Cory and Catska Ench provide the intriguing cover to the Nov/Dec cover of Fantasy & Science Fiction, on sale this week. Lois Tilton reviews Robert Reed’s cover novella, “Katabasis,” set in his posthuman “Great Ship” universe, at Locus Online:

Inside the vast body of the ship, high-gravity beings once built a wheel-shaped habitat that is now used by tourists as a test of endurance. The high-gravity environment is so arduous that beings like humans can hardly bear their own weight, so they must employ porters to carry their food and water – and their bodies if they fail during the attempt. Katabasis works as a porter; she is a survivor of the arduous journey her own people once took to reach the ship…

The Great Ship is essentially a stage where different adventures can be set… knowledge of the previous stories is by no means required to enjoy the present one. What makes it different from other stages is time. The voyage is near-infinite in duration. Lifespans are measured in millennia. And as the author reminds us, death in this universe is no longer a permanent consideration. Xenophon was a student of Socrates, who would say that all humans are mortal. Reed makes us ask what, then, are the passengers on the Great Ship?

–RECOMMENDED

Fiction this issue includes:

NOVELLA

• “Katabasis” — Robert Reed

NOVELETS

• “High Stakes” — Naomi Kritzer
• “The Problem of the Elusive Cracksman” — Ron Goulart
• “Heaventide” — KJ Kabza

SHORT STORIES

• “Claim Blame” — Alan Dean Foster
• “Application” — Lewis Shiner
• “Breathe” — Steven Popkes
• “The Ladies in Waiting” — Albert E. Cowdrey
• “If the Stars Reverse Their Courses, If the Rivers Run Back From the Sea” — Alter S. Reiss
• “Waiting for a Me Like You” — Chris Willrich

The cover price is $7.50, for a generous 258 pages. Additional free content at the F&SF website includes book and film reviews, and other articles. We last covered F&SF here with the Sept/Oct issue.