Search Results for: Galileo

Quatro-Decadal Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1989, edited by Edward Ferman

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The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1989. Cover by Bryn Barnard I thought that Asimov’s was going to rule the 1988 roost, but MoF&SF gives it a run for its money. The issue jumps straight into the fiction! Fiction — “Icicle Music” by Michael Bishop A story told in time jumps, starting on Christmas Eve 1957. Danny Pitts, living with his mother in a small boxy house near the waste dump — is up early, and finds his…

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Quatro-Decadal Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction, November 1989, edited by Gardner Dozois

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An unappealing cover by Wayne Barlowe, more on that in a second After the somewhat uninspiring November 1989 Analog, I turned next to Asimov’s, and found it to be pretty good. Editorial — “Half Done” by Isaac Asimov Starting with the quote ‘Half done is hardly begun,’ Isaac Asimov (That’s Dr. Asimov, if you’re nasty) jumps into looking at how we conceptualize and compare time. Starting with the fact the Earth is 15 billion years old, half of that is…

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Vintage Treasures: New Arrivals, Old Encounters by Brian Aldiss

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New Arrivals, Old Encounters (Triad/Granada, August 1983). Cover by Tim White New Arrivals, Old Encounters was Brian Aldiss’s 17th collection, an incredible accomplishment no matter how you slice it. It contains ten stories published between 1966-78, plus two originals. The book is crammed full of classic Aldiss, including spacefarers who return after a century to find a radically transformed Earth, a society that worships computers, the Tahiti underworld, dream research, the future of human evolution, and missionary clones on a…

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An Adventure to be Had: A Journey Through the Art of Darrell K. Sweet

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The Arrival of Gandalf, Darrell K. Sweet (2010) “A Sweet cover promised an adventure to be had.” — Irene Gallo, Tor.com Growing up a child of the late 60s, I stumbled my way into fantasy novels in the dying years of the 70s and through into the 80s. Across this time, there was one man who influenced the books I chose to read more than any other, and by quite a significant margin. No, it was not a particularly skilled…

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Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact, November 1989: A Retro Review

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Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact, November 1989. Cover by Janet Aulisio My quatro-decadal-review system for vintage magazines broke down for a while. What can I say? 2021 was a tough year for everybody! But I’m back in the game with Analog November 1989, which 20-year old me might have enjoyed back in the day. Let’s jump back and jump right in! First off, though, that cover. It really has an 80s look — like those are Members Only jackets…

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Amazing Stories, November 1989: A Retro Review

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  Amazing Stories, November 1989. Cover by Janet Aulisio An unexpected issue came up during my reading of the November, 1989 Amazing Stories. In 1979 I was 10 years old, and I barely remember being 10 years old. In 1989 I was 20, and I remember being 20; maybe not 100%, but I remember enough. In fact, I remember enough to know what 20-year-old me (20YOM) would think of the stories in the November, 1989 cadre. Sometimes, 20YOM’s views conflicts…

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Jump Back! Quatro-Decadal Review, Looking Ahead to November 1989

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The Holy Trinity With the 1969 and 1979 magazines behind me I prepare to delve into 1989.  A problem with the decadal review is that, well, it comes in decade intervals. I was 10 years old in 1979, but in 1989 I was a well-seasoned 20.  The answers?  I had them.   In the intervening decade I had gotten a car, a job, started taekwondo, finished high school, and was deep into college. Unlike 10-year-old me, 20-year-old me had a full…

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A Decadal Review of Science Fiction from 1979: Wrap-up

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For the second round of the quatro-decadal review, I read and reviewed six periodicals from November 1979, in the following order: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Galileo Magazine of Science & FictionAnalog Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Amazing StoriesOmni I would put Analog at the top of the list, solid stories — especially Mark McGarry’s “Phoenix,” Clifford D. Simak’s The Visitors installment (a ‘part two’ that stands on its own) and Kevin O’Donnell Jr’s “Old Friends” — interesting science…

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Omni Magazine, November 1979: A Retro-Review

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Worst Cover Ever I will admit that I was very nervous about delving into Omni Magazine. For years, decades! I’ve heard people talk about Omni in breathless tones of awe! Yet I knew very little about it. Not to say that it was entirely unknown to me; I have distinct memories, back in like 1983, of being at the doctor’s office and they had several issues of Omni in the waiting room. I even flipped through some of them. Here…

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James Nicoll on Amazons! edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

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Amazons! (DAW, 1979). Cover by Michael Whelan Every once in a while I get asked to recommend other sites out there for readers who enjoy Black Gate. There are some top-notch book blogs, of course — like Rich Horton’s excellent Strange at Ecbatan, and Mark R. Kelly’s overlooked Views from Crestmont Drive — and the usual publisher sites, like Tor.com and Locus Online. But recently I’ve been spending a lot of time at James Nicoll Reviews, partly because of the wide range of…

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