ASIMOV'S SEPT. 2007

I finished the issue over a week ago but I wanted to get down some quick impressions; I don't want to give up on talking about the SF magazines.

Robert Reed started things off with "The Caldera of Good Fortune," another story set on the Great Ship. Crockett escorts an alien to a tourist spot in order to follow two good-looking policewomen and ends up getting caught in a crossfire. Perri and Quee Lee make an appearance at the end as well. Good stuff as usual.

Next was "My Heart as Dry as Dust" by Kim Zimring, a story about a woman about to be hanged for killing more than 80 million people as a side effect to curing AIDS. Obviously, it's not an upbeat story but it is well done.

A middle school band plucked from their homes and now working and living in an alien setting is the focus of James Van Pelt's "How Music Begins." It has been a few years since their abduction and the kids are now almost adults and dealing with their siutation in different ways. It's a character piece as well as a twist on the old trope and I really liked it.

Local writer Ted Kosmatka (I believe he lives in a town just north of here) delves into a world where evolution has been disproved in "The Prophet of Flores." It's an interesting blend of science and faith and it was a solid story.

Kit Reed brought the high concept with a story about what could happen if you find a family member who had been lost and raised by wolves in "What Wolves Know." I liked this one quite a bit.

"Draw" by Patti Nagle is all action as Dimitri goes out in a underwater habitat to try and rescue his missing father, not even sure his father is where he thinks. Solid.

A future with a damaged earth features in "By Fools Like Me" by Nancy Kress. A young girl finds a cache of books and she and her grandmother enjoy the "sin," which gets them in trouble with superstitious family members, especially when the weather becomes extremely difficult. A decent story but not her best work.

Finally, R. Garcia y Robertson gives us another story set in his world of SuperCats and Greenies with "The Good Ship Lollypop." In it, Shirlee tries to escape from her life and from the Boogie man and ends up stowed away on a ship. It's not my favorite of the series but his work is always entertaining.

Of course, there were some poems and a Silverberg column and Paul Di Filippo on books and such but that's the fiction for the Sept. issue. The Dec. issue arrived a couple days ago already, so I still have two more Asimov's in the to-be-read stack (including the Oct./Nov. double issue). I'll get to the double issue within a week or so, I think.