Analog July/August 2010

Every year Analog combines their July and August issues into one big "double issue." They do the same with their January and February issues. I'm sure they do it to save on costs...paper, mailing, etc...and that's okay with me. With more pages to fill, we typically get some longer form stories and I like longer form stories! This issue had 3 Novellas, 4 Novelettes and 3 Short Stories...as well as the typical features (Editorial, Science Fact, Alternate View, Reference Library, etc.). Following are comments on a few of the stories/articles therein.

"Doctor Alien's Five Empty Boxes", by Rajnar Vajna was the lead and cover story. Doctor Alien is the "psychologist to the stars"...stars as in aliens, not as in movie...and here he is dealing with a number of interesting cases. Some of the cases aren't at all what they seem. Humor, action and puzzle solving! What's not to like? Read this!

The science fact article this month, "Artificial Volcanoes: Can we cool the Earth by Imitating Mt. Pinatubo?", by Richard A. Lovell. I've read about this before, didn't like the idea then, don't like it now. Let's pump the upper atmosphere full of particulates, reducing the Earth's insolation, and cooling us all down! Yeah, let's do that...:(...not! Do read the article, do some study, and decide for yourself.

"The Long Way Around", by Carl Frederick is a nice little story set on the moon with a nice little puzzle solving ending. Interesting read, but certainly lightweight...oh, about 1/6th Earth gravity light.

"Fly Me to the Moon", by Marianne J. Dyson almost made me cry. Alzheimer's has hit my family hard. As good as this story was, and it was very good, any story like this was bound to make me very sad. This was an upbeat story wrapped around a very, very, downbeat disease. To be clear, it is worth reading.

"Bug Trap", by Stephen L. Burns was fine, but overshadowed by other stories in this issue. Read it if you have a few hour to waste.

"The Android Who Became a Human Who Became an Android", by Scott William Carter was a good read. Underlying a "detective story" was an interesting little idea about what is it to be a human. As it turns out the Android was much more human than one of the humans and why the android became a human and then became an android again was all human.

"Project Hades", by Stephen Baxter was great! As good as Dr. Alien was, this was better, and, IMO, deserved to be the lead story. If I had been the editor I'd have given the cover to the good doctor, but give Stephen Baxter's "What if this had happened?" top billing. Atomic bombs, first contact with creatures from inner space, shoot outs between US and British forces, heroes and villians left and right, and puzzles to solve...what more could you ask!

Lots of juicy stuff in this issue. Go find it!