Reviews and Comments

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Matthew Kressel and Mercurio D. Rivera, Justin C. Key, John Shirley and William Mangieri.

• "Threat Assessment" by Matthew Kressel and Mercurio D. Rivera: an interesting story of a psychologist tasked to access the intelligence of an AI that may threaten humanity. What she discovers, instead, are lies and deceptions and a struggle to discover the truth.

• "The Final Trial of Jalen, Oba of Uhuri" by Justin C. Key: a tale set in an African country at the time when slavery was rampant. The ruler of one country was disposed and sentenced to limbo by his sister, but now has a chance to return to reclaim his throne and try to end the slavery of his people.

• "The Corporate Soul" by John Shirley: a scientist discovers a way to illuminate the 'soul' of a person, and has now been tasked to reveal the collective soul of a corporation (made up of members of its board) ahead of a vote to grant US Senate seats to corporations. But what he reveals may not be what the corporation may be expecting.

• "The Apology Tour" by Nnedi Okorafor: a scientist responsible for creating sentient AI goes on a tour, to 'apologise' for effectively turning the AIs in virtual slaves for humanity. A personal crisis and a heart-to-heart talk with her own personal AI assistant inspires her to change her ways.

• "The Seventy-Eight Spoons" by Devan Barlow: A woman visits the home left to her by her great-aunt, who was once considered the village witch. The spoons she finds in the house would lead her to discover a way to have 'fun'.

• "And a Little Garlic" by William Mangieri: a fishing trip with some garlic would lead a fisherman to discover a talking fish, with their own ideas on merits of fishing.

• "The Red River Summers" by Inda Lauryn: a Native American discovers she has powers that can help others. But she has to run from slavery and hides in a forest. Some people know of her powers, and come to her for help. With ever-growing development encroaching, she may not have a place to hide.

• "Soul Rebel" by Maurice Broaddus: part of a series of stories by the author, this one starts and ends in the middle of a tale of attempted sabotage and a man trying to keep his son with unusual abilities safe from those who want to kidnap the son for their own purposes.

An interesting book that is billed as a 'sheep detective' novel, but is actually more of a novel told mainly from the viewpoint of the sheep as they try to find out their shepherd's murder. They observe the actions of various humans, listen in on their conversations, make some deductions and occasionally do detective work. All this was probably encouraged by the shepherd reading various detective and romance books to the sheep in the past (and also one book on sheep diseases).

Some humour is injected into the story via mis-understandings or the obscure motives of humans. There are some deductions that make sense to the sheep, but are off the mark. For example, 'grass' means one thing to sheep but quite another to humans. Ditto for concepts like 'justice' and 'god' that the sheep attribute to actions or to an actual person.

As the story progresses, it gradually becomes clearer that the shepherd's murder is tied to up events that happened in the area in the past that have been covered up. The shepherd and other inhabitants of the village where the murder occurred are also not as innocent as they first appear.

In the end, the murder is solved, but maybe not in the way the reader expects. As for the sheep, they now get the chance to go to Europe, a fantasy destination that their shepherd wanted to take them to before his death.

An interesting book that demystifies mathematics by looking at it as a language: it has nouns, verbs and a grammar. By looking at maths from this angle, the author hopes to guide the reader to look past the numerous symbols that make up mathematics, and to think of it as a language for describing aspects of mathematics. The book is livened by the authors numerous (trademark) bad drawings and personal recollections of teaching and talking about maths.

The first part of the book looks at numbers and arithmetics, which the author considers as nouns. This is usually the first encounter people have with maths. He looks at different ways to count and measure numbers, negative numbers and ways to express large numbers. He then moves on to verbs, which are the actions that can be done on numbers like addition, multiplication and other more advanced forms like square roots and logarithms. Finally, he shows that the symbols, variables, expressions and equations make up a grammar, making use of the numbers (nouns) and actions (verbs) to make up a mathematical sentence. He then ends with a brief 'phrase book' on the vocabulary of the various aspects of mathematics from geometry, statistics, proofs and so on.

By the end, the author hopes to show that mathematics resembles a language that is used to express an idea or to make a statement, rather than just a jumble of symbols to be manipulated in obscure manners.

