REVIEW: “Superluminal” by Kevin Helock

Review of Kevin Helock, “Superluminal,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 29-33 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The best part about science fiction is that you can ignore science when needed in favor of fiction; on the other hand, if you want to write science fiction you can’t ignore too much science. With his story of faster-than-light travel and a 3000-strong colony on Mars, Helock has managed to hit a good balance between giving up science, without feeling any needed to explain how, and yet keeping the bones of the narrative credible.*

(*Other than the fact that anyone in so far distant a future would consider Elon Musk one of the “Great Men” of history. But Maxim seems the sort of person who would idolize Musk.)

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REVIEW: “The Blue Woman” by Leah Callender-Crowe

Review of Leah Callender-Crowe, “The Blue Woman,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 14-19 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Between the rather prosaic info-dump intro and the present tense, which felt oddly unsuited to the story, I struggled a bit to get into this one. But the central message — that no matter how much we sacrifice ourselves to our employers, they will never reward that sacrifice — is an important one to read.

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REVIEW: “Rebirth” by Michelle Kaseler

Review of Michelle Kaseler, “Rebirth,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 5-13 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: References to suicide, murder, and sexual assault; forced labor and enslavement.

The process of rebirth takes criminals and turns them into mining drones, an endless supply of prisoner labor. Rebirth is supposed to erase all memory of previous life; people don’t even know that rebirth has happened to them.

Unsurprisingly, one person does find it, and infiltrates a work crew, and attempts to help people remember.

The detail that struck me the most in this story was how even though all the prisoners had been given labels (“A7”, “B9”, etc.), all these labels eventually gave way to nicknames that became names. You can try to erase the individuality out of a person — but it’s much harder than people think.

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REVIEW: “confessional” by James Redfern

Review of James Redfern, “confessional,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 57 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I was going to scroll back up through the issue to find a story to review today, but then I glanced at the first stanza of this poem, and it sucked me in and I’d read the entire thing before I realised it. It’s both hilarious, and hilariously on-point commentary on labor in the era of capitalism.

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REVIEW: “The Problem Is” by Thomas Mixon

Review of Thomas Mixon, “The Problem Is,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 55 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This poem nicely encapsulates the existential angst that comes from living in a digital world where everyone is reachable all the time and no one is ever in sync with anyone else, and offers a plea to return to simpler times. On the one hand, I’m sympathetic; on the other hand, I think we’re better off going forward, rather than retrograde.

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REVIEW: “Eight Dwarfs on Planet X” by Avra Margariti

Review of Avra Margariti, “Eight Dwarfs on Planet X,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 52-53 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’m never quite sure if I like SF poetry, but if all SF poetry were like this poem by Margariti, then I definitely would. It struck the perfect balance of poetry and story, and was very definitely SF without needing to rely on spaceships or stars. The fact that it’s a retelling of a classic fairy tale is just an added bonus.

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REVIEW: “If You Love Him, Hide the Grave” by Vera Brook

Review of Vera Brook, “If You Love Him, Hide the Grave,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 1-4 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story has all the parts of a a classic SF story — consciousnesses uploaded to harddrives, prosthetic replacements of limbs and organs, military motivations lurking in the background — and combines them in a way that asks interesting questions. Short, but satisfying.

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REVIEW: “Ceres 7” by Lorraine Alden

Review of Lorraine Alden, “Ceres 7”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February (2023): 118–123 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.

This review may contain spoilers.

Ceres 7 is on its way to the planet Esperance with a mission to preserve the human race after Earth has presumably suffered nuclear Armageddon. Ruth and Jill, the youngest members of the all-female crew, are uncertain about their chances to survive the whole trip. With the cryogenic module half broken, only some of the members are destined to survive.

Alden’s story reminded me of Tom Godwin’s “The cold equation,” presenting yet another variation on the classic unwinnable scenario in science fiction (albeit far more plausible than Godwin’s version). I appreciated the tight economy of the prose, revealing just enough about the story’s background without drowning it in exposition. The final twist is genuinely surprising, but somewhat Deus-ex-machina for the protagonist. All in all, a great story.

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REVIEW: “Party On” by James Van Pelt

Review of James Van Pelt, “Party on”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February (2023): 80–87 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.

Tribley is jumping between dimensions searching for parties to take his mind off something. Someone is after him, trying to bring him back to reality.

The story does a fantastic job at bringing each location to life. Van Pelt has a gift for description that he puts to great use in this story. The ending is simply heart-breaking.

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REVIEW: “The Area Under the Curve” by Matt McHugh

Review of Matt McHugh, “The Area Under the Curve”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February (2023): 80–87 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.

Emi and Zeika discover that their son Benny is an average boy – plain average – and therefore not qualified to join them in the upcoming mission to the generation ship. They must decide if they will join follow him on earth, or remain in space and continue with their mission.

The drama in the story is absolutely superb. The richness of detail in the fights and arguments between the two parents give the story a certain familiarity that every reader is bound to recognize. Moreover, the source of the tension in the story is wonderfully melancholic. I took some issue with the ending, as it felt like a bit like a cop-out from the original dilemma. Nevertheless, this is still one of the best stories in this issue.

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