Analog, September/October 2023
“The Apotheosis of Krysalice Wilson” by Howard V. Hendrix
“Beware the Glob!” by Eric Choi
“Secondhand Music” by Aleksandra Hill
“My Sister, the Space Station” by Mary E. Lowd
“Watching Mars” by Jennifer R. Povey
“The Real Cost of Stopping Time” by Douglas F. Dluzen
“Rememory” by Joel Armstrong
“Fly Straight and Don’t Get Eaten” by Vera Brook
“The Deviltree” by Monalisa Foster
“Second Sight” by Gray Rinehart
“Driftwood” by Benjamin C. Kinney
“The Machine That Is You” by Elliott Gresswell
“Race to the Bottom” by Leonard Richardson
“Trust Fall” by Zach Be
“Bad Car” by Lorraine Alden
“Boojum” by Angus McIntyre
“Quickener” by J. T. Sharrah
“Peer Review” by Andrew Sullivan
Reviewed by Mina
“The Apotheosis of Krysalice Wilson” by Howard V. Hendrix is written through the eyes of George Wilson. He watches over his granddaughter, Krysalice, as she willingly takes part in an experiment to reduce the time lag between a stimulus and perception: basically, stimulating the brain for faster thinking. Krysalice is fitted with a “nano-organo patch” on her skull acting as a hub for “stimsors” injected via her blood and latching onto her nervous system. This allows her to become not just an even better ice skater but also to excel at her studies. She begins to read widely on the meaning of life. Exactly what happens at the end of the story is kept vague, but Krysalice’s name is a big clue. This story has solid ideas but is too full of jargon, both regarding the stimsors and ice skating, which gets in the way of the flow of the story. The characters have no depth and consequently the reader does not much care about Krysalice’s fate, which is a big flaw in the story. Reminiscent of the film Lucy, without the violence.
“Beware the Glob!” by Eric Choi is a big wink to the 1958 film, The Blob (“It crawls! It creeps! It eats you alive!”). In the film, it was discovered that the alien creature could not be killed but could be frozen. At the end of the film, the creature is lowered into the Arctic. This story imagines what happens when climate change wakes the Glob up. It adds a touch of political ambition, unbelievable incompetence and a total lack of concern for the indigenous population, leading to total disaster. Fun but not fluffy.
In “Secondhand Music” by Aleksandra Hill, Ava is given a prosthetic arm that once belonged to another violinist. She begins the slow process of relearning the violin and imposing her style of playing on an arm that still follows the style of its previous owner, Natsuki. The violinist’s manager and widow wants her to give in to Natsuki’s style. Ava must decide whether to become Natsuki’s ghost or to remain herself. A subtle, well-written tale.
“My Sister, the Space Station” by Mary E. Lowd posits a sentient computer system. Forced to let their creator leave, the consciousness in the computer system of a research institution sends a copy of itself in a space shuttle to their creator’s new destination, a space station. They have already created clones of themselves on a smaller scale, but the space station consciousness evolves into an equal. The AIs in this story lay low to avoid discovery and destruction but hold no animosity towards humans. They help humans, sometimes for their own ends, but that serves to make them more human. And they express affection, towards their human creator and towards each other. It was so nice to read a story about AIs that didn’t turn into a horror story.
“Watching Mars” by Jennifer R. Povey is very short but poignant. A time capsule is opened on Mars to reveal that it includes a person in suspended animation. They were dying in the past and are still dying eighty years later. They pass on their memories to the humans now reaching for the stars for they will never leave Mars. One man’s dignified acceptance of death.
“The Real Cost of Stopping Time” by Douglas F. Dluzen is a cautionary tale about trying to find immortality through genetic modification. The protagonist is dying from the side effects of allowing researchers to tinker with his genes. He receives no help and finally spills everything to a reporter. It’s not as if he will be alive for the lawsuits following breaking the NDA. A final act of courage that will not help him but may help others. Depressing but well written.
In “Rememory” by Joel Armstrong, Julia realises that she has had “cranial anamnestic editing.” Her memories have been wiped and replaced by others. In fact, everyone in her family unit has undergone this treatment for childhood trauma. They are not biologically related to each other but have had memories transplanted so they believe they are a family. Julia’s dad prefers not to know what came before because he is happy with his family life—the love and support they give each other is real. Battling with insomnia, Julia must decide if she will read her medical files with her therapist. Does she want to know why she escaped her past? The story asks a lot of good questions about the role of memory in who we think we are.
