NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Marjane Thompson has traveled through space and time to arrive on an alien planet and make first contact, to form a new history, to learn the life of another species.  Upon arrival, the  intention was to immediately establish communication.  But when the team learns that they can thrive without doing just that, the plan is thrown on the back burner, and new strategies emerge.  Will first contact ever actually be made?

MY THOUGHTS

This was a story beautifully written with tones of longing and unfulfilled desires.  The beginning paragraph set the mood for the story, describing how beautiful the ocean is, and how beautiful the language of an alien species is.  Marjane’s desire is palpable, as she longs to complete her mission.  Her disappointment is felt as she describes what happens to her team as the initial plan is put off, again and again.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 2,530
• Page Count: 7
• About the Author: Martin Ivison has published song albums for Sony/BMG.  I couldn’t find any other information about this author, has anyone out there heard of him?

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read Mail Order for free at AE Science Fiction.

Archaeology and Science Fiction – Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I am intensely fascinated by anthropology and archaeology. And when they are combined with a great science fiction story by an excellent author… well, let’s just say that its better than Reece’s Peanut Butter cups!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Ever since Simmilgord was a little boy growing up among the brightly colored savannas of Majipoor he has longed to study the planet’s history and tell its story. After many years of school and hard study he and his friend are given the chance of a lifetime – to excavate the tomb of the first Pontifex of Majipoor! He starts off as a skeptical scholar, but as they make several exciting discoveries his skepticism melts away and the two friends revel in their work – that is until the Superintendent of Antiquities becomes aware of their dig and stops by to (ahem…) help them out. Can their friendship survive the snobbish intrusion? Or will everything literally fall to pieces?

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 13,708 (34 pages)
• Did you know that Robert Silverberg has written more than 580 short stories? Yep. You can learn more about this prolific writer at majipoor.com.
• "The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn" is part of Silverberg’s Majipoor series. If you like it be sure to check out some of the other novels and stories set on this amazing planet – beginning with the award winning Lord Valentine’s Castle.
• Special thanks to the excellent Variety SF for pointing me towards this awesome story!

Where To Find The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn

• This story first appeared in the Winter 2011 edition of Subterranean Online – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn" then you may also enjoy “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge” by Mike Resnick – a story set in the far future when a group of anthropological aliens are studying the long and brutal empire of mankind.

Description:

Ellie Simmons lost the love of her life, her husband Daniel. And now, two years later, baby Daniel is born — a clone of the man she lost. But human cloning is illegal, and Ellie must be very, very careful. Daniel’s and Ellie’s friend Greg knows Ellie’s secret. And his feelings for Ellie should keep him from betraying her. In fact, he can keep Ellie and little Daniel safe — if Ellie can walk the tightrope between his feelings and her own. Which would be tricky — even if the tightrope held still…

Author bio:

Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle’s childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9.

Wyle is an appellate attorney, photographer, political junkie, and mother of two daughters. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.

Why readers should check out the story:

"The Baby" is the first of a planned series of stories dealing with issues that may arise if human cloning becomes feasible. For now, I’m offering these stories for free on Smashwords (and on Amazon when feasible).

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Linguists, scholars, observers and travelers have studied the Asonu, trying to discover why the people become more and more silent as they grow older.  They have a language, it has been heard, it is taught to their children.  But the adults speak on such rare occasion that it has caused great debate.  Do they stay silent to prevent contention?  Do they carry such wisdom that they don’t need to speak?  The Silence of the Asonu is an unusual and interesting story that causes you to ponder these questions.

MY THOUGHTS

This story kind of felt like I was reading a documentary.. very informative and educational.. yet with the odd twist that the documentary was mostly guesswork (and fictional). The Silence of the Asonu was comical in parts, to think that others would go to such great lengths to force meaning into something so obvious.   I enjoyed the questions this raised in my mind, about how valuable speech really is.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 2,347
• Page Count: 6
• Published: 1998
• About the Author: Did you know Ursula K. Le Guin is the winner of five Hugo and six Nebula awards!?  You can read more about this talented author at her website.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read The Silence of the Asonu for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

Be sure to read the Author Spotlight for this story, where Ursula K. Le Guin answers questions about her story.