A story that features some elements of the Cinderella fairy tale, mixed in a tale full of political intrigue. It starts with Yining, a thief and pickpocket that is barely surviving and living with her (evil) stepmother. She then discovers, and loses, a magical ring that hints at her actual background. Regaining that ring would involve her in political intrigue between the Iron Mountains and another kingdom that is nominally in league with the kingdom.

Her first real test would be winning the right to go on a quest to recover the royal daughter of another kingdom from a witch. But that would be the start of her voyage to discover who she really is, and where her loyalties (and her heart) should lie: with a cruel prince with an unexpected relation to her in the past, or with a devious aid to a rival kingdom whose motives may be hidden from her, or perhaps with the kingdom from which she originally came from.

The story starts off with Yining being a victim of circumstances, and it is only in the later half of the story when her origins are revealed to her does she being to assert herself. But it would be one act at the end that would define what she is and what she intends to do with the knowledge she has gained.

This is the first part of a duology, so it remains to be seen what she will do to head off the danger that threatens not only her kingdom, but other kingdoms too.

A fascinating book that looks at what fossils and current animal behaviours can tell us about the behaviour of non-avian dinosaurs. While there have been speculative depictions of dinosaurs behaving in certain ways, the author looks at what the fossils evidence is for such behaviours. In some cases, it is quite probable: but in others, the evidence is equivocal and depends on how you interpret the fossil evidence.

The book starts with an introduction to dinosaurs, showing their history, origins, biology and relationship with current day animals. He then looks how we can study the behaviour of dinosaurs from the fossils (which consist of fossils of their bodies and trace fossils like footprints, marks and coprolites [poo]). To do this, the geological context and provenance of the fossil must be known. He notes the various biases that can arise when interpreting behaviour from fossils: their location, the age of the fossils, and the field work done to retrieve the fossils. It is also hard to determine behaviour that might be preserved in only one fossil: does it show a common behaviour, or a 'one-off' that happened to be preserved?

Despite this, some common behaviours can be determined from the fossils. The sensory organs (size and location of their eyes, ears and noses) gives us clues as to when they are active and how they may react to sight, sounds and smells, using living animals as possible models. The posture of the dinosaurs, from their bones, can tell us how they move, and how active they may be.

Some living animals move in groups, so it is easy to suggest that some dinosaurs also move in groups and may form complex social groups or gregarious gatherings. But evidence for this can be hard to interpret. While groups of fossils and tracks have been found, interpreting them can be difficult. The group of fossils may have been swept together in a storm, for example. Multiple fossil tracks may indicate a social group or individuals that just happen to be together at the same time. Still, there is some evidence of social groups from careful examination of fossils and comparisons with living animals. Some fossil groups appear to be segregated based on presumed age, indicating juveniles that may have gathered together for protection. However, there is little conclusive evidence for pack behaviour from current fossils.

Like living animals, dinosaurs also communicate and signal to one another, usually to find a mate, warn off competitors or to hide from predators (camouflage). Here, there is fossil evidence for sexual displays (crests, horns, etc.). Like birds, dinosaurs have good colour vision, so colourful visual signals can be expected, and is also used for camouflage, to hide from predators. Audio calls and signals based on touch or smell are also expected from dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs need to reproduce, and the fossil evidence shows two strategies: lots of eggs with little parental care, or fewer eggs with more parental care. There is fossil evidence for nests and eggs, which show us how dinosaurs lay their eggs and incubate them. There is also evidence for communal nests.

Evidence of combat between dinosaurs, either from those of the same species (for sex) or between difference species (for resources, for between predator and prey) appear in the fossil record. Similarly, fossil evidence for feeding can be found based on the kind of jaws and teeth and gut contents.

In closing, some dinosaur behaviour can be interpreted based on the fossil evidence. But the varied behaviour of living organisms shows that there is behaviour that is not captured by fossils. The study of fossils, both known and ones discovered in the future, can shed some light on how they behaved, but needs to be backed up by proper evidence and interpretation.

