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threlicus's review
4.0
A solid issue. I very much enjoyed the cover story, "Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters", by Henry Lien, a story about pride and ambition and growing up. I felt the cover art helped quite a bit to convey the tone of the story, and it made me mourn nostalgically for the long-ago days when Asimov's had a budget for interior art as well...
At first I thought R. Neube's "Grainers" was throwing too much at us, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. It had a storytelling mode with two viewpoints -- but they disagreed both about what happened, and even the ending. I think both sides thought they 'won' the encounter described....
I also thought the aliens in Gregory Normal Bossert's "Bloom" we're extremely inventive. Maybe he didn't quite sell me on the ending of it, but worth reading even so.
And I don't want to put down the rest of the stories in this issue either -- they were quite enjoyable reads. Lacking 5 stars only because, although all the stories were good, there wasn't any really outstanding, award-nomination-quality story in here.
At first I thought R. Neube's "Grainers" was throwing too much at us, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. It had a storytelling mode with two viewpoints -- but they disagreed both about what happened, and even the ending. I think both sides thought they 'won' the encounter described....
I also thought the aliens in Gregory Normal Bossert's "Bloom" we're extremely inventive. Maybe he didn't quite sell me on the ending of it, but worth reading even so.
And I don't want to put down the rest of the stories in this issue either -- they were quite enjoyable reads. Lacking 5 stars only because, although all the stories were good, there wasn't any really outstanding, award-nomination-quality story in here.
scamp1234's review
3.0
Only standout was Henry Lien's Pearl Rehabilitation Colony for Ungrateful Daughters.