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Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
October/November 2001

This month's issue of Asimov's has a Reflections column by Robert Silverberg that looks funny at first but is deadly (forgive the pun) serious. Some people in India have found that they are considered 'dead' by the state either by accident, or by relatives or people eager to exercise their wills and so on. They find that making the state believe they are still alive is a challenge; a challenge that one society representing the 'Dead' people hope to change.

Stories featured in this issue are:

• "Letters to the Editor" by Michael Swanwick. A short but funny series of 'letters' written by Swanwick to the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, answering requests for the author's bio usually published before the author's story in the magazine. The answers get more and more hilarious as time goes by.
• "The Longest Way Home (Part 1 of 3)" by Robert Silverberg. A story about a young boy who finds himself marooned on another continent on his home world after a rebellion by serfs. He escapes being killed and now faces the challenges of trying to get back to him home. Along the way, he meets up with various other alien species that share his world and has to interact and understand them to survive.
• "Troubadour" by Charles Stross. An inventive tale of a future where cheap computing has changed the way people work. This tale follows Manfred Macx, a 'freelancer' who thinks up ideas and sells them to customers as business models and other roads to riches. However, he is being chased by his ex-wife for his money in this story which some may find very confusing if they don't know references to current computer trends.
• "The Boy" by Robert Reed. A rather contemporary tale set in a future where the social order of men and women have shifted and one woman may need to make a choice about whether to help a young boy who, one day, asks her for some flowers.
• "When this World is All on Fire" by William Sanders. Set in a future where global warming caused environmental damage and massive resettlement, a Native American sherrif evicts some squatters from his Reservation. But he becomes curious over the daughter of the squatter and attemps to locate her in a nearby squatter camp, exposing him to hatred and possible arsonists.
• "Bad Asteroid Night" by Steve Martinez. An intriguing tale set in the future on a ship that is investigating the strange disappearance of tons of mined material from an asteroid. One of the investigators finds a clue in a malfunctioning robot but her attempts may be foiled by a saboteur from her ship that may have excellent reasons for hiding the location of the missing material.
• "Lincoln in Frogmore" by Andy Duncan. An 'alternate history' story about an old man who, when he was a young boy during the American Civil War, secretly goes to a meeting of black people in the South and unexpectedly meets up with a famous person.
• "Liberty Journals" by Allen M. Steele. A fascinating story set in his "Coyote" series of stories that starts with "Stealing Alabama" of which this is the fourth one. The story is made up a series of jounal entries by various people who were on board the colony ship Alabama, seeking to survive and adapt on their new world as they encounter its various dangers.
• "Menage" by Simon Ings. A tale about an apparent actor who apparently undergoes cosmetic surgery to alter his appearance to resemble his younger self in an old soap opera. But as the tale progresses, you will start to wonder who the actor really is and what is his actual relationship towards his former lover.
• "Aotearoa" by Cherry Wilder. An 'alternate fable' story (not sure how else I can put it) set in a 'Hellenic' world where Benin and Africa are ascendant. Two people set out to travel to Hawaii to meet their uncle before returning to their mystical island.
• "Nitrogen Plus" by Jack Williamson. A fascinating tale about a man assigned to terraform an unusual planet with an atmosphere of pure nitrogen. But on arrival, he discovers something strange about that planet that may threaten the future existence of the terraformers as well as his family.
• "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" by Michael Swanwick. An unusual and fascinating tale about a future where various animals have been reshaped into intelligent beings but where communication is, strangely, not done electronically. The reason for this mystery would be revealed, along with a plot to steal from the Britain's Buckingham Labyrinth.

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