“Fly Straight and Don’t Get Eaten” by Vera Brook is an imaginative look at using genetically modified vines to build bridges in a future after the floods. Noah is planning to enjoy his last summer before college by playing in a computer game tournament with his best friends. His mother forces him to spend a weekend with his aunt. Over the weekend, Noah learns about his aunt’s vital work and begins to understand that work can also be rewarding and fun. The story makes it a pleasure to accompany Noah’s voyage of discovery and growing up.
“The Deviltree” by Monalisa Foster is an interesting take on first contact. Masaki is a scientist that is part of a landing party investigating a quantum phenomenon on a planet their mothership is passing. The point of view switches between Masaki and the creature stranded on the planet for perhaps centuries. Its natural form is that of a giant stickbug but it can manipulate atoms at a quantum level and mimic other lifeforms. It is sentient and shows curiosity, courage and compassion. Desperately lonely, it approaches the landing party, saving Masaki from an attack by an indigenous animal. Masaki senses the creature’s loneliness and that it shares her desire to communicate and learn from others. They begin communicating with prime numbers. An enjoyable read.
“Second Sight” by Gray Rinehart is set in a settlement on another world. The ship the settlers travelled in was taken apart to build the settlement and then a Luddite Simplification movement destroyed a lot of the tech, in particular the ability to fabricate new technology. Phraestus has eyes that were fabricated whilst the technology for them still existed. When his grandson is blinded in an accident followed by an infection, Phraestus wants to give him his eyes. Not certain he can win the administrative battle, he decides to take things into his own hands. A well-written tale examining the nature of miracles and our human capacity to (mis)understand them.
In “Driftwood” by Benjamin C. Kinney, the protagonist is part of the team scouring a planet for life signs. If they find any, they will not be able to land their ship and colonise the planet. They will remain stuck in orbit with no way back to an Earth that will not go to the expense of sending a rescue party. They debate falsifying the data until the protagonist comes up with a solution to drip-feed the data, so that Earth is forced to negotiate with them to get more. Despite the setting, most of the tale is about human communication: with husbands, team mates and politicians.
“The Machine That Is You” by Elliott Gresswell is written from the point of view of an AI monitoring a hospital ward. I was mildly irritated by the “you” form, as if the AI were speaking to one of its patients. However, the story was good enough that I forgave it. The story is about the battle of wills between the AI that, despite being artificial, genuinely cares about its patients and Dr Fiennes, who only cares about money and promotion. How the AI forces the doctor to provide treatment is ingenious. A delightful read.
“Race to the Bottom” by Leonard Richardson takes the idea of being sold a gimmick and runs with it. This sales pitch tries to sell you a pump so you can move to a better alternate universe. It’s clever and very short because there’s only so far you can go with a one-trick story.
“Trust Fall” by Zach Be follows the (mis)adventures of Nadia, the experienced flyer, and Con, the newbie. Their job is to clear enough debris for a ship to pass through the rubbish belt around Earth. Things keep going wrong and will Con make it to the end of his first day alive? A gripping story.
“Bad Car” by Lorraine Alden sets out to prove that a bad car can ruin your life. Jason buys a used car in mint condition at a cheap price. The previous owner had a bad driving record which is visible on the car to all other drivers, the O-score (Ostraciser score). Jason finds that he is judged time and again for the O-score he inherited. The Scarlet Letter meets driving.
In “Boojum” by Angus McIntyre, a scientific party lands on Titan. They are the second such party, as the first party perished in an accident. As they investigate the surface of Titan, they find evidence that the previous party may have survived a while. But what manner of a disaster did they meet and will the second landing party find out before it’s too late?
“Quickener” by J. T. Sharrah looks at the near disaster caused for Earth by interstellar smuggling and unscrupulous corporate action. Through no fault of his own, Warren finds himself trapped into transporting cargo to Earth that will speed up plant growth. His unexpected crash landing on Earth results in leaking cargo contaminating the rain forest. When the exploding plant growth combines with a herbicide, Warren realises that it could kill all plant life on Earth. Along with the AI Sophia, Warren sets about averting disaster. It is Warren’s self-sacrifice that makes this story truly touching. And his conversations with Sophia are a real highlight. The beginning and end don’t really fit with the rest of the story, but the middle portion is well done.
“Peer Review” by Andrew Sullivan looks at time travel and at rivalry in the scientific community. Little does the student Shakthi know that watching a man eat an article from a journal will change her life. Following her curiosity, she learns of how the rivalry between two men led to the shunning of the better scientist by the scientific community. She becomes part of his return to grace as he proves he can build a time machine. Shakthi writes her thesis under him and continues his work, but it is a solitary existence. Future Shakthi finds a way to send a message to herself that might change the course of her personal life. If you can survive being blitzed by scientific theory, it’s a good read.