Asimov’s, July/August 2022

“Work Minus Eighty” by Will McIntosh

“Reservoir Ice” by Michael Swanwick

“Pollen and Salt” by Octavia Cade

“Screaming Fire” by Michèle Laframboise

“The Tin Pilot” by K.A. Teryna

“Cosmic Harmony” by Jack McDevitt

“The Secret of Silphium” by Megha Spinel

“Retrocausality” by Jonathan Sherwood

“Goblin Market” by Robert R. Chase

“Ugly” by Paul Melko

“The Big Deep” by Annika Barranti Klein

“The Goose” by Rick Wilber

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

A dozen imaginative stories appear in this issue, taking readers to Earth in the near future, deep space in ages to come, the ancient past, and alternate realities.

In “Work Minus Eighty” by Will McIntosh, future technology allows some of the recently deceased to be revived, although the process is extremely expensive. Young women who are newly dead are stored temporarily, and brought back to life if they agree to marry wealthy old men. The protagonist works for the company that makes these arrangements. Her view of the corporation changes when an old friend becomes one of the prospective brides, and when she enters into an unlikely friendship with a woman who views the procedure as a form of slavery.

The premise is a provocative one, particularly since the setting is one of both extreme wealth and extreme poverty. The internal conflict of the protagonist, who escaped from poverty herself when she was hired by the company, is powerfully conveyed. The author avoids making things black and white, although the climax offers a clear moral choice. The fact that the arrangement offers women without other resources a chance to escape permanent death makes the protagonist’s initial defense of the corporation seem reasonable.

In “Reservoir Ice” by Michael Swanwick, a man uses time travel to restore a lost romance. As in any story about changing the past, things quickly get much more complicated, with visitors from the future warning him about the chaos he unleashed. Eventually, he has to decide whether to destroy the research that allowed him to travel in time.

The plot offers paradoxes and changes in reality that will seem familiar to readers of other tales of time travel. Although not a comedy, the story seems a bit tongue-in-cheek, mostly to be admired for its clever twists on an old theme.

The narrator of “Pollen and Salt” by Octavia Cade studies the ecosystem where salt marsh meets mudflat, in a near future of rising sea levels. Descriptions of the threatened environment alternate with memories of a dead lover.

There is little or no plot in what is really an extended prose poem, providing an analogy between a disappearing ecosystem and the loss of a beloved. The author offers a beautifully written, vivid, and highly detailed portrait of the environment, which is the work’s main appeal.

In “Screaming Fire” by Michèle Laframboise, a rescue team of aliens with a strong cultural connection to plant life arrives on a colony world that was devastated by an attack by humans. The leader risks death and the possibility of being left behind in order to save the life of an infant.

The aliens are an interesting creation, although the plot might have involved human beings instead, with almost no changes. (The fact that humans were responsible for the attack is not really relevant to the story either.) The situation is inherently dramatic, and the work can be enjoyed as suspense fiction.

“The Tin Pilot” by K.A. Teryna, translated from Russian by Alex Shvartsman, takes place after a devastating war that finally ended when artificially created warriors entered the battle. First thought of as heroes, they were later reviled and killed in government-sponsored hunts. Having previously had their memories changed, not even these so-called golems know that they are not ordinary human beings. The plot deals with a man who wonders about his own identity as the hunt for the last remaining golem begins.

This is a grim story, for the most part, although there is a touch of hope at the end. The premise is somewhat reminiscent of Philip K. Dick’s frequent theme of what it means to be a human being. The Ukraine-born author now lives in Moscow, and one has to wonder if the recent conflicts in that part of the world influenced this work.

In “Cosmic Harmony” by Jack McDevitt, an asteroid approaches Earth, and massive destruction seems imminent. Help comes from an unexpected source. To say anything else would give away the point of this short and simple tale, which serves as an enjoyable, if minor, bit of space fiction.

“The Secret of Silphium” by Megha Spinel takes place in the ancient city of Cyrene, during the time of the Roman Republic. The region is the sole source of the valuable plant named in the title, which is reputed to have nearly miraculous powers of healing. A woman from a distant land seeks out a merchant said to be the leading expert on silphium, seeking to revive her dead brother. Meanwhile, a Roman soldier has his own plans for the merchant. Along with others, they become involved with something almost beyond their imaginations.

Although this synopsis does not make it clear, the plot involves a major speculative element. Despite this, the story is best enjoyed as historical fiction. The setting and characters are richly depicted in realistic detail. The Roman soldier in particular, although mostly an antagonist, is an appealing creation, with his frustration over the petty struggles of military life vividly portrayed. The science fiction aspects are not quite as plausible.

In “Retrocausality” by Jonathan Sherwood, an experiment leads to the devastating possibility of changing the universe. The scientist in charge of the projects contacts a former student, asking her to take on the overwhelming responsibility of preventing the catastrophe.

The premise requires a long lecture on quantum physics in the middle of the story. The author struggles mightily to keep the work from becoming a dry science essay, and mostly succeeds. The open-ended conclusion suggests a possible solution to the dilemma, although this is not entirely clear.

“Goblin Market” by Robert R. Chase is difficult to summarize in a brief space, as it involves multiple speculative themes. These include a company that makes profits by predicting future shortages and keeping the needed supplies in storage; digital artworks that change in response to the viewer; the future of cryptocurrency; eyeglasses that alter the appearance of what one sees; and people who undergo surgery in order to resemble animals.

The common element in these disparate premises seems to be the distinction between what is real and what is imaginary. The author does a decent job of balancing all these things in an episodic story. Sometimes, however, something seems out of place, particularly the concept of the animal-like people.

“Ugly” by Paul Melko takes place in a world where emotion can cause changes in physical appearance. The protagonist takes part in a robbery, in order to pay off the contract of an old friend who has been sold into prostitution.

As may be seen from this synopsis, the plot is not absolutely dependent on the fantasy premise. (It must be admitted that this form of prostitution involves women who appear more beautiful because of their emotions, so the concept is not entirely irrelevant.) As a tale of a man trying to make up for his failure to protect a friend in childhood, it has emotional power.

In “The Big Deep” by Annika Barranti Klein, seven people in suspended animation aboard a spaceship headed for Mars waken unexpectedly. The story involves finding out who is responsible for the early revival, and what the motive might be.

The plot is quite simple, and the characters seem more like adolescents than responsible adults. Although not really an important part of the work, the author does a good job conveying the fascination of space.

“The Goose” by Rick Wilber is one of a series of stories in which an agent from a dystopic future journeys back in time in order to prevent the Axis from winning World War Two. Each of these adventures seems to be set in a different alternate version of the 1940’s. (In this one, Eleanor Roosevelt is President of the United States.)

German agents, in league with American fascists, plan to destroy the defense industry in Southern California at the same time that Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. A scheme to steal Howard Hughes’ giant airplane known as the Spruce Goose and transport it to Germany is also involved. At the center of the story is a teenage female professional baseball player, who has the ability to change reality.

The story works best as a nostalgic look at a slightly altered 1941. Many real-life persons appear, from Hollywood celebrities to Laura Ingalls, a famous American aviatrix who was also a Nazi sympathizer. (She should not be confused with her distant cousin Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie.)

The baseball player’s incredible, and unexplained, power to alter the past lessens the suspense. The reader knows that everything will work out for the best, no matter how bad the situation might look. In addition, we are told that the time traveler and another character in the story died in a different adventure, but the premise of multiple timelines makes it seem that this is not important.

Victoria Silverwolf is surprised there is no flash fiction in this issue.