Asimov’s, February 2008

The February 2008 issue of Asimov’s features six stories, all of which are SF.

The issue starts off with “The Last American” by John Kessel, the biography of Andrew Steele, a ruthless and skilled manipulator whose meteoritic rise to President of the United States is only the latest in a series of incarnations which saw Steele span the gamut from U.S. army interrogator to preacher and founder of a religion.

Told as a review of a fictitious biography—interspersed with “sensory” extracts in Steele’s point of view—this is a skillful tale dealing with the various kinds of power a man can hold. As Steele rises in the world, we catch a glimpse of the history unrolling in the background which ultimately will lead to a very different world from the one Steele was born into. Kessel presents Steele as a fascinating character—despite his prominent moral flaws—one of the monsters of history such as Hitler and Stalin, utterly unaware of being evil. This is an intelligent portrait of a man as well as a clever look at the society that might evolve from the United States.

In “The Egg Man” by Mary Rosenblum, the titular character is Zipakna, a Mexican who travels in the Sonoran desert with a flock of hens—and not just any hens; the eggs they lay are filled with medicinal drugs, a precious commodity in an age when all pharmaceutical activity is severely regulated. Zipakna comes into the desert community of Paloma to discover Daren, a boy who looks too much like his lost love.

Though the idea of hens laying enhanced eggs is original, the rest of the setting (Mexico holding the upper hand over the severely diminished United States) is perhaps a tad too familiar. But the characters are vividly brought to life. In particular, the testy relationship between Zipakna and Daren’s father, Pierre, is wonderfully drawn. Similarly, the ending is not a surprise, but it is still very effective.

In “From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled …” by Michael Swanwick, Quivera is a diplomat sent from Europa to a planet peopled with insect aliens—and most particularly to Babel, greatest of the alien cities. When Babel falls to the hands of other cities, Quivera and the alien Uncle Vanya have to carry the library of Babel—the only record of that civilisation—to safety, without being caught by the soldiers hunting them.

This is one of the two standouts of the issue. Swanwick keeps a taut pace throughout the narration as his protagonists try to rally the safety of another alien city, and he succeeds in making the aliens a fundamentally different species for whom the reader can still grieve. The ending is unexpected and a bit hard to accept at first, but in retrospect, it is perfectly in keeping with both the story’s theme and the various characters involved.

Dealing with the possible origins of life on Earth, “Sex and Violence” by Nancy Kress is a much shorter story. How did the first self-replicating organism come into being? This is a slight story, especially coming on the heels of the two previous ones. Nevertheless, it’s an amusing one, though not earth shattering.

In “Inside the Box” by Edward M. Lerner, Thaddeus Fitch is giving a course on quantum physics. He’s also trying not to dwell on the odd events that have taken place in the previous class—in which parallel universes seemed to invade the classroom.

Like the previous story, this is a short one. Unfortunately, its subject matter is one I don’t particularly care for—basically a re-explanation of quantum mechanics and of Schrodinger’s experience. It doesn’t go beyond a re-treading of old ideas concerning the quantum paradigm, and neither the thinly sketched out characters nor the weak punch-line of the ending could compensate for its lack of originality.

“The Ray-Gun: A Love Story” by James Alan Gardner is the other standout. About a mysterious alien ray gun which falls to Earth, it follows the life of Jack, the boy who finds it and keeps it, and the various ways in which the gun affects his life. As the narrator warns us, this isn’t a story about how ray guns work, but rather a very intelligent look at how having a mysterious artifact can change lives. Both Jack and his girlfriends are profoundly affected by the ray gun’s secret in utterly believable ways. The last paragraph did feel a tad superfluous, but don’t let that deter you from reading this fine story.