"Analog Science Fiction and Fact", June 2013 (ed Trevor Quachri) (magazine): Annotated table of contents & review

I don't have all parts of the serial; so skipped that.

If I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there. Links on author name fetch more fiction of author. My rating is in brackets.

Table of contents (fiction only, best first, unread last).

1. [novelette] Mark Niemann-Ross's "A Cup of Dirt" (A): Turning dirt into soil...
   
   Added to my "best of 2013" list.
2. [ss] Linda Nagata's "Out in the Dark" (B): When presumed dead for 30 years returns...
3. [ss] David D Levine's "Wavefronts of History and Memory" (B): Archeology via earth's leaked radio emissions...
4. [ss] Maggie Clarke's "Hydroponics 101" (C): A new technique to "rehabilitate" hardened criminals - solitary confinement in a glass sphere with a "MudderTree". "MudderTree" is a machine comprising of a lot of "nanites" that can read your mind & depending on your thoughts, either "withers away" or becomes a life giving "tree".
5. [ss] K S Patterson's "In the Green" (C): If there is a point to the story, I didn't get it.
   
   It's an outdoors adventure of a girl & her less-than-smart (autistic?) brother on a human colonized world with many dangers. For me, it was not only uninteresting but bizarre & illogical too during the main danger near end.
6. [serial - 3/4] Edward M Lerner's "Dark Secret": Not read.

Fact sheet.

Labeled: "Vol CXXXIII No 6".
Related: Stories from Analog/Astounding (whole issues only).

David D Levine's "Wavefronts of History and Memory" (short story)

There is an idea here that I've not seen before in this form: radioarcheology. Humanity's radio emissions leaking into space form an useful archeological resource in the hands of someone with the right technology.
PS: I'm not clear how telegraph transmissions leaked in this way, however. I thought they were mostly sent over physical wires.

Apart from this idea, however, it's a very ordinary read.

Story summary.

Thousands of years in future, earth is no longer habitable & only archeology possible is via remote controlled robots. But a radioarcheologist has discovered the WWII era Japan in vivid detail from the leaked emissions of that long gone era...

Fact sheet.

First published: Analog, June 2013.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of David D Levine. 

Nebula Awards 2007 - short stories: Brief summaries & my rankings

List below is based on the results of preliminary ballot, final ballot, & the official winners announcement.

Note that naming convention of Nebula Awards can be confusing. "2007" awards are actually the ones to be given in the year "2008"! And they refer to not only the stories published during 2007, but in 2006 as well, & can also include stories published in 2008 (but don't in the list below). They have something called 2-years rolling rule - I never bothered to learn its particulars.

List below is ordered by my preference - best first. My rating is in brackets (ABC: A = worth your time; C = don't bother). Where I have posted a separate review of the entry, link on story title takes you there. Where I am aware an authorized copy of the story is available online, I provide the download link too.

I am among those who actually cares about science fiction as distinct from rest of what goes as speculative fiction. And my classification is intentionally simplistic: if it is not science fiction, it's fantasy! Except when it is not even fantasy - I call that "non-genre". Occasionally, I add other tags to clarify what to expect when you pick up a story.

Story list (best first).

1. [prelim] Mary Robinette Kowal's "For Solo Cello, op. 12" (B); download; Cosmos, February/March 2007; science fiction: A man is forced to make an impossible choice - get his hand lost in accident in return for the life of his unborn child!
2. [final, prelim] Andy Duncan's "Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse" (B); download; Jonathan Strahan (Ed)'s "Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction And Fantasy", October 2007; non-genre, humor: A little child has met an avatar of Jesus Christ!
3. [final, prelim] David D Levine's "Titanium Mike Saves the Day" (B); download; F&SF, April 2007; science fiction: An ordinary mortal becomes a hero in fantastic space legends. Organized as 5 separate stories that trace the evolution of the legends over a century. For me, most important take was a reminder in one the stories - when you want someone's attention, selling a dream works better than selling data.
4. [winner, final, prelim] Karen Joy Fowler's "Always" (B); download; Asimov's, April/May 2007; non-genre: Description of life in a quasi-religious commune. Protagonist comes across as a loser, but otherwise a readable story - occasionally humorous.
5. [final, prelim] Vera Nazarian's "The Story of Love" (B); download; (probably author's own collection titled) "Salt of the Air", September 2006; non-genre: Father/daughter estrangement, & finally patch up.
6. [final] Mary Turzillo's "Pride" (B); download; Fast Forward 1, Pyr, February 2007; non-genre: Joys & pains of raising a big wild carnivore from a little cub. There is a very minor sf element, but it's essentially a non-genre story. Note this wasn't there on preliminary list (is probably a jury nominee).
   
7. [prelim] Melanie Fletcher's "The Padre, the Rabbi, and the Devil His Own Self" (B); download; Helix #2 (Fall 2006); fantasy, humor: Justice is meted out to a conman priest. There are parts related to prejudices among Catholic, Protestant, & Jewish sects that you will probably enjoy more than me if you are familiar with these religions. Not very original plot - there are probably a half dozen Hindi movies that include threads with its theme, & innumerable local tales in India (may be elsewhere too). But I still liked the story.
8. [final, prelim] Jennifer Pelland's "Captive Girl" (C); download; Helix #2 (Fall 2006); science fiction, horror: Gross abuse of three little girls by an agency of the State.

Related.

1. 2007 Nebula Awards novelettes, novellas.
2. 2008 Hugo Awards short stories.
   

David D Levine's "Titanium Mike Saves the Day" (short story, science fiction): Making of a legend

This is actually a collection of 5 related space stories, spread over a century - illustrating the development of legends around a hero named "Titanium Mike"; legends get more & more fantastic as time passes. Ordered #5 to #1 - latest to earliest. Legend originates in story #2.

I found the first two stories rather mundane, but then it gets interesting. Third story makes an interesting point familiar in corporate world - to get attention, sell a dream rather than data! I keep forgetting it. Good I got reminded again.

Full text of the story is available for download.

I briefly summarize the situations below. Legends themselves are generally mundane. Titles are as in the text of the story.

V. An emergency radiation shelter near the asteroid Chiron, December 2144.

During a solar storm, Helen is in a shelter with her little granddaughter Sophie. Oxygen supplies are limited. Frightened child is consuming oxygen rather fast. Granny tells the child stories of Titanium Mike to calm her.

IV. A mining facility near the asteroid Vesta, October 2088.

A large corporation has made an offer to buy a mining company. Owners are having a major fight - to sell or not to sell. Tempers are running high. To distract attention, someone begins telling the stories of Titanium Mike. There is finally a decision - to not sell - when the tempers have cooled down.

III. A rented office at Chaffee Station in Low Earth Orbit, July 2052.

Raymond Chen wants venture capitalist Valerie Itsui to fund his project. Looks like meeting is getting nowhere. During a break, he decides to sell the dream instead of data - by invoking legends of Titanium Mike.

II. A corporate cubicle in Cocoa, Florida, April 2041.

Tony Ramirez is to design an advertising campaign for a space company. The company is rather unpopular - because of the noise its ships make. And space travel is no longer very glamorous - too many people travel to space stations.

Tony's job is to boost the client's public image. He ends up inventing the legend of Titanium Mike - based on second hand information about an actual person.

I. A bar in Port Canaveral, Florida, January 2023.

Here we meet the real Mike - yet to be come a legend. Good natured, but otherwise ordinary. He is helping a friend, Sara Perez, in need.

Fact sheet.

"Titanium Mike Saves the Day", short story, review
First published: F&SF, Apr 2007.
Rating: B
Passed first round of Nebula Awards 2007 nominations in short story category.