{"id":2801,"date":"2017-04-21T17:22:22","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T17:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=2801"},"modified":"2017-05-28T14:11:37","modified_gmt":"2017-05-28T14:11:37","slug":"the-magazine-of-fantasy-and-science-fiction-730-march-april-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=2801","title":{"rendered":"The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction #730, March-April 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Galactic Central link
\nISFDB link<\/p>\n

Other reviews:
\nKat Day, Tangent Online<\/a>
\nSteve Fahnestalk, Amazing Stories<\/a>
\nGreg Hullender\u00a0and Eric Wong,\u00a0Rocket Stack Rank<\/a>
\nJohn D. Loyd,\u00a0There Ain\u2019t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch<\/a>
\nKatherine Nabity, The Writerly Reader<\/a>
\nMichael Penkas, Black Gate<\/a>
\nSam Tomaino, SF Revu<\/a>
\nVarious, Goodreads<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor, C. C. Finlay; Assistant Editor, Robin O\u2019Connor
\nAssistant Editor, Stephen L. Mazur;\u00a0Assistant Editor, Lisa Rogers<\/p>\n

Fiction:
\nDriverless<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf novelette by Robert Grossbach \u2665\u2665\u2665
\nThe Toymaker\u2019s Daughter<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf short story by Arundhati Hazra \u2665\u2665
\nTen Half-Pennies<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf novelette by Matthew Hughes \u2665\u2665\u2665
\nThe Man Who Put the Bomp<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf novella by Richard Chwedyk \u2665\u2665\u2665+
\nA Green Silk Dress and a Wedding-Death<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf short story by Cat Hellisen \u2665\u2665\u2665
\nMiss Cruz<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf short story by James Sallis \u2665
\nThe Avenger<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf novelette by Albert E. Cowdrey \u2665\u2665\u2665
\nDaisy<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf short story by Eleanor Arnason \u2665\u2665<\/p>\n

Non-fiction:
\nThe Man Who Put the Bomp<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf cover by Bryn Barnard
\nCartoons<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf by Arthur Masear (2) and Nick Downes
\nSpacemen Only<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf poem by Ruth Berman
\nBooks to Look For<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf by Charles de Lint
\nMusing on Books<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf by Michelle West
\nRobots in Your Pants<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf science essay by Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty
\nThe Language of Loss, Trust, and Heptapods<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf film review by Kathi Maio
\nComing Attractions<\/em><\/strong>
\nCuriosities: A Beleaguered City by Mrs. Oliphant<\/em><\/strong> \u25cf book review by David Langford<\/p>\n

The fiction in this issue opens with Driverless<\/em><\/strong> by Robert Grossbach. This is\u00a0an \u2018If this goes on\u2026\u2019 story about driverless cars, narrated from the viewpoint of QuikTrip\u2019s CEO:<\/p>\n

I called a car for myself. It was close to two minutes before yet another competitor arrived, this time an Uber. Just\u2026irritating. Really disturbing.<\/em>
\nI shook my head and began walking slowly toward it when suddenly I heard the loud squealing noise of tires scraping on asphalt. A vehicle with a red-lit QuikTrip sign screamed around the corner and pulled up directly in front of the Uber, then backed to within an inch of its front bumper. The Uber\u2019s door was already open. \u201cSir,\u201d came the Uber\u2019s voice, \u201care you ready to proceed?\u201d<\/em>
\nBy law, New York City ordinance, one was obligated to use the first vehicle that arrived, or pay for it if you didn\u2019t. The City Council\u2019s way of equalizing competition and dissuading people from calling five different car companies.<\/em>
\nI was about to respond when a second QuikTrip car came squealing around the corner and smoothly rolled to the curb within an inch of the Uber\u2019s rear bumper.<\/em>
\nI was, frankly, dumbfounded. I\u2019d been around driverless cars \u2014 DCs as they\u2019re now called \u2014 for a large portion of my adult life, but had never quite seen this exact situation. I decided to play along. \u201cYes,\u201d I said to the Uber, entering the vehicle. \u201cYou have my destination.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cOkay\u2026let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/em>
\nThere was a nearly fifteen-second delay, then: \u201cSir, I\u2019m afraid the vehicles in front and to the rear of me prevent my departure at this time.\u201d<\/em> p. 9<\/p>\n

