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Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine
November 1997

Schmidt's editorial takes a look at risk taking this month. He find its ridiculous that people are willing to take risks but not to take the consequences, leading to situations where people are not willing to do anything for fear of getting hit with lawsuits.

Stories featured in this issue are:

"O Pioneer!" (Part Two of Three) by Frederik Pohl. The story tells of a world occupied by various alien races who try to live in peace. Into this walks the new mayor of the terran colony who slowly comes to realise that the whole truth may be hidden from him.
"Last Exit Before the Final Frontier" by Jeffery D. Kooistra is a story about a family about to leave for the stars. But their son is adamant about not leaving his job in the solar system, causing a rift within the family.
"Cosmological Darwinism" by Richard Meisner is a science article about how the current universe came into existence. One of the greatest puzzles about the universe is how the physical constants seem to be 'fine-tuned' to allow us to exist. A few percent change in some of the constants would be enough to make a universe inhospitable to life like us. He looks at a theory that tries to use Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection to explain how the universe cam into being.
"Sufficiently Un-Advanced" (Probability Zero) by Mark Rich is an entertaining short about a world where technology is so advanced that the simplest things we take for granted has been forgotten. The ending is not exactly word play but still enough to get a groan out of me.
"WWW: The Web We Wove" by Arlan Andrews, Sr. takes an entertaining look at alternate universes that make contact via sufficiently large telephone networks. The world he imagines is dramatic and gives a twist on the alternate-history tale.
"Trial by Ordeal" by Grey Rollins is an impressive story about a man who accidentally kills a member of an intelligent race. The person decides to accept whatever punishment the aliens propose and, as he waits his punishment, he holds a conversation with his jailer that may well affect the relationship between their races.
"No More to the Dance" by Amy Bechtel is an impressive story about a dancer who a difference: she has a form of autism that renders her unable to feel emotions. But the main point of the story appears to be about relationships. How one gets developed by continued communication and how one can be lost by not communicating sufficiently.

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Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine November 1997

Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine
November 1997