Analog: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Analog 7-8/24

The July/August 2024 issue of Analog opens with the “Great Martian Railways” by Hûw Steer. An engineer named Lowell oversees the first voyage of a new prototype steam train on Mars as a rail system is being built. When unexpected complications arise, Lowell and the other engineers on board must come up with innovative solutions on the fly to avoid a high-speed disaster. “Vouch for Me” by Greg Egan provides an effective look at the relationship between memory and self. Julia; her husband, Patrick; and their daughter, Zoe; learn that they are all at high risk of suffering encephalitis-related memory loss. Each of them embarks on their own journey of preserving their memories for their future selves, but when memory loss strikes Patrick and he turns to his diaries, he discovers reading about who he was and feeling like that person are two different things. Egan does a nice job of exploring the nature versus nurture question of whether there is an essence to a person that endures no matter what, or whether it is our lived experiences that make us ourselves.

“The Funeral” by Thoraiya Dyer features excellent world- and character-building, while exploring various means of coping with suddenly having your life upended. Lovey suffers from Anxiety and is dealing with the recent loss of her companion dog. Miracle is an AI algorithm who fears being replaced by a new sibling program called Segue. Their worlds collide when Lovey is forced out of her comfort zone to attend her uncle’s funeral – leading to an encounter that gives each of them a new outlook on life. “We Maintain the Moons” by Lyndsey Croal is a bittersweet story about Helix, a robot who helps keep the moons on the Disk in place. When one of the moons escapes, he questions whether his dreary job has a purpose, or whether he and his fellow workers have been lied to in order to maintain the status quo of an unfair class system. “Murderbirds” by Harry Turtledove is a flash piece about time-traveling hunters. “As Time Goes By” by Cam Marsollier is a cute story about co-workers Zedd and Mika, who constantly get on each other’s nerves but must work together to find answers when a mysterious probe shuts down their systems.

“The Book of Ten Thousand Faces” by Alice Towey contemplates life on a generation ship as Maddie struggles with living up to the ex­pectations of her small, tight-knit community. Everyone assumes she’ll marry her childhood sweetheart and follow in her family’s footsteps with a job at the waterworks. The story provides a nice, grounded look at the more personal challenges that might arise on a generation ship with limited options for forging your own path through life. “Mandarins: A New World” by Michael F. Flynn provides an alternative nar­rative of the age of exploration and discovery as Deni captains a junk ship out of China, searching for the southwest passage. “Roundup” by Arlan Andrews, Sr., tells the story of an asteroid-herder encountering a sentient asteroid dubbed Big Joe who takes issue with his work. “First Contact” by H.A.B. Wilt is a flash piece that puts a spin on the search for proof of alien life by turning it into a meet-cute story.

“The Fulcrum” by Frank Ward follows a character who has lived and died multiple times across multiple worlds, trying to sow the seeds of change. “Shaker” by Paula Dias Garcia sees the arrival of a mysterious alien object, which the group investigating it ultimately learns is seeking to “shake hands” with other species, but also extending its hand to ask for help with its dy­ing world. “Isabella Chaos” by Terry Franklin captures a nice voice as a group of scientists sets out to determine whether there’s any truth to the folk wisdom that wooly bear caterpillars can be used to predict the weather. “Prompt Injec­tion” by Tom R. Pike is an interesting thought experiment story that sees an A.I. programmed to be ethical grapple with the less-than-ethical requests of its human users, providing a nice counterbalance to the evil A.I. trope. “Terminal City Dogs” by Matthew Claxton is a story with a strong voice exploring the power of art to spark change and inspire hope. Boychik is a detective who normally works fraud and robbery cases, but he’s called in on a graffiti case due to his past as a tagger, leading him to reflect on his life’s trajectory and his relationship with authority.

The issue closes with “The Last Days of Good People” by A.T. Sayre. Warin is part of a small crew observing a primitive alien race dubbed the rettys. The population is on the verge of extinction due to a virus, and the crew has been instructed not to interfere. They choose to make first contact regardless since it won’t matter soon, befriending the rettys, learning about their way of life, and ultimately witnessing their annihi­lation. Sayre does a nice job exploring weighty questions such as whether it’s possible to be an impartial observer, whether conflict is a neces­sary driver of evolution, and whether cultural “stagnation” must always be a bad thing. At no­vella length, there’s plenty of room for the story to breathe, and for the characters to have satisfying arcs and undergo evolutions of their own.

Recommended Stories
“Terminal City Dogs”, Matthew Claxton (Analog 7-8/24)
“The Last Days of Good People”, A.T. Sayre (Analog 7-8/24)

This review and more like it in the October 2024 issue of Locus.

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