When his company\u2019s cars start ramming the competition, and take a number of humans hostage, he is summoned by the security services to help deal with the problem.
\nThe Toymaker\u2019s Daughter<\/em><\/strong> by Arundhati Hazra is a fantasy set in present day India and tells of a wood carver and the daughter who paints his products. One day two of the carvings start talking, and their lives change forever. I found the storyline rather too straightforward but this writer promises to be an interesting new voice.
\nTen Half-Pennies<\/em><\/strong> by Matthew Hughes is the first of a new series of stories in his Archonate universe, this time featuring a young man\u00a0called Baldemaer, and it is a promising introduction. When Baldemar is first sent to school as a young child he is bullied and so befriends Vunt, a moneylender\u2019s hired muscle. After he pays the man to intimidate the school thugs he is left alone. The story that follows tells of Vunt\u2019s subsequent mentoring and employment of the boy, and how he is later involved in a plan to rob the man who by then is master of both, the moneylender Geberon. This is slickly done and my only slight quibble is about the ending, which seems rather rushed.<\/p>\n

Dominating this issue in size, quality and pedigree is The Man Who Put the Bomp<\/em><\/strong>, a 31,000 word \u2018Saurs\u2019 novella by Richard Chwedyk. This is the fifth story in his series about a refuge house for genetically engineered, toy-sized dinosaurs which were originally made as companions for children. When their manufacture was eventually discontinued (they were considerably more self-aware than the makers had intended and, in the meantime, experienced dreadful neglect and treatment) some of the survivors ended up in a house run by the Atherton foundation.
\nI previously read the first story in this series and liked it a lot and, before starting this one, I reread it and then read the sequels.1<\/sup> Once again we are reunited with (among others) the hyperactive Axel, the compassionate Doc, Tibor (who thinks he is\u2014and may be\u2014Emperor of the Universe) and grumpy Agnes:<\/p>\n

Tibor, small enough to fit in a human hand, always wore an intense scowl, like a Puritan judge or a cartoon nemesis. Along with his volcano-shaped hat, Tibor had donned a powder-blue ribbon; he was on \u201cofficial\u201d<\/em>
\nTiborean business.<\/em>
\nHe was following Axel, who had run up to Doc, shouting, \u201cDoc! Doc! Did I tell you about the dream I had last night?\u201d He pulsed with energy, shifting his weight from leg to leg.<\/em>
\nDoc smiled and shook his head. \u201cYou\u2019ll tell me now, no doubt.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI was in a big station! Like a train station. It was tall, like it had no ceiling, with big steel girders, all blue, way above, and windows as big as this whole house!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cTibor is here!\u201d Tibor announced himself, expecting universal recognition but receiving none.<\/em>
\n\u201cA transportation center,\u201d said Doc. \u201cIn some great city.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cHumans were everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of them! They were walking around because there were all sorts of places to buy stuff and food carts everywhere! I could smell caramel corn! So much stuff happening! I wanted to see\u2026hear\u2026everything!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cHere is Tibor!\u201d Tibor tried again, in his soft, insistent voice, but to the same lack of effect.<\/em>
\nDoc listened patiently to Axel. \u201cYou weren\u2019t afraid? Humans are not very careful about looking at who might be underfoot.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cA human was carrying me. I was in his arm, sort of like when Tom carries me. But it wasn\u2019t Tom. In the dream I knew who he was. Now I don\u2019t. Why is that?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cDreams don\u2019t speak to us,\u201d said Doc. \u201cThey whisper.\u201d He hoped Axel might take the hint.<\/em>
\n\u201cBehold Tibor!\u201d Tibor whispered, but no one beheld him.<\/em>
\n\u201cIt was a good thing,\u201d Axel continued, his voice somewhat lowered. \u201cI was looking at everything, but the humans didn\u2019t look at anything!\u201d<\/em>
\nDoc nodded again. \u201cHumans have a genius for ignoring the beauty of the world, and its dangers.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cTibor, universe-maker! Tibor the Benevolent! Field Marshal Tibor! Tiborius Doctor Honorus Tibor! Maharishi Mahesh Tibor!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cWhen I woke up, I wanted something! I wanted it real bad! But I didn\u2019t know what!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cSome common sense!\u201d Agnes called out from under the table.<\/em>
\n\u201cTibor! Tibor! Tibor! Tibor!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cIt was\u2026everything! To see for real! Not just a dream!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cSomeday you shall.\u201d Doc leaned forward and patted Axel on the head. \u201cSomeday you shall.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cYou\u2019re an idiot!\u201d Agnes shouted. \u201cYou <\/em>were out there \u2014 that\u2019s why you\u2019re here!\u201d<\/em> p. 86-87<\/p>\n

