Nick Wolven and Leah Cypess both have stories in Asimov’s SF and Analog this month, which is quite an accomplishment. Chris Willrich, whom BG readers will remember from his story “The Lions of Karthagar” in Black Gate 15, has a short story in Asimov’s, with the intriguing title “Fragments from the Library of Cygnus X-1.”

Asimov’s also manages to cram two long novellas in the July/August double issue, by Suzanne Palmer and Tegan Moore, alongside fiction by Ian McHugh, Harry Turtledove, Dominica Phetteplace, Bruce Boston, and others. Analog has an even more impressive line up, with tales from Greg Egan, Paul Di Filippo, Catherine Wells, Joe M. McDermott, Steve Rasnic Tem, John Vester, Buzz Dixon, and others.

And although I don’t usually buy mystery magazines, I added Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine to the pile at the checkout counter this month, mostly because of the cover. I’ll let you know what I think.

All three are published by Dell Magazines. As usual, all have detailed summaries at their respective websites. Here they are.

First up: the July/August Asimov’s Science Fiction, edited by Sheila Williams.

Asimov’s July/August 2019 is jam-packed with moving, thoughtful, and exciting tales! Our double-issue format makes it possible to present Suzanne Palmer’s giant novella. In “Waterlines,” multiple intelligent beings cohabit a distant planet. Humans dwell on the surface while the Oceanics reside in the water. Until recently, their coexistence has mostly been peaceful, but when an Oceanic “Walker” shows up unexpectedly, the surface administer discovers that something terrible is about to transpire.

In her wonderful novella — which we’ve also managed to squeeze into this issue — Tegan Moore reveals “What Wolves Know.” Our novelettes and short stories rock, too! Leah Cypess mulls the mystery of “The Disappeared”; Ray Nayler investigates “The Ocean Between the Leaves”; and on Ceres, a grandfather attempts to connect with his family in Nick Wolven’s “The Terminal Zone.” Prepare for a very sad “Story With Two Names” while accompanying Ian McHugh to another world; Harry Turtledove will show us how to be a “Speaker to Emos”; Dominica Phetteplace escorts us to “The Universe Within the Universe”; Maggie Shen King’s naïve AI must make a wrenching decision in “Ardy’s Choice”; and Chris Willrich correlates the “Fragments from the Library of Cygnus X-1.”

Robert Silverberg’s Reflections embarks on “Imaginary Voyages”; James Patrick Kelly’s On the Net observes the “Full Moon”; Peter Heck’s On Books considers multiple works by N.K. Jemison, as well as books by Gardner Dozois, Dale Bailey, and others. Plus we’ll have an array of poetry you’re sure to enjoy.

The cover this issue is by Maurizio Manzieri, for “Waterlines” by Suzanne Palmer.

Next is Analog, edited by Trevor Quachri.

When political tensions aboard an astronomical exploratory vessel run high, it’s a tense situation. But when that same vessel discovers a mysterious alien artifact and it’s revealed that not everyone on board is who they say they are, it becomes a powder keg. Find out what happens next, in our July/August lead story, “Vault,” from Robert R. Chase.

Our fact article for the issue is a bit different: a little like a traditional fact piece and a little bit of an essay, C. Stuart Hardwick brings us “Do We Still Need NASA? The Agency and Its Future in the Era of Commercial Space.”

Then we have a cosmic mystery on the largest possible scale in “The Slipway,” by Greg Egan, and you’ll also find a truckload of tricky time travel tales, such as “Monarch of the Feast,” by Paul Di Filippo; “All Tomorrow’s Parties” by Phoebe North; “The Babbage Tour,” by Leo Vladimirsky; and “A Wonderful Thing to Say” by Dan Reade, as well as a tale of Augmented Reality gone horribly wrong in Nick Wolven’s “The Eyes of Alton Arnhauser”; a science-fictional take on a fairy-tale in Freya Marske’s “What We Named the Needle”; and a crime with an impossible murder weapon in Tom Jolly’s “Shooting Stars,” plus stories from Catherine Wells, Robert Scherrer, Joe M. McDermott, Julie Novakova, Alison Wilgus, Eric James Stone, Steve Rasnic Tem, John Vester, Buzz Dixon, David L. Clements, and Leah Cypess, as well as all our regular ongoing (and outstanding) columns.

Analog‘s cover was designed by Victoria Green, with art by Shutterstock.

And finally, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, edited by Linda Landrigan.

Buried secrets percolate to the surface, plans and machinations go awry, and the perfect murder may be anything but. Just ask Charles, who’s planning to kill his wife in B. K. Stevens’s “The Tourist,” or the handsome star who finds himself in the sights of the mob in Dave Zeltserman’s “Lulu and the Heartbreaker.” Meanwhile, a Roman girl’s plot nearly upsets her sister’s betrothal in William Burton McCormick’s “The Three Camillas,” and a young boy’s recognition of a horse once stolen from his uncle inspires a plan to pay back old debts in R. T. Lawton’s Armenian trader story “The Horse.”

When an unfiled intelligence report of a congressman’s affair with a Russian agent surfaces, retired spy Charles Marley is called to investigate its provenance in “Marley’s Mistress” by John C. Boland. A journalist sniffs out some inconsistencies in an old story of a jazz musician killed defending a woman in Paul D. Marks’s “The Past is Prologue.” An archeological dig unearths more than old bones in Michael A. Black’s “Carnivores and Herbivores.” A seedy amusement park in central Florida has its own hidden depths, as one teen employee discovers in Dayle A. Dermatis’s “Pirate Pete’s.”

Eighteenth century medium Madame Selena is summoned to tony Newport, Rhode Island on the eve of the America’s Cup race, but a murder during her séance sets her on a course for the truth in “A Fine Nest of Rascals” by Janice Law. Coroner Mary Deventer and her bright, budding-detective daughter Ashley probe the truth of a popular math teacher’s suicide in “Who’s Counting?” by John H. Dirckx.

And we’re delighted to reveal our 2018 Black Orchid Novella Award winner with a publication of “Minerva James and the Goddess of Justice” by Mark Bruce.

Our summer double issue brims with examples of bad behavior badly done that will successfully delight our most discerning readers.

The cover is by Maggie Ivy.

All three are available wherever magazines are sold, and at various online outlets. Here’s the details; links will take you to the latest issues.

Asimov’s Science Fiction (208 pages, $7.99 per issue, one year sub $47.94 in the US)
Analog Science Fiction and Fact (208 pages, $7.99 per issue, one year sub $47.94 in the US)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (208 pages, $7.99 per issue, one year sub $47.94 in the US)

All three are on sale until August 20.

We last covered Asimov’s SF and Analog with the May/June issues. See all our recent magazine coverage here.