Better Than The Movies

Do you remember all those “Earth gets destroyed by an asteroid (or comet)” movies in the 1990′s? I do. “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” come to mind. Some of them were good, some not so much. This story is, to me anyway, more proof that writing is always better than cinema! Yay – go written SF!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Captain Robert Singh is part of the crew that has been sent to the asteroid Kali. Their job is to build the thrusters that will alter Kali’s course enough to avoid collision with Earth. It has taken a long time, lots of money and plenty of politics to get to this point, and now that they are ready to start the burn that will push Kali out of its current orbit, the crew is about to discover that things don’t always go as planned. What’s that saying about the true measure of a man being shown when he is under pressure? Well, Captain Singh and his crew are about to find out what they are really made of – and all the people on Earth are hoping it’s the “right stuff.”

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,458 (8 pages)
• Did you know that Arthur C. Clarke spent some time as chairman of the British Interplanetary Society? Yep. You can learn more about this giant of science fiction literature at Wikipedia.
• This short story was the basis for Arthur C. Clarke’s 1994 novel also titled The Hammer of God.

Where To Find The Hammer of God

• This short story first appeared in October 1992 in Time magazine.
• You can read "The Hammer of God" for free online at the web site of Lightspeed magazine.
• You can find this story in many anthologies, including the prestigious book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Hammer of God" then you may also enjoy another of Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s stories: “The Star” – about a Jesuit astrophysicist aboard a starship that is investigating the Phoenix Nebula.

The Nature Of Man. Since the days of Pinocchio, inanimate devices seem mesmerized by Man and obsessed with trying to discover the answer to what it is and what it means to be human.

This quirky yet wonderful novelette, written by Roger Zelazny in 1966, illustrates the frustratingly perplex struggle to correlate genius with folly, strength with frailty, and all the promise and pratfalls of what it means to be Man! (*)

Story Synopsis:

Long after the Last Man had perished from existence, the Earth is faithfully maintained by armies of robotized machines and computers dedicated to the rebuilding program initiated by humans before their demise.

Solcom orbits the Earth directing the effort .To aid him in this task, Solcom builds a super computer called Frost to rule the Northern Hemisphere and one called Beta to rule the Southern Hemisphere,

As a backup system, Man had created an Alternate to Solcom : Divcom. Divcom is activated prematurely and they have a constant battle to assert their claim to be the dominant force.

With no Man in existence to make the determination, Solcom and Divcom spend eons destroying each others’ rebuilding attempts.

Frost, having time and unused resources at his disposal, becomes interested in Man after unearthing some artifacts of this now extinct creature. Frost’s curiosity grows into a frantic obsession as his research produces more questions than answers.

In a parallel to God and Satan discussing Job, Solcom and Divcom make a deal between themselves based on the outcome of Frost’s insatiable desire to discern the Nature of Man.

(*) (If it’s any consolation, my dear Frost, we humans have pondered these very questions throughout our existence as well and have come away with pitifully few results.)

The Good:

• Very well written and does not suffer in the least for having no PEOPLE in the story.
• Provides us with a long hard look from the outside in, as it were, of ourselves.
• Suspenseful.

The Bad:

• Little action here and not a very complex topic.(**)
• The ending is a little corny but still a very enjoyable story.

This & That:

• Word count 11,249
• Page Count 28
• Similar Story: If you liked "For a Breath I Tarry" you’ll love “The Bicentennial Man” by Isaac Asimov!

Can be found here:

• The Last Defender of Camelot
• Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology
• You can read it free online here.

(**) This is the toughest part of doing these reviews…finding something negative to say! I agree with Rusty in his purpose for this site – namely ONLY THE GOOD STUFF! (I’m paraphrasing of course).

With very few exceptions, the only SF I read are short story anthologies and the only way I would review one here is if I feel it is one of the Best of The Best in the FIRST PLACE!

It’s a Bunch of Stories!