The passage above may give you the idea that this is a rather light or juvenile piece, but each of the stories has dark depths, mostly relating to the saurs\u2019 historical mistreatment. These can be quite upsetting.
\nIn this story a man called Danner, the creator of the saurs, gets a message from one called Geraldine, and he subsequently arranges a visit to the house to see her. He is accompanied by an ambitious young woman called Christine Haig, who has been instructed by her bosses to covertly obtain DNA samples from the saurs. The other main thread in this one is Tibor\u2019s discovery of a child\u2019s car called VOOM!, and Axel\u2019s efforts to get it operational again.
\nAnyone that has enjoyed the previous saur stories will enjoy this one, even though it has a rather contrived and far-fetched ending. I would also note is that this story doesn\u2019t really advance the overall series: it rather spins its wheels (ahem). Even though there are another couple of super-science teasers (the \u2018spaceguys,\u2019 space portals and universe creation have all been hinted at so far) the question initially asked of Danner by Geraldine isn\u2019t answered. Normally, I\u2019d be getting rather tetchy about the lack of progress after a grand total of 87,000 words, but the fact that I\u2019m not probably tells you something about the skill of the writer.<\/p>\n

A Green Silk Dress and a Wedding-Death<\/em><\/strong> by Cat Hellisen is a story about a young woman who works gutting fish and the spirit she sees in the river. Later, this fish-like creature is caught by the owner\u2019s son and he asks her to help him escape. The writing is evocative, and the contents are a mix of the traditional and modern, i.e., the woman\u2019s life has the feel of that of a peasant in a medieval village but her boss drives a car.
\nThis isn\u2019t a particularly complicated tale but it is one of those stories that seems to have a dreamlike progression that slides straight into your subconscious.
\nMiss Cruz<\/em><\/strong> by James Sallis is about a guitar player who suddenly finds that what he imagines, people do. A crooked sheriff later becomes the focus of his attention. This is a reasonable idea and it is developed, but the story is never anything more than a notion.
\nThe Avenger<\/em><\/strong> by Albert E. Cowdrey is an entertaining and colourful novelette about a Louisiana lowlife called Marv trying to shakedown a wealthy couple who he is partially related to. After the husband dies Marv persists, so the wife hires a PI called William Warlock to protect her and to get justice. (Marv\u2019s intimidation caused the death of her husband.)
\nThe story contains some minor fantasy content but is mostly concerned with the ongoing campaign of intimidation waged by Marv, which starts to fail ever more spectacularly as the story procedes .
\nDaisy<\/em><\/strong> by Eleanor Arnason is another PI story. This time the investigator is female and the job is to find a mobster\u2019s pet octopus. When the PI tracks down the creature, she finds (spoiler) that the octopus is highly intelligent and can communicate with her. If you can suspend disbelief for this unexpected and rather dubious twist it is an enjoyable enough piece.
\nBy the way, I note that this not only follows another PI story (it may have been a wiser to separate this one and the Cowdrey), but it is also the third in a row which features or otherwise mentions police corruption. Are things really that bad in the USA, or is this just lazy storytelling?<\/p>\n

