Reviews and Comments

A fascinating and enlightening book on quantum field theory and how the Higgs field gives mass (to be more precise, the rest mass) to the particles found in the Standard Model of particle physics. Except, as the author points out, particles don't exist: the best way to understand modern physics is to see the particles as confined standing waves with different level of interactions with the Higgs field.

The first part of the book gives an introduction to physics, starting with Newton's laws of motion and Galilean relativity, which states that the laws of motion are the same in all inertial reference frames, followed by Einstein's Relativity. This would lead to the author's way of looking at the world, in terms of waves, fields and mediums, necessary to understand how modern quantum field theory describes the world. The author admits that we don't really know what kind of medium 'empty space' is: it is the medium that the particles of the Standard Model interact in. For this reason, the author concentrates more on fields (as do other scientists).

Now, the reader has to make the leap, guided by the author, to understand that what we consider as particles are actually standing waves vibrating in the various fields: an electron is a standing wave in an electron field. Protons and neutrons are composites, made up of standing waves of quarks and gluons that vibrate inside the protons and neutrons. And it is the Higgs field, which interacts with these fields, that make the standing waves possible. The frequency (and energy) of these standing waves are what give the 'particles' their rest mass. The photon does not have a rest mass because it does not interact with the Higgs field, so it has no standing wave, but must keep moving (as a travelling wave) at, of course, the speed of light. Once this is accepted by the reader, the rest of the book, briefly covering cosmology, the puzzle of vacuum energy, and so on, should be more easily understood.

By the end, the reader should be able to get some understanding of how modern quantum field theory views the world in terms of fields and waves. The puzzle of the medium of 'empty' space that the field and waves operate in will have be left for future physicists to try to answer.

An interesting "cosy" mystery wrapped up in a fantasy world. Set on a ship making a twelve-day journey, you may be able to solve it before the end based on the information revealed during the voyage. But the world-building in the story is rather basic and could have been better thought out.

The book is set in the empire of Concordia, made up of twelve provinces, each ruled by an heir that is 'Blessed' with a special magical ability, which is usually a secret ability not revealed to others. To mark a thousand years, the twelve heirs have gathered on a magical ship to sail to a sacred mountain. Problem is, one of the heirs isn't Blessed, and he is hiding it from the other heirs.

During the journey, hiding it turns out to be the least of his problems. The heir to the emperor is found dead. Then, over the days, other heirs are killed. The murderer has to be among the heirs left, for the magical ship has no crew, other than magical dragon butlers who, as stated early in the book, refuse to hurt or kill the heirs. The unBlessed heir decides to find out who the murderer is, how the murders take place (apparently with the use of magic) and why they are taking place. Clues are dropped, so those paying attention might be able to figure out what is happening before it is explained.

Complicating the investigation is the political and economic background of the empire, divided into upper and lower class provinces, resulting in rather hostile relationships among the heirs, some of whom look down on others. The unBlessed heir, who is a teen, also has a highly romantic relationship with another heir, which will affect how he investigates the matter.

While the murder-mystery is interesting, the story is let down by the rather basic world building. Each province consists of only one type of geography (ice, mountains, jungles, grassy plains, etc.) and provide one type of material (jewels, fish, and so on). Since they are all on a ship, all of this background information is 'dumped' on to the reader, instead of being experienced.

In summary, an interesting murder-mystery story that takes place in a fantasy world that could have been better crafted so as not to break the reader's suspension of disbelief while trying to figure out who did it before the investigator does.

An average issue, with interesting stories by Alberto Chimal, Esther Friesner, Xinwei Kong and Phoenix Alexander

• "What It Means to Drift" by Rajeev Prasad: the story of an emotional connection between a person and a 'Titan' responsible for the education of thousands of children. The Titan is getting detached from its responsibilities, and need an emotional boost via the connection; a boost that leads to devastating emotional highs and lows for the person.

• "On My Way to Heaven" by Alberto Chimal, translated from the Spanish by Patrick Weill: the story of a family 'weird' uncle, who claims to have been abducted by aliens in the past. Then, during a demonstration against the government, the uncle vanishes, and it is up to the reader to decide whether it was the government that did it, or otherwise.

• "Mister Yellow" by Christina Bauer: a person can access other dimensions to affect what happens in our world. But then the person discovers, too late, what happens when the other world also takes an action.

• "Water Baby" by Tonya R. Moore: in a flooded future, one person tries to keep a colony from vanishing away while looking for her mother. But a visit to a doctor reveals just what happened to her and what may happen to her, as she discovers just what the doctor has been doing in secret.

• "Metis in the Belly of the God" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: the story of a being who is swallowed by Zeus while pregnant. During her journey inside Zeus, she discovers some of his secrets and desires, and finally gives birth to a child who would eventually become Athena.

