Asimov’s

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Asimov’s, April/May 2009

By Val Grimm ⋅ April 23, 2009

There’s a lot of variety in this double issue. Notable adventurers and intellectuals of the English Renaissance face an alien invasion. A private security firm signs on to protect an archaeological treasure—but from whom? In a future where anonymity can only be bought at a dear price, a couple of info hunters enounter a [...]

Asimov’s, March 2009

By Val Grimm ⋅ March 5, 2009

Genetically modified children created by a bioactivist movement become the flashpoint of social controversy. In her frozen, dying hometown, a young woman searches for her friend. A virtual reality patch sparks war between the United States and an ascendant China. Artificial intelligences give dubious advice. In the swamps between large cities, a young brigand schemes [...]

Asimov’s, February 2009

By Val Grimm ⋅ January 5, 2009

With stories whose plots unfold in deserts, mountains, a polar moonscape, a resort simulacra of Mars, underwater, and in that volcanic prehuman tropic which Steven Utley always returns to, the February 2009 issue of Asimov’s is atmospheric and engrossing—with some stories more vivid than others.
In almost six months of reviewing this magazine, I’ve read some [...]

Asimov’s, January 2009

By Val Grimm ⋅ November 13, 2008

The January 2009 Asimov’s offerings promise an interesting new year, and it’s a nice change after December’s ho-hum selection. There are three memorable pieces here and a few others that, although not as outstanding, are quite a fun ride.
I’ve never read something by Will McIntosh I didn’t like; sometimes I don’t get his work, certainly, [...]

Asimov’s, December 2008

By Val Grimm ⋅ October 14, 2008

There are a lot of musical stories in the December, 2008, issue of Asimov’s: derivative punk, Germanic opera, even psychically transmitted string solos. As a whole, this month’s pickings are a bit thin, and not just because the new format reduces page count. Usually one or two stories are memorable standouts, and most are at [...]

Asimov’s, October/November 2008

By Val Grimm ⋅ September 3, 2008

There are a lot of cops and spies and soldiers in the October/November 2008 double issue of Asimov’s, appearing in five out of eight stories. There’s either a haze of Clancyesque glamour or gritty tragedy about all of them, and their stories are always some flavor of mystery, although there aren’t any tidy Holmesian post-mortems [...]

Asimov’s, September 2008

By Val Grimm ⋅ July 30, 2008

This month, Asimov’s serves up eight stories whose pleasantly varied characters find hope or beauty in the midst of adversity. Whether the strange triumphs of September’s protagonists are due to luck, strength of will, animal cunning, desperation, or the assistance of a kindred spirit, they’re never saccharine, and sometimes surprising, whether they’re set in interstellar [...]

Asimov’s, August 2008

By Val Grimm ⋅ June 25, 2008

Asimov’s is full of struggles for survival this August. On the literal side, an alcoholic scientist tries to stave off suicide; a preacher shields his flock in a post-apocalyptic landscape; two siblings live day-to-day in a near-future Nigeria; and an injured alien wrestles with the fabric of causality. The issue’s other denizens—young roboticists guiding their [...]

Asimov’s, July 2008

By Val Grimm ⋅ May 15, 2008

Do you hear that sound? That, folks, is a year’s subscription to Asimov’s draining out of my bank account. Yeah, I’ve bought single issues, I’ve subscribed to other SF mags, but July’s cornucopia has sold me, and sold me well. There are future award winners in this issue, or what should be future award winners, [...]

Asimov’s, June 2008

By Aliette de Bodard ⋅ April 8, 2008

Opening the June, 2008, issue of Asimov’s is “Call Back Yesterday” by Nancy Kress. Caitlin, Seena, and Josh are patients in a special ward of those afflicted by Cathcart Syndrome, a condition which causes them to hallucinate visions of people at odd moments. And yet, it seems that there is much more going on [...]

Asimov’s, April/May 2008

By Aliette de Bodard ⋅ March 4, 2008

The double April/May, 2008, issue of Asimov’s contains stories with a common theme of loss and grief—either the loss of a person or, more drastically, that of a whole way of life.
In “Memory Dog” by Kathleen Ann Goonan, the world has drastically changed after all-out war. Arnold Wentworth is a “smacker,” someone who sends out [...]

Asimov’s, March 2008

By The Fix Contributors ⋅ January 30, 2008

In the March, 2008, issue of Asimov’s, Brian Stableford depicts a world overrun by biotech in “Following the Pharmers.” Daniel Anderson has retired to a remote part of the Yorkshire Everglades, hoping to be left alone. He once worked for a big pharmaceutical corporation, but has now virtually stopped growing bio-engineered plants—keeping only a few [...]

Asimov’s, February 2008

By Aliette de Bodard ⋅ December 25, 2007

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 [...]

Asimov’s, January 2008

By The Fix Contributors ⋅ November 14, 2007

The January 2008 issue of Asimov’s offers a variety of tales, ranging from straightforward SF to subtle fantasy.
In “Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” by Mike Resnick, Silver and Gold are two old men who met each other as kids in the titular shop, which purports to sell magic tricks. They are now ninety-year-olds in [...]

Asimov’s, December 2007

By Aliette de Bodard ⋅ October 3, 2007

The December, 2007, issue of Asimov’s features four SF stories and one fantasy one.
In “All Seated on The Ground” by Connie Willis, aliens have arrived in Denver. The Altari, as they’ve been dubbed (though no one really knows where they’re coming from), seem to be unable to communicate, other than through glares of reprobation—an [...]

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