The cover on this issue is for The Man Who Put the Bomp<\/em><\/strong>, and it is by Bryn Barnard. The foreground looks a little amateurish, but the angle of the building makes it quite eye-catching.
\nI rather liked the Cartoons<\/em><\/strong> in this issue for a change, especially the ones by Arthur Masear. The one with Death arranging an appointment with the cable guy is probably the best of the two.
\nThe low point of the issue is the book review section. Books to Look For<\/em><\/strong> by Charles de Lint isn\u2019t bad particularly, he just does his usual context-less reviews (who are these writers and why should I read them?) of half a dozen or so books that sound like fairly formulaic stuff, vampires, druids, etc. I have to confess I started skimming halfway through. The material typically covered in his column does not seem to match the depth and breadth of the fiction in the magazine.
\nMusing on Books<\/em><\/strong> by Michelle West is much worse. It starts with a couple of hundred words on the result of the recent US election, and the demons that have been unleashed, and how she\u00a0couldn\u2019t concentrate on reading for and writing this column and so missed a deadline. Frankly, I see enough of this sort of thing on Twitter, and think it is extremely poor form to include it\u00a0here: what on Earth were\u00a0the editor and publisher thinking?
\nAs for the reviews themselves, they aren\u2019t: the one for Aliette de Boddard\u2019s The House of Binding Thorns<\/em> is more synopsis than anything else. West takes a page and a half<\/em> to give a plot summary of the book but only three or four paragraphs introducing and commenting on it\u2014this in a column that runs to seven pages of text in total. F&SF<\/em> used to have reviewers like James Blish, Damon Knight, Judith Merrill and Algis Budrys\u2014now we have this.
\nRobots in Your Pants<\/em><\/strong> by Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty continues the robot theme from last issue with a short and interesting science essay about robot suits and exoskeletons.
\nThe Language of Loss, Trust, and Heptapods<\/em><\/strong> by Kathi Maio reviews the film Arrival<\/em>, which I\u2019ve seen, but it was interesting to see Maio\u2019s comments (which are pretty much spot on) by way of The Day the Earth Stood Still<\/em> and Contact<\/em>.
\nSpacemen Only<\/em><\/strong> by Ruth Berman is an OK and fanciful poem about what it says.
\nComing Attractions <\/em><\/strong>not only trails next month\u2019s stories but also mentions that the electronic edition\u00a0of the magazine is now available from Weightless Books as the magazine\u2019s exclusive distribution deal with Amazon has ended. As I\u2019ve never been that keen on the rather clunky Kindle edition (F&SF<\/em> doesn\u2019t do the enhanced edition like Analog<\/em> and Asimov\u2019s<\/em> do) I took the chance of changing to Weightless and getting the PDF format.
\nThis version of the magazine wasn\u2019t all I was hoping it would be and, to be blunt, seems rather half-finished compared with other PDF format magazines I receive (Computer Shopper<\/em>, Computer Active<\/em>, Uncut<\/em>, Home Cinema Choice<\/em>, etc., etc.) which provide what is essentially a high resolution colour copy of the magazine. The F&SF<\/em> PDF edition opens with a grainy, low resolution cover on a larger white page rather than just the cover on its own.2<\/sup> Further, this larger than expected white page seems to have been used for the internal content as well. Rather than the text block occupying the same area as in the print magazine it is smaller, which has the effect of reducing the print size. In any event, all that white space around the text just looks odd.3<\/sup> There are also several blank pages where the magazine adverts would normally be. Why were these omitted? I personally like to look at these\u2014sometimes there is material of interest\u2014and in any event you would think the magazine would want to give their client\u2019s advertisements the maximum circulation. Again, these blank pages just make the PDF version of the magazine look odd and unfinished. I hope these problems will be addressed in future issues.<\/p>\n

Overall, a fairly good issue of the magazine with a number of solid stories and no fiction I disliked. Putting out a publication that can do that issue after issue is quite an achievement.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The previous four stories in the \u2018Saurs\u2019 series are: The Measure of All Things<\/em> (F&SF<\/em>, January 2001), Bronte\u2019s Egg<\/em> (F&SF<\/em>, August 2002), In Tibor\u2019s Cardboard Castle<\/em> (F&SF<\/em>, October-November 2004) and Orfy<\/em> (F&SF<\/em>, September-October 2010). Bronte\u2019s Egg<\/em> won a novella Nebula Award and was runner up for the Hugo. The best of them, in my opinion, is Orfy<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  2. An iPad screenshot of the PDF cover as opposed to what I would expect:
    \n\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/li>\n
  3. An iPad screenshot of an internal page compared with what I would expect:
    \n\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"
    \nThe text block in the RH one is larger than that of the print magazine\u2014you don\u2019t need the same margins as the physical magazine as binding and reader\u2019s thumbs are not a problem.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This magazine is still being published!<\/strong>\u00a0Subscribe:\u00a0Kindle UK<\/a>,\u00a0Kindle USA<\/a>,\u00a0Weightless Books<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0physical copies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\"rss\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Galactic Central link ISFDB link Other reviews: Kat Day, Tangent Online Steve Fahnestalk, Amazing Stories Greg Hullender\u00a0and Eric Wong,\u00a0Rocket Stack Rank John D. Loyd,\u00a0There Ain\u2019t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch Katherine Nabity, The Writerly Reader Michael Penkas, Black Gate Sam Tomaino, SF Revu Various, Goodreads Editor, C. C. Finlay; Assistant Editor, Robin O\u2019Connor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy-and-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pcj7-Jb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2801"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2979,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions\/2979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}