Covers by Tuomas Korpi, Donato Giancola, and Bob Eggleton

The end-of-year crop of print magazines contains some very promising fiction from Michael Swanwick, James Morrow, James Patrick Kelly, Benjamin Rosenbaum, M. Rickert, Jerry Oltion, Mark W. Tiedemann, Jay O’Connell, Allen M. Steele, R. Garcia y Robertson, Harry Turtledove, James Gunn, and many others — including Black Gate‘s new short fiction reviewer, James Van Pelt. But I think my favorite piece this month was Sheila Williams’ editorial, “A Sadder and Wiser Woman,” in which she addresses the loss of two women, Janet Jeppson Asimov and Carol Emshwiller, who had long been associated with Asimov’s Science Fiction. Here she reminisces about her friendship with Emshwiller.

I was a high-school student when I first encountered Carol Emshwiller’s fiction in the pages of Dangerous Visions. I had to reread “Sex and/or Mr. Morrison” a couple of times before I had the slightest idea of what was going one. I became friends with Carol after I moved to New York City, and in 1991 she convinced my husband and I to accompany her on a walking tour of England’s Lake District….

Carol was bemused to “break in” to Asimov’s in January 2006. Her first story for us was “World of No Return.” Over the next seven years we published twelve of her inventive and often disturbing tales. One short story, “The Lovely Ugly” (August 2010), tied for first place in our annual Readers’ Award Poll. The last tale, “Riding Red Ted and Breathing Fire,” appeared in our April/May 2012 issue. Some of my other favorites included “Master of the Road to Nowhere” (March 2008) and “The Bird Painter in Time of War” (February 2009). I was sorry that she stopped writing, because I would love to have published a dozen more. Carol was born on April 12, 1921, and died on February 2.

Here’s the editorial issue summaries for Analog, and Asimov’s, and the complete Tables of Contents for all three.

Analog

The November/December issue opens with a story in the most classic Analog mold: a pair of explorers try to open line of communication with an alien species, but the process may involve a painful exchange for the humans. How many sly jokes can I make about this story? Find out in “An Eye for an Eye,” from Jerry Oltion.

Then we also have a novella about the kind of choices we might make if we really had a new lease on life, in “You Must Remember This,” from Jay O’Connell.

And of course, we’ll have plenty of other stories, from Julie Novakova, Gary Kloster, Aimee Ogden, Rajan Khanna, Eric Cline, Craig DeLancey, Michael Carroll, Guy Stewart, Marissa K. Lingen, and more (including a few seasonally-appropriate treats), as well as all our regular columns.

Analog is edited by Trevor Quachri; see all the details at the website.

Asimov’s

We’ve certainly got some “mindbenders” in our November/December 2019 issue! Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw continue to chronicle the mad antics of accidental mathematicians Zep and Del who, as usual, take to the waves. In this instance, they are “Surfers at the End of Time”! In his own ongoing series, the thrilling mystery deepens as Allen M. Steele’s characters “Escape from Sanctuary.”

Another November/December mindbender is James Gunn’s “Quantum Theory”; “SeeApp” is a deeply disturbing tale by James Van Pelt; James Patrick Kelly rounds out our unofficial “Jim” issue with an unsettling tale about the “Selfless”; Octavia Cade sets up an unusual conundrum “Inside the Body of Relatives”; Ray Nayler bends our minds around “The Disintegration Loops”; Kali Wallace takes us off-planet to solve the enigma of “The River of Blood and Wine”; complexities build upon complexities in Michael Swanwick’s “Cloud”; “The Airwalker Comes to the City in Green” in Siobhan Carroll’s first tale for Asimov’s; R. Garcia y Robertson brings us another rousing story about the adventures of “Commander Amanda;” and Harry Turtledove takes a dark look at an alternate “Christmas Truce”!

“California Secedes!” or, maybe not, in Robert Silverberg’s Reflections; James Patrick Kelly demands to know “Where Are the CRISPR Cops?” in On the Net; and Norman Spinrad’s On Books ponders the “State of the Art.” Plus we’ll have an array of poetry and other features that you’re sure to enjoy.

Asimov’s SF is edited by Sheila Williamsi; read more here.

