Asimov’s, November/December 2025
“Because It’s There” by Susan Shwartz
“Within God” by Garrett Ashley
“Lagrange Point 5” by Sean McMullen
“Solemnity” by Mark D. Jacobson
“Can You Outrun a T-Rex?” By Sean Monaghan
“Miracle” by Tegan Moore
“Mudfoots” by Eric Del Carlo
“The Recovery of Lemuria 7” by Allen M. Steele
“Catch a Tiger in the Snow” by Ray Nayler
“Spare Parts for the Mind” by Greg Egan
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
In “Because It’s There” by Susan Shwartz, mountaineers scale a gigantic peak on a human colony world with a deadly environment. Two of them are from another human planet and the rest are natives of the world with the huge mountain. The former are after a spaceship, carrying information about creating a deadly plague, that crashed into the peak. The natives hope that the outsiders will help them escape from their dying colony.
The author is obviously well-versed in the techniques of mountain climbing. The scenes of the ascent are vivid and suspenseful. The culture of the colonists on the planet with the immense peak is interesting and imaginative.
The characters in “Within God” by Garrett Ashley are prisoners who labor inside a gigantic being in orbit around Earth. When one discovers she is pregnant, she works with others to find a way to return to the home planet to bear her child.
This story is most notable for its bizarre premise. The description of life with the huge creature is visceral. The mood is unrelievedly grim. The background is only hinted at in bits and pieces, with some kind of unexplained war going on. For this reason, readers may have some trouble following the story.
The title of “Lagrange Point 5” by Sean McMullen refers to a relatively stable position in the orbit of Mars. A robotic probe reveals that there is a strange loss of all electrical power near the asteroids located there. A spaceship carrying astronauts journeys to the place, supposedly to study the asteroids, but actually in search of ancient alien technology.
The premise is intriguing, and for the most part the characters are believable and the events realistic. Near the climax, however, the actions of one character become less plausible and the plot melodramatic.
In “Solemnity” by Mark D. Jacobsen, investigators study an alien world where all the inhabitants were destroyed by the death of their god. The humans are a very mixed lot, from a priest to a poet and from persons of various faiths to atheists. They all have visions of the disaster, leading to a dramatic encounter at the site of the holocaust.
The author seems to be saying something about the nature of religious experience, although this remains mysterious. This ambiguity may be deliberate. The so-called alien god is said to have died, yet remains active in the minds of the humans. It is said to be some kind of non-supernatural intelligence, but invokes the same feelings as a genuine deity. Overall, the story provides more food for thought than clarity.
“Can You Outrun a T-Rex?” by Sean Monaghan provides a touch of levity in an issue full of serious stories. A professor’s time machine sends a student back to the age of dinosaurs. His fellow collegians set out to rescue him when he does not return as expected.
The story is something of a spoof of the old theme of humans against dinosaurs. The students offer wisecracks even when faced with deadly creatures. The story is very easy to read, with many paragraphs consisting of one short sentence. It provides a bit of amusement but may be too silly for some readers.
In “Miracle” by Tegan Moore, women travel to an artificial island in order to attend a retreat that is supposed to cleanse them of all toxins and perfect their bodies and spirits. When a worldwide breakdown in electronics strands them there, one discovers the secret of the local temple.
As this synopsis may suggest, the plot contains multiple premises that don’t always seem to fit together. To some extent, the story is a satire on New Age healing. It also deals with the modern world’s dependence on computerized communication. By the end, it becomes a mystical horror story. The author demonstrates an ability to juggle multiple themes, but readers may be disconcerted by the changes in tone.
The narrator of “Mudfoots” by Eric Del Carlo was once a member of the lower class on a human colony world, but managed to infiltrate the planet’s only large city and become a respected citizen. An encounter with an old acquaintance causes him to make a hazardous journey back to his former home in order to be with one of the planet’s few remaining native aliens at its time of transformation.
The story’s mood is bittersweet and nostalgic, with flashbacks to the narrator’s lost love. The climax is cautiously optimistic, without being overly sentimental. The author provides both generous speculative content and strong emotional appeal.
“The Recovery of Lemuria 7” by Allen M. Steele is a sequel to two previous stories, but familiarity with those precursors is not necessary to understand the plot. A spacecraft disappears from the Moon. An investigation into the enigma reveals an alien base. Events become even more baffling with other disappearances, the discovery of the vanished spacecraft in the asteroid belt, and the appearance of one of the crew back on Earth. She accompanies a mission to the asteroids in an attempt to solve the mystery.
The plot features many extraordinary happenings. These are made more plausible through the use of an epistolatory narrative style, with excerpts from official documents, news articles, nonfiction books, memoirs, and so forth. At times these make for dry reading, despite the inherently dramatic nature of the events. Readers are likely to find the mystery more intriguing than its solution.
The narrator of “Catch a Tiger in the Snow” by Ray Nayler meets a woman whose profession is to replace unpleasant memories with better ones as a form of therapy. Their relationship leads to a final gesture when they realize that they cannot remain together.
Rather than a plot-driven narrative, this is primarily a character study. The difference in social class between the narrator and the therapist is a major theme as well.
The premise of altering memories is not a new one, perhaps best known from Philip K. Dick’s 1966 story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” In this case, however, it is handled in an unusually sensitive fashion, with the realization that it must be used with great care.
“Spare Parts for the Mind” by Greg Egan features a man who receives brain implants that reverse the memory loss of Alzheimer’s disease. When some of his behavior becomes inappropriate, he undergoes an experimental procedure involving further implants to control impulsive actions. This seems to help, but there are further complications.
The speculative biotechnology is plausible, and the author makes it clear that such things are imperfect and extremely expensive. The philosophical and ethical implications of the technology are discussed through contrast with devices that allow one to communicate with simulations of deceased relatives. The story does not shy away from the inevitability of aging, but suggests that it possible to face it with courage and resolution.
Victoria Silverwolf will try to buy a new car soon.