reading (Asimov's March 2006)

[eor]

I just finished the Asimov's that came a few days ago. It had four novelettes and three short stories. I think the best of the novelettes was David Ira Cleary's "The Kewlest Thing of All". It's ultimately cynical and probably accurate about the future of marketing, capitalism, and debt in America. But it's also human, sweet, and bitter by parts. Of the remaining novelettes, Chris Beckett's "Dark Eden" is an examination of the sociology of interpersonal relationships on a micro scale and Neal Asher's "The Gabble" has a fairly surprising change of focus toward the end. Only Paul McAuley's "Dead Men Walking leaves me with nothing good to say. There were obvious errors between the stated intended audience of the narrator and some of the things the narrator relates, the plot was in my opinion uninspired, and the end left me feeling I'd been stood up on a date. Of the short stories, Deborah Coates' "46 Directions, None of Them North" was short, sweet, and fun. Robert Reed's "Rwanda" was coldly creepy, and Chris Roberson's "Companion to Owls" was Gothicly romantic.

Overall, a pretty good issue. Nothing that blew my mind away into little pieces, but interesting and varied.

6. Asimov's Mar. 2006