This is a strange story… if you can even call it a story. It’s more like an article written by an alien researcher who is describing the views and beliefs surrounding star drives. It is cool though, and some of the ideas are truly unique ones that I have never seen before – and that is worth something indeed.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Mrithaya, Mother of the Conflagration, and her priests believe interstellar travel to be one thing. The Iothal, who bind forest chronicles, believe it to be something entirely different. The same goes for the Dancers, the Kiatti and the civilization whose star drive always kills them. That doesn’t stop any of them from traveling among the stars, though. Learn all about their strange and exotic beliefs in this short but fascinating piece by an excellent author.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 1,966 (5 pages)
• You can learn more about Yoon Ha Lee by reading her author profile on Tor.com.

Where To Find A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel

• This short story first appeared in August 2011 on the web site Tor.com – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel" then you may also enjoy another excellent story by Yoon Ha Lee: “Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain” – about an ancient woman who possesses a uniquely powerful weapon.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Cinnamon is a young princess who cannot talk.  Her parents are desperate to teach her to speak, and offer treasure and riches to anyone who can help her to do so.  Many try, but none succeed.  Until one day a fierce tiger arrives and wants to help Cinnamon.  Her parents are worried that the tiger will trick them, but they agree to let him try.

MY THOUGHTS

I may be a little biased here, after all, this story bears my name!  Yep, Cinnamon is my name, so I was stoked to stumble across this story last week when I was checking out Neil Gaiman’s website!  As with most Neil Gaiman stories, this one falls into the fantasy category of science fiction.  It was a very quick read with some great illustrations that your kids will enjoy too!

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 1,138
• Page Count: 3

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read Cinnamon for free at Neil Gaiman’s website.

Chocoholic

Yes, I admit it – I am very nearly addicted to chocolate. It’s funny because I can resist pretty much all kinds of sweets… but put something chocolatey in front of me and my resolve weakens by the second! Mmm, mmm, mmm! Oh well, it is good to know that this delightful substance tempts not only Earthlings but people on other planets as well!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Romee is an inhabitant of the planet Notcid. It is a pretty easy going place, but now that the “traders” have been replaced by more concerned Earth people she is having difficulty purchasing her favorite Earth food: chocolate. So when she is given the chance to participate in a study on “response to environmental stimuli” she literally jumps at the chance – especially since she will make a load of money for doing it. The study turns out to be a little bit scary and frustrating, but her experience with it proves to be invaluable after she learns to apply it in truly dangerous situations. Now if she can just teach the others to learn these new ways they will have chocolate galore! Yum!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 6,857 (14 pages)
• Did you know that in the early 1970s Howard L. Myers was poised to become “one of science fiction’s top authors” when he suddenly died at the age of 41? Yep. You can learn more about this fantastic, yet nearly forgotten, author in the Preface to his book.
• Special thanks to Variety SF for pointing out this great story!

Where To Find Health Hazard

• This short story first appeared in the January 1973 edition of Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact – over a year after the author’s death.
• You can read "Health Hazard" for free online at The Fifth Imperium.
• It is also included in the book of Howard L. Myers short stories The Creatures of Man.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Health Hazard" then you may also enjoy “Finisterra” by David Moles – about an engineer from Earth who contracts out to help poachers on a distant world make their biggest kill yet.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

A man who is mourning his lost daughter decides to make journey to a legendary cave.  It is told that the cave is filled with gold, but that it is also cursed.  Most men are too afraid to seek the riches of the cave.  But our main character is no normal man, and he has had some unique experiences in life.  So he enlists the help of a guide, and together they make the long and difficult travel to the cave.  But when they arrive, things are not as they seem…

MY THOUGHTS

I’m ashamed to admit that this is the first story I have ever read by Neil Gaiman!  Tsk tsk…  But I am happy to announce that I now understand the cult following this famous author has acquired.  (1.5 million followers on Twitter.)

The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains was a delightful first read for me.  I enjoyed Gaiman’s writing style, and the vivid images that drifted off the pages.  This story had layers of meaning, and left me thinking about the age old saying, “What goes around, comes around.”

Although this one falls more into the fantasy side of science fiction, I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 10,517
• Page Count: 24
• About the Author: Did you know that Neil Gaiman’s first book was a Duran Duran biography?  Learn more fascinating facts about Neil at his website, or at Wikipedia.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read  The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains for free at Fifty Two Stories.