Black Gate

I’ve been buying Analog Science Fiction and Fact for over 40 years. Remarkably little has changed in that time. It’s still a digest magazine. It still has interior art by Vincent Di Fate. And I still read “Probability Zero” first.

The July’August issue has a big novella by Martin L. Shoemaker, “Not Far Enough,” featuring the return of Captain Nick Aames, Carver, and Smith, who’ve previously appeared in the pages of Analog in “Murder on the Aldrin Express” (September 2013), “Brigas Nunca Mais” (March 2015), and “Racing to Mars,” (September 2015, winner of the Analog Award for Best Novella of the year). Here’s editor Trevor Qachari on the issue.

We kick off our July/August issue by checking in on Captain Nick Ames and his crew, last seen in “Racing to Mars,” September 2015, by Martin Shoemaker. When a routine mission goes off the rails, it’s more than just a matter of shipboard politics: lives are at stake, and people will die if they go too far, or “Not Far Enough.”

Then we have the kind of fact article that we only pull off all too rarely: H. G. Stratmann gives us a look at the science behind Stanley Schmidt’s story in this very issue, “The Final Nail.”

We also have fiction ranging from “Across the Streaming Sea,” an adventure that perfectly embodies Clarke’s Law, by Rob Chilson; to a story of the bond between a captain and his ship in Brian Trent’s “Galleon”; a follow-up to Maggie Clark’s “Seven Ways of Looking at the Sun-Worshippers of Yul-Katan,” in “Belly Up”; and an almost-could-have-happened-this-way tale of early space travel, “For All Mankind,” from C. Stuart Hardwick.

There’s also a slew of short pieces from such folks as Andrew Barton, Tom Easton, Tim McDaniel, Robert R. Chase, Ron Collins, Kyle Kirkland, Aubry Kae Andersen, Edward M. Lerner, Eve Warren, Holly Schofield, Uncle River, and Howard V. Hendrix, as well as an awesome array of compelling columns.

Although Trevor says “H. G. Stratmann gives us a look at the science behind Stanley Schmidt’s story in this very issue, ‘The Final Nail,'” don’t look too hard for Stan’s story. It actually appeared last issue.

The cover this issue is by Rado Javor. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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The July/August issue of Britain’s longest running science fiction and fantasy magazine has new fiction by Julie C. Day, Tim Casson, Michael Reid, Eliot Fintushel, Chris Barnham, and Andy Dudak, plus David Langford’s Ansible Link, film reviews by Nick Lowe; book reviews, and columns by Jonathan McCalmont and Nina Allan. Here’s Robert L Turner III, writing at Tangent Online.

Michael Reid’s “If Your Powers Fail you in a City Under Tin” is set in a future where magic has returned to the world after the God Beast tore a hole into this dimension. Jun, a portalist with control problems and a haunted past, starts to panic when his lover, Riel, disappears while fighting for the UN. As a week passes without word, Jun finally discovers how to control his abilities and makes an attempt to rescue Riel…

Eliot Fintushel creates a world in which people are partnered by genetic match in “Chubba Luna.” Sweeney, the protagonist, lives in a chaotic world where society has almost broken down and due to NPJ, Non-Punitive Justice, there are few consequences for any actions. He, Mo, Sheila Mo’s paired partner, and the Bartender gather together to argue, drink and decide what to do with their lives and partners…

“When I Close my Eyes” by Chris Barnham is the story of the first manned expedition to Titan. Darlo, one of the team, becomes trapped in an ice cave and has to make his way out while dealing with visions of his dead wife. When he discovers that there is life on the moon and that it seems to dislike his light he has to rely on faith in his hallucinations to save him. The story, an explorer facing a hostile environment is a common one, but Barnham does a good job of mixing the psychological elements to add depth to the piece…

Professor Turner’s complete review is here.

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