An interesting book about a journey through Hell by Cambridge University graduates to, of all things, retrieve their supervisor so they can finish their degrees. In this universe, magic is real and done by inscribing logical formulas around pentagrams. In her hurry, Alice Law may not have completed a pentagram properly, causing her supervisor to die in a pretty horrific manner. Now, she wants to journey to Hell to retrieve his soul so she can complete her magic studies, get recommended by him and get an academic post.

This may sound crazy to 'normal' people, but Alice is not normal. She is single-minded in wanting to graduate in magical linguistics, even if she has to debase herself and grovel under the constant demands of her supervisor to get it. Getting him back from Hell is just the next step in completing her studies. But then, a rival student, Peter Murdoch, a fellow magic student specialising in logic, joins her on her journey. Together, they must journey through the many levels of Hell to find him and then figure out a way to return to the world of the living.

In this world, the system of magic is based on stating and believing in paradoxes, which alter the state of the world in pentagrams created with magical chalk. This results in lots of mathematical paradoxes (like Zeno's paradox of motion) being featured in the book. For those not well versed in such paradoxes, this may be confusing, but it is a feature of this world.

There are also stretches of the book that focus on the characters' past, rather than the plot, to show how they both became students of magic in Cambridge under this supervisor, and how they became both friends and rivals, in an academic atmosphere where gossip about relationships between professors and students abound.

As they both journey through Hell, using their wits to overcome obstacles, they become aware that they are being hunted by beings who have designs on them: for in Hell, magic can also work, but it requires a rather different source to enable it.

In the end, Alice does find her supervisor. But by then, her experience of going through Hell to find him has changed her character, and she now has a different set of priorities.

A story about how academic life can be harsh on graduates and twist them into doing things that, in hindsight, may not have been good ideas. But in a world where graduating, getting published and achieving tenure are considered paramount, it may be understandable why Alice was the way she was. But now, after the journey, she has a chance to do things differently.

A lovely, but too short, story of four robots who want to run a proper restaurant serving biang biang noodles in a future San Francisco, where California has declared independence from the rest of the US. They have to navigate a smart contract to gain ownership of the restaurant, learn how to make noodles, and survive a review bombing before it is over.

The story starts with the robots (with near human intelligence) waking up in a deserted restaurant to discover that they may soon be repossessed as the restaurant's franchise owner has closed. Considering their options, they decide to go their own way, and reopen the restaurant with food they want to serve to pay off their loans. But they have to navigate (and obfuscate) their way into ownership, for robots still cannot own property, and figure out how to serve food.

As first, it works, and their get high ratings. But then, trolls begin to review bomb them, lowering their ratings (and income). Investigating, they discover a group of robot haters and have to figure out how to fight back.

The story is set in a world where California is independent of the rest of the US, but not without a war that ended not long ago. Some of the robots in the restaurant fought in the war, and are recovering from the conflict. But while California may now have more freedoms, robot freedom isn't one of them, and there are still parts of the population that are wary of robots, especially those with near human intelligence.

The story ends with the restaurant on the way to success, but leaves dangling threads in the story, like how the robots ultimate navigate bureaucracy to really own the restaurant, and how the robots and humans will ultimately live together (or not). These might require another story (or two) to settle.

A remarkable adaptation into graphic form of Ursula K. Le Guin's book. The author notes that much of the text from the original novel is preserved here, but layered on is artwork that evokes the world of Earthsea.

The adaptation tells the story of a young wizard who has a strong affinity for magic. He comes to the attention of a mage when he uses strong magic to save his village from an invasion, who gives him his true name: Ged. In Earthsea, true words have magical power and wizards are trained to use words, but in a sparing manner, for the balance between light and dark must be maintained.

But Ged is impatient to learn magic. He eventually goes to a school to learn about magic and is a quick learner. But his pride gets the better of him, and he shows off his magical skills. But this ends up summoning a shadow that attacks him. Recovering from the attack, he learns that the shadow has no name and is hunting for him. Mastering his pride, Ged goes on several adventures involving dragons and other dark forces in the world, before he goes on to confront the shadow.

A fascinating fantasy story about a world and the journey one person makes to grow up ready to confront his fears. The graphic novel also helps bring to Earthsea to visual life.

