Cover art by Larry Blamire – “Louis Wu Making Good His Escape” I’m going to start my review of the November 1979 issue of Galileo magazine by talking about Omni. I’ve heard people, people of a certain age — people who were there, man — talk about Omni like it was the second coming of Christ. I bring that up because Galileo magazine was like Christ rolled the stone out of the way and was serving up fancy drinks in the tomb….
Galileo’s tomb in Santa Croce, Florence Florence was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and home to countless great names in art, literature, and science. For me, though, one figure towers over them all–Galileo Galilei. He was a man who profoundly changed how we look at the universe, a true genius whose impact is still felt today. So I and my astronomer wife went searching for him in Florence. Call it a pilgrimage if you want. It certainly felt that…
Column: Reflections, Autographs, by Robert Silverberg Silverberg spent the summer of ’99 signing copies of Dying Inside. 7,000 autographs — a novella in and of itself. He muses on autographs and people who collect them. His future wife signed in ‘81 Silverberg quit the writing game in disgust in the 70’s. In ’75 at a con he asked near-immortal Jack Williamson for his autograph. “For Bob Silverberg, who used to write great SF — trusting he’ll do it again —…
Editorial, Technological Temptation by Stanley Schmidt Cameras at stop-lights, that is the issue that has rubbed Schmidt’s libertarian streak wrong. Very wrong! He soon spins a future of nanny-state-over-arching-safety-protocols. I’m not an expert at the art of rhetoric and argument, but even I am immediately pick up on several logic holes, beginning with his fundamental argument, “That if it leads to a reduction in crime it must be good, therefore there should be more of it.” Thus, more cameras, cameras…
Tor Double #30 contains Poul Anderson’s third and final appearance and was originally published in February 1991. He is joined by Steve Popkes with a story original to this volume and which has not been reprinted. “The Longest Voyage” was originally published in Analog in December 1960. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, which makes it a strange choice for the Tor Doubles series, which generally published novellas, but the second story in the volume may…
This is a 50th Anniversary double issue… why did it have to be a double issue? I hate to start the review with a petty observation like that, but honestly, this was a bigger task than I was hoping for, especially because the November ’99 Asimov’s SF was also a double issue! Right inside the cover is an ad for Frank M. Robinson’s Science Fiction of the 20th Century: An illustrated History. Really pulling the nostalgia strings for the older…
Some of the print SF magazines of November 1999: The 50th Anniversary issue ofThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and the October-November doubleissue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. Covers by Chesley Bonestell, Kim Poor, and Jim Burns With the ‘69, ‘79 and ‘89 magazines behind me I prepare to delve into 1999. On the one hand, my memories of 30-year-old-me (30 YOM), while closer in time than 20YOM, are perhaps a bit hazier because unlike 20 YOM, 30 YOM…
Isaac Szpindel’s “When the Morning Stars Sang Together” appeared in the 2004 alternate history anthology ReVisions, which Szpindel co-edited with Julie E, Czerneda, which explored alternative technological advancements. Szpindel’s story, set in the twentieth century, looks at a world in which Galileo reconciled science with the Church rather than being persecuted for championing the scientific method. The main character has been given access to letters written by Galileo to his older daughter, Maria Celeste, who was a nun at the…
I reviewed five science fiction magazines from mid-2021 to early 2024. Here are my overall notes and rankings. Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 30, 2022 Edited by Gardner DozoisCover by Wayne BarloweRanking 1st out of 5 Megan Lindholm’s (AKA Robin Hobbs) “A Touch of Lavender” and Walter Jon William’s “No Spot of Ground” really elevate this issue. Allen Steele’s “Ride to Live, Live to Ride” was solid, and two trying-to-get-in-on-the-‘cyberpunk’-wave stories, Robert Silverberg’s “Chiprunner” and Orson Scott Card’s “Dogwalker” had a…
Weird Tales, Fall 1989 (Terminus Publishing). Cover by J.K. Potter There has been quite the gap in my reviews. I’ve been high-centered on Weird Tales. Many factors played a role in this — mostly that it is not a small magazine by any stretch. Then there is the fact that I read it in early 2023, got distracted by other things, and had to re-read it to write about it. As readers of these reviews know, I don’t hold back…