Analog May 2010

The May 2010 issue of Analog contained 4 novelettes and 3 short stories and a poem, along with the usual Science Fact, Probability Zero, Editorial, Alternate View and other standard articles. Like most Analog's I've read in recent years it was a mixed bag of stories ranging from real "page turners"...pun intended...to page sloggers. Here is what I thought about some of the stories and articles.

"Page Turner", by Rajnar Vajra, was the lead novelette this month's lead story...and a real page turner it was, too! An earthquake traps a young woman under a building and the story is the tale she tells herself while she waits for rescue...or to die. In the story she calls herself Page Turner, and lets the reader know that some of what she relates is true and some is false and challenges the reader to figure out which is which. A SF plot device saves her in the end...a plot device that the reader could have put into the false category, but wasn't. Highly recommended!

The science fact article in this issue as titled "Robots Don't Leave Scars: What's new in Medical Robotics?" and, frankly, it didn't interest me very much.

"Hanging by a Thread", by Lee Goodloe, was the story that got the cover this month. The thread was a "elevator to space" connected to a floating research station on a exotic water world. Exotic in the sense of insidious acid oceans, orca sized, barracuda viscous, creatures, and massive hurricanes. Mix in emotional storms spawned by love and jealousy and physical threats and you have an interesting mix. Well worth the time to read.

"Fishing Hole", by Rick Cook was a nice little short story of no real consequence. I'd call it a bon bon...a trifle...to munch on between better stories.

I didn't like "Teaching a Pig to Sing", by David D. Levine or "The Day the Music Died", by H. G. Stratmann. It isn't that they weren't well written, they just didn't appeal to me. YMMV. "A Talent for Vanessa", I'll just skip...take that for what's it's worth.

I did like "Farallon Woman", by Walter L. Kleine...a very strange "first contact" story. I think it is the best story in the issue, not the most exciting, not the most entertaining, but still the best.