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Samantha Murray, James Patrick Kelly, Ju Chu and A. W. Prihandita.

• "The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly" by Samantha Murray: an alien invasion apparently takes place. But for one mother, the solution is not to fight the aliens, but to love them.

• "Down We Go Gently" by M. L. Clark: a visit by a space merchant and his son to a colony world shows the commerce that arises out of moving objects from world to world.

• "Donor Unknown" by Nika Murphy: an android is tasked with retrieving a painting from a reluctant seller. But what the story reveals is the still deep-seated resentment between Nazis and Jews that now extends to this particular android, even when mankind has moved into space.

• "Je Ne Regrette Rien" by James Patrick Kelly: a story of a researcher who is invited to inspect and interact with 'ni ren', intelligent robots with human-like bodies. As the story progresses and the research learns more about how the ni ren interact with other humans, he finds himself having conflicting reactions with them: attracted by their likeness to human and their human-like interactions, yet repelled by their desire to be more than robots in human-like skin.

• "Tomorrow's Beautiful Dream" by Ju Chu, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan: in a future where people's bodies can be rented out to perform repetitive tasks for hours at a time, one worker discovers work that would pay him much more usual, but at a risk of being worked for much longer than he wants. Curiosity makes him covertly find out more about what he is being made to do, and discovers a plot involving workers like him. But will he have the time to reveal it before it is too late?

• "The Desolate Order of the Head in the Water" by A. W. Prihandita: in a future where most people are connected to a computer, a disaster happens, and one unconnected family is left to try to survive. Then only the child is left, and he must choose between trying to survive on his own, or to be connected and lose his individuality.

• "Space is Deep" - by Seth Chambers: a man in space with multiple partners is preparing to return to Earth, before it is too late to leave because he won't survive Earth's gravity. But then an unexpected bodily event occurs, and it will change his relationship with his partners and their decision on whether to return to Earth or not.

A fascinating book involving a Society set up to hide away magical Unknowable Objects to prevent them from being misused. They meet every six months, but it has been years since a magical object has been found: until now. Magda Sparks goes to get it, but she encounters a professional killer who has his own reasons for hunting magical objects. The result is a race between Magda (and her friends) and the killer for the objects.

And then, an unusual person with an affinity for magical objects steps into the story, a twist that reveals that the Society of Unknowable Objects that Magda knows is not what it seems. It also reveals the truth behind the magical objects and the unusual person: and Magda may be the only one who can prevent the world from being destroyed by magic, even if the solution is one that she does not like.

There is a link between this book and the author's previous one, "The Book of Doors", but it is hinted at when the source of the magical objects is revealed.

An average issue, with interesting stories by Michelle Z. Jin, Anne Wilkins and Ferenc Samsa.

• "Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester: on the relationship between a father and his son, when the son has to make a decision about his life that may not be his after all.

• "Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin: on a human colony on another one world, one person hides his skill at predicting how people would behave by internally simulating their behaviours. But when Earth starts to cut off supplies to the colony, his simulations would reveal just what is happening. But what needs to be done may be a surprise, even to him.

• "The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins: in a 'Utopian' society where everybody is measured by how much they consume, one person struggles to lower his consumption footprint, which doing his job at moving frozen people to a new colony. Then he learns the truth about what really happens to the frozen people, and learns that his utopia is not one at all.

• "The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa: in an unusual country where 'golems' do most of the work, people indulge in entertainment shows (even peep shows) put up by other people. As two people has a conversation through a peephole, it is revealed that one golem has gone rogue and gained intelligence. One of the persons in the conversation is hunting the golem, but he may be the hunted by assassins sent by the golem, unless he can turn the tables.

• "Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed: an archaic man may be the key to ending a search by a ship in space for a lost prize.

• "This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham: a generation ship lost in space discovers a lifeboat harbouring a more advanced human. The human was to return to where it was found, but must convince the lonely captain of the ship to do so. But the way to do that may be via the captain's sleeping sister, and by revealing the secret to the captain's long life.

• "Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron: only one of two sisters can travel on a ship heading to another world. During the travel, she imagines the life her sister is having back on earth so vividly that she has a crisis and needs to recover to keep on living.