• "She’s a Rescue" by Marie Vibbert: a father and daughter (and their dog) are on a desperate journey from Mars to Earth and have to deal with their ex-wife/mother who does not want them to land at Ceres during the journey. But they have no choice, and come up with a desperate plan that, with some last minute changes, may yet work.

• "Snowdrop" by Raul Caner Cruz: an old couple fashion a child out of snow. Then, like in fairy tales, the child comes alive. But there is no fairy tale ending, as the child will have to cope with their passing and decide on what to do next.

• "Dog People" by Esther Friesner: a humorous story involving goddesses from several mythologies on an outing in New York City, suddenly finding that the dead have escaped from Hades' Underworld. Sending them back and finding out what has happened would lead them to discover a side to Hades that they never saw before.

• "What You Leave Behind" by Ken Altabef: the survivor of a terrorist attack that kills her mother keeps the scene in her chest, literally. And there it remains, as a reminder until the day she can remove it and be at peace.

• "Another Such Victory" by Albert Chu: two pilots of huge machines battle strange alien monsters who descend to the Earth. But the constant battles have wearied one pilot, who seeks a way out. But doing so may require her to betray her fellow pilot, something she does not know if she can do.

• "Growth Rings of the Earth" by Xinwei Kong: a story of a future Earth where most people have become digital uploads. One of those that are not uploaded finds his work as a librarian taking care of printed books fulfilling. But one day, he meets a person who has returned from an upload, and gets a promise to meet again to read a book he will write before he dies. That day arrives, but other events would affect what the librarian will do when he becomes the last person left on Earth.

• "Jacob Street" by L. Marie Wood: a short, horror story of a couple who keep getting lost on their journey past that street, with their GPS telling them they are now at the bottom of a bay. But it is really a GPS mistake?

• "Red Ochre, Ivory Bone" by Deborah L. Davitt: an unknown artifact approached a space station with various alien races. An investigation by the station's forensic expert finds ochre mixed in with the remains, which reminds the expert of what some ancient people on earth have done with the remains of their ancestors.

• "The Glass Apple" by Ivy Grimes: a lady receives a glass apple on her wedding, with instructions not to eat it. But as the years pass, the apple keeps 'eating' into her thoughts until one day, she decides to take a bite.

• "Slickerthin" by Phoenix Alexander: on a Greek island, the inhabitants share it with harpies, who give their eggs to the islanders to be eaten. But they fear that one day, they will get an egg with a 'deformed' harpy (or slickerthin), which they have to care for, despite its deformities. The day has come, and the person who has to take care of the slickerthin wants nothing to do with it. But the harpies have ways to make sure the job is done; or else.

An average issue, with interesting stories by Ben Berman Ghan and R H Wesley

• "The Music Must Always Play" by Marissa Lingen: an alien ship crashes on Earth. A linguist is tasked with trying to understand the alien's language, but it is the 'music' that she hears from the ship that would lead to a possible breakthrough, and a way for making the rest of humanity have an understanding of what the aliens are.

• "Fish Fear Me, You Need Me" by Tiffany Xue: in a future where water has flooded much of the world, two people go out fishing. But it is no ordinary fishing trip, for it appears that much of humanity have been turned into fish, and one man searches in vain for his wife.

• "Broken" by Laura Williams McCaffrey: a story, told in reverse, about repairing a broken virtual reality helmet. Only, the player has been in the virtual world for so long, it has become the Real World to her, and the real world is now just a shadow of reality.

• "How to Remember Perfectly" by Eric Schwitzgebel: two elderly people in a nursing home take a special treatment that enables them to change their mood and their memories. In the end, it is up to the reader to wonder if the abiilty was really worth it.

• "The Children I Gave You, Oxalaia" by Cirilo Lemos, translated by Thamirys Gênova: a story about alien refugees from Venus in a Brazilian favela. In this story, one of the alien refugee is caring for human children, and later strikes up a relationship with a human. But things change, when a war on Venus that caused the refugees to flee, is declared to be over. Now, the refugees are being forced to leave the favelas and return home. But for this refugee, Earth is home, setting up a confrontation with the authorities.

• "Those Who Remember the World" by Ben Berman Ghan: a death occurs in a city. But the cause of death may be a fungal infection, and an Investigator investigates. But as the story progresses, it becomes clearer that the Investigator isn't originally human and neither are the city's inhabitants, in a tale where the line between what is originally real and what was created by the city blurs.

• "A Theory of Missing Affections" by Renan Bernardo: a researcher of alien artefacts tries to convince her sister to join her on the alien's world before the gateway between their worlds is closed. But beliefs in the aliens' system of treating each other for an unknown purpose clashes with the needs of their family.

• "A World of Milk and Promises" by R H Wesley: the survivor of an accident while surveying an alien world discovers that life-forms there survive by cooperating with each other, rather than competing. This would have an effect on the development of the survivor's children.