read stories like this when switching on the news suffices these days. And I would rather understand why Buddha was Buddha than why Hitler was Hitler.
“Alpha Gal” by Greg Egan only just makes it into SF territory. Elena develops a sudden allergy to meat. She works hard to find out how it happened and how it spread. The story simply pushes the envelope in microbiology. But it is oddly gripping.
In “Hot” by Cecelia Holland, we follow Francie through a world irrevocably changed by natural disasters. She joins forces with Timjohn and then begins to look for her family. It’s a brutal world, where those with guns call the shots. Francie finds her father and brother only for her father to be shot in front of her. But Francie is different because she is able to think of the future beyond a world descending into thieving and violence. She believes in her father’s vision of a different way, based on cooperation and without the law of the gun. And Francie knows how to convince others because they trust her honesty, compassion, fairness and strength.
It’s a depressing story for the most part but with a ray of hope at the end. Unusually, the main character remains honourable and likeable till the end. Francie is not perfect but she learns from her mistakes and her grief. Despite her youth, we see the beginning of a great leader.