Analog Science Fiction and Fact - June 2013

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ANALOG Perhaps inevitably, the Sadiri also have their enemies. And one of those enemy races unleashes disaster, destroying the Sadiri homeworld and killing most of the Sadiri. The survivors, mostly Sadiri who were offworld at the time, are left as homeless refugees. Enter Cygnus Beta, a world built by refugees, a welcoming home to all of the galaxy’s displaced peoples. Successive waves of exiles and survivors have settled on Cygnus Beta; the resulting Cygnian race is as genetically and socially diverse as they come. Linguist Delarua works for the Cygnian government department that settles disputes between ethic groups. Clear-headed and practical, Delarua likes her job and is happy with her life. When the first Sadiri refugees arrive, she’s made chief liaison to their settlement. Chief among the Sadiri is Dllenankh, a diplomat, who bears with dignity both his survivor’s guilt, and the responsibility for finding a way for his people and their culture to survive. In order to broaden the gene pool as much as possible, the next generation of Sadiri will have to come from interbreeding with other races; Cygnus Beta offers the best hope, for some of the people who settled there in the past spring from the same stock as the Sadiri. Dllenankh’s group is a test case to see if such interbreeding can be successful. In brilliant harmony, the larger problem of the Sadiri is mirrored in the very personal relationship between Delarua and Dllenankh—for these two, thrown together in their work, begin to fall in love. The Best of All Possible Worlds is a slow, stately waltz in which personal and societal stories progress toward an ultimate and satisfying conclusion. Resonances with today’s world are inevitable: Cygnus Beta is, in its own way, as much a melting pot as the United States, and today’s world certainly has its share of displaced peoples. All in all, this deliciously understated book is a delight. Red Planet Blues Robert J. Sawyer Viking, 460 pages, $30.00 (hardcover) iBooks, Kindle, Nook: $12.99 (e-book) ISBN: 978-0-670-06577-6 Genres: Mars, SF Mystery A new Robert J. Sawyer book is always cause for celebration. Even more so when the book is something completely different than he’s been doing for the last few years. Red Planet Blues is a tour de force: a hardboiled detective thriller set in a Martian settlement fifty to a hundred years from now. It all started with Sawyer’s 2004 Hugo—and Nebula-nominated novella “Identity Theft,” which is included as part of the current book. Four decades before the time of the story, Martian explorers Simon Weingarten and Danny O’Reilly found fossil evidence of past life. This spawned the Great Martian Fossil Rush, as thousands moved to Mars in hopes of unearthing more fossils and striking it rich. That was the genesis of New Klondike, a domed city on the newest frontier. It’s a raw, rough place where the burned-out hulks of failed prospectors share the streets with the glitterati and so-called transfers—androids animated by the uploaded consciousnesses of Earth’s wealthy and influential. In the chaos of New Klondike there’s sure to be crime. Enter Alex Lomax, a private investigator who makes his living tracking down thieves and murderers. Alex is the classic rough detective with a soft heart, struggling to pay his bills and keep his head above water while still bringing some justice to the world. Then Alex gets an unexpected case, one that could make his reputation and ensure his fortune. It’s the most famous unsolved case on the books: Decades ago, someone murdered Weingartner and O’Reilly. And it’s up to Alex to find out who . . . no matter where the investigation leads. Well, this is Robert J. Sawyer, so you know it’s a well-written, intelligent story with some unexpected twists. Alex Lomax is one of the good guys, easy to identify with—and Sawyer makes New Klondike as real as the street in front of your house. Red Planet Blues isn’t just a mystery story with science fiction trappings, it’s a fusion of the two genres in which the mystery depends on the SF elements. To top it off, Sawyer obviously had fun writing this book, and that sense of fun comes through on every page. Definitely worth reading. * * * 102 DON SAKERS
Farside Ben Bova Tor, 400 pages, $24.99 (hardcover) iBooks, Kindle, Nook: $11.99 (e-book) ISBN: 978-0-7653-2387-3 Series: Grand Tour Genres: Hard SF, High Frontier The Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton “juveniles” of the 1950s and 1960s played a big part in inspiring an entire generation of young people to enter the fields of science and engineering. You don’t have to ask very many astrophysicists or astronauts to uncover someone’s happy memories of Have Space Suit,Will Travel or Starman’s Son. Currently, the inspirational torch is carried by Ben Bova. Most of Bova’s books aren’t actually YA, either in intent or in marketing—but they’re easily accessible to bright teenagers, and they’ve opened the wonder of science and engineering to many a young mind. A typical Bova book is set anywhere from twenty to two hundred years from the present, involves the exploration and industrialization of some piece of real estate in the solar system, has a varied multicultural cast, and is built around an exciting thriller plot. The book’s informed by accurate science and rigorous extrapolation, and imparts the joy of learning. Scientists, technologists, and explorers are the heroes of most Bova books, rational and intelligent people all. Farside, Bova’s latest, is no exception. It’s set against the background of constructing the first large observatory on the Moon’s farside, where Luna’s bulk shields the instruments from the electromagnetic and political interference of Earth. Trudy Yost, astronomer, travels to the Lunar nation of Selene to become assistant to Professor Jason Uhlrich. Uhlrich is the driving force behind Farside Observatory, and a leading expert in the observatory’s target: the Earth-size planet Sirius C. The planet shows hopeful signs, but critical data is tantalizingly out of reach until Farside’s delicate instruments are online. But first, they have to build those instruments. It’s an unforgiving environment for construction work. Airless, bathed in hard radiation, subject to micrometeorite bombardment, THE REFERENCE LIBRARY JUNE 2013 everything covered in the irritating Lunar dust. Construction crews rely on robots and nanomachines for much of the work. Accidents are frequent, some of them fatal. And some of the fatal ones aren’t accidents at all. Slowly, Trudy learns that there’s a saboteur at work—one, perhaps, with a good reason to want the project stopped. In the midst of all this, Uhlrich’s spectroanalysis of Sirius C finds traces of oxygen and water vapor, sure signs of life. And suddenly, the stakes are much higher .... Bova is a master storyteller, and Farside is a delightful read. A Legacy of Stars Danielle Ackley-McPhail DTF Publications, 230 pages, $14.95 (trade paperback) Kindle, Nook: $2.99 (e-book) ISBN: 978-1-937051-95-2 Genre: Short Stories Danielle Ackley-McPhail is one of the upand-coming storytellers and editors in SF/fantasy. She’s best known for her series of humorous fantasy anthologies, the Bad-Ass Faeries. Here she serves up a baker’s dozen science fiction short stories, ranging from military SF to SF horror to one of the cleverest first contact stories to come along in a long time. Each story is introduced by an editor or SF writer, and there are five of Ackley-McPhail’s poems as well. If you’re in the mood for a smorgasbord of enjoyable tales from a fresh new voice, at an ebook price that won’t break the bank, give A Legacy of Stars a try. Finally, I call your attention to Unidentified Funny Objects, edited by Alex Shvartsman, a collection of funny SF stories. One of the stories is mine, so obviously I can’t give the book a regular review, but it seems like something Analog readers would want to know about. That’s it for this time around; see you next issue! Don Sakers is the author of A Voice in Every Wind and A Rose From Old Terra.For more information, visit www.scatteredworlds.com. ■ 103
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Analog Science Fiction and Fact - June 2013

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