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Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
September 1998

In this month's Reflections column, Robert Silverberg looks at how a fantastic myth may develop by looking at the myth of giant gold digging ants on a lost plateau. He traces the origins of the myth back to Greek time, shows how it was developed before getting to the heart of the matter by describing what people actually found on such a plateau. Fascinating reading.

Stories featured in this issue are:

• "Market Report" by Alexander Jablokov looks at a community that is apparently built up via the marketing of an idea. But it may be threatened by another marketing idea unless it can hide itself. Can it?
• "With Arms to Hold the Wind" by Mark W. Tiedemann looks at one woman who goes to help a family whose son has been injured while connected to a virtual sensory system. But the woman has her own reasons for helping the family.
• "Xiaoying's Journey" by Robert L. Nansel looks at two women on a Chinese colony on the moon. One of them, who had her baby taken from, snatches her back in desperation and together, they try to escape to a UN colony. But all may not be what it seems in this tale.
• "How Meersh the Bedeviler Lost His Toes" by Gregory Frost tells a humourous tale of Meersh, a man who one day is asked to take care of two children. Unfortunately, he 'loses' them (so to speak) and the tale of his journey to escape the wrath of their mother and gain freedom are told in this story.
• "Radiant Doors" by Michael Swanwick tells the tale of a refugee camp filled with people who have escaped from atrocities; atrocities committed in the future. Are they doomed to repeat history or can they break the cycle of horror?
• "Sea Change, With Monsters" by Paul J. McAuley is set on Jupiter's moon, Europa, after a war partially won by seeding Europa's seas with bio-engineered monsters. Now, after the war, one person is sent to destroy a 'dragon' disturbing a monastery. But she discovers that the monastery may be harbouring more than just monks and the monster may be less than a monster.
• The magazine ends with an article/reviews column by Norman Spinrad who has doubts about the future of Science Fiction as a literary field. He wonders why the major publishers appear to be 'dumbing' down books while the small presses appear to be the only ones who are publishing cutting-edge books that breath life into the field.

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