Here’s the Tables of Contents for all three magazines.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

NOVELETS

“How I Came To Write Fantasy” – Michael Libling
“The Joy in Wounding” – Charlotte Ashley
“A Geas of the Purple School” – Matthew Hughes
“Bird Thou Never Wert” – James Morrow
“The Vicious World of Birds” – Andy Stewart

SHORT STORIES

“Rejoice, My Brothers and Sisters” – Benjamin Rosenbaum
“Evergreen” – M. Rickert
“A Hand at the Service of Darkness” – Gregor Hartmann
“It Never Snows in Snowtown” – Rebecca Zahabi
“Knit Three, Save Four” – Marie Vibbert
“Shucked” – Sam J. Miller

POEMS

Swing Between – Jane Yolen

DEPARTMENTS

Books to Look For – Charles de Lint
Musing on Books – Michelle West
Television: Those Were the Days – David J. Skal
Science: Portable Power – Jerry Oltion
Competition #98 –
Coming Attractions –
Index to Volumes 136 & 137 –
Curiosities – Paul Di Filippo

CARTOONS

Nick Downes.

COVER

Bob Eggleton.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact

NOVELLA

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS, Jay O’Connell

NOVELETTES

AN EYE FOR AN EYE, Jerry Oltion
FORMLESS, Gary Kloster
MARTIAN FEVER, Julie NovaKova
KAMSAHAMNIDA, Guy Stewart

SHORT STORIES

MOON SANTA MONGO, John Edward Uth
THE PRINCE OF SVALBARD: A SAGA OF THE THAW, Louis Evans
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE, Eric Cline
FILAMENTS OF HOPE, Marissa Lingen
JUST A GUY AND SOME ALIENS, Michael Carroll
WOLVES, Edward Ashton
BINARY, Rajan Khanna
SOJOURNER, Craig DeLancey
KEEP THE LINE TIGHT BUT NOT TOO TIGHT, OR ESTEBAN AND THE MOON, Joe M. McDermott
YAMADORI, Stephen R. Wilk
FOLLOW, PAST MERIDIAN, Mark W. Tiedemann
SOLVE FOR X, Jay Cole
EMPTY BOX, Allison Mulvihill
THE MOVEMENTS OF OTHER STARFISH, Matt Dovey
THE QUARANTINE NURSERY, Aimee Ogden

SCIENCE FACT

GEOENGINEERING: COMING SOON TO A PLANET NEAR YOU, Christina De La Rocha

POETRY

MOISTURE, Ken Poyner
HERTHA AYRTON, Jessy Randall

READER’S DEPARTMENTS

EDITORIAL: ODDS & ENDS I, Trevor Quachri
THE ALTERNATE VIEW, John G. Cramer
GUEST ALTERNATE VIEW, Richard A. Lovett
IN TIMES TO COME
THE REFERENCE LIBRARY, Don Sakers
BRASS TACKS
UPCOMING EVENTS, Anthony Lewis

Cover

Tuomas Korpi

Asimov’s Science Fiction

NOVELLAS

“Surfers at the End of Time” by Rudy Rucker & Marc Laidlaw
“Escape from Sanctuary” by Allen M. Steele

NOVELETTES

“The Airwalker Comes to the City in Green” by Siobhan Carroll
“The Disintegration Loops” by Ray Nayler
“Commander Amanda” by R. Garcia y Robertson
“Selfless” by James Patrick Kelly
“The River of Blood and Wine” by Kali Wallace
“SeeApp” by James Van Pelt

SHORT STORIES

“Christmas Truce” by Harry Turtledove
“Cloud” by Michael Swanwick
“Inside the Body of Relatives” by Octavia Cade
“Quantum Theory” by James Gunn

POETRY

Do Not Despair by Peter Payack
How To Curve Spacetime by Mary Soon Lee
Billets-Doux by Brittany Hause
Not For Sale by Mary Soon Lee

DEPARTMENTS

Editorial: A Sadder and a Wiser Woman by Sheila Williams
Reflections: California Secedes! by Robert Silverberg
On the Net: Where Are the CRISPR COPS? by James Patrick Kelly
Next Issue
On Books by Norman Spinrad
The SF Conventional Calendar by Erwin S. Strauss

Cover

Donato Giancola

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) — edited by Sheila Williams
Analog Science Fiction and Fact (208 pages, $7.99 per issue, one year sub $47.94 in the US) — edited by Trevor Quachri
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (258 pages, $8.99 per issue, one year sub $39.97 in the US) — edited by C.C. Finlay

Asimov’s and Analog are on sale until December 17, F&SF until January 6.

We last covered all three magazines with the September/October issues. See all our recent magazine coverage here.