Analog July/August 2024

Great Martian Railways, by Hûw Steer

Lowell is an engineer charged with driving a prototype train on Mars. With the expansive colonization of the planet, a train seems like a great way to move big amounts of people from one settlement to the next. Of course, it comes with its own set of rules and obstacles, all of which Lowell is quite happy to tackle in due time.

Mars has a lower gravity and the train can reach incredible speeds, easily above 300 kph. But some potential investors aren't certain the prototype can handle the job, so Lowell will have to prove to them just what's under the train's hood.

I found the idea of Martian railways both creative and obvious as well. Creative, because when we think of colonizing a new planet, we often think of domes, skyscrapers, large mining facilities, or maybe just a village built around a well, but progress, even on Mars, could follow a similar trajectory transport-wise.

Indeed, when Canada was first colonized, one of the biggest tasks the colonizers tackled was building a railway from coast to coast. Same story in the USA. The story doesn't go into the unhealthy competition that sort of development can create (imagine a western coast company and an eastern coast company trying to constantly one-up or sabotage eachother), but that's not the focus here. So trains on Mars isn't far-fetched and actually feels obvious, logical.

The narrative is very exciting, especially Lowell's relationship with Waters, the control operator. The author gives us a detailed account of this historic event, including mechanical sections.

Vouch for Me, by Greg Egan

See separate review for this entry. It left so much thoughts, I had to write a separate one!

As Time Goes By, by Cam Marsollier

Mika and Zedd happen upon a probe manned by an automated AI. They're highly suspicious of the probe since,at first, they don't recognize its design. But it happens that the probe is one of a set of two probes that are meant to explore the universe together.

However, one of probe's power supply failed. So the twin probe went on a quest to retrieve the necessary material to fix their probe partner. Three hundred years later, they come upon Mika and Zedd.

After the misunderstanding is solved, the probe goes back with all the necessary material for another three hundred years trip to their twin.

Surprising twist. Where it could have been an attacker, a lost probe, some kind of remnant of a long lost civilization, the probe here is simply on a quest to fix their co-probe's power supply. Time is nothing for this probe and so are feelings, but we can't help superposing positive human affects on its actions.

Mandarins: A New World, by Michael F. Flynn

This story reminded me a lot about Amitav Ghosh's Ibis trilogy, especially the attention to detail in the ethnicity and customs of each character or set of characters. It also sparked some memories from Shi Nai-an's Outlaws of the Marshes. It's really an adventure where the reader is rewarded in learning to appreciate each character's cultural quirks and differences. This is one story you have to experience for yourself, it's highly diverse, entertaining and we hope Flynn revisits this story sooner than later.

Terminal City Dogs, by Matthew Claxton

Detective Boyko is called on the scene of an elaborate graffiti. Nobody knows who did it or how it got where it went, or even why Boyko, specializing in robbery and fraud, is there. It soon becomes clear he's tied to this affair due to his past as a rebel graffiti artist himself. His signature used to be TCD: Terminal City Dog.

Tagging is a victimless crime, save for the corporate suits afraid to see their assets devalued. With his background in art, Boyko is quick to figure out this is just a group project and that it'll end on its own in a few weeks at most. It turns out that an artist crew is commerating the death of one of theirs by making a mural for each member with the help of an awesome tagging centipede.

Boyko, tired of being bullied by corporates for his past life, snaps back. He also makes sure the group of taggers aren't targeted and closes the case, pretending that the track has gone dead. The whole affair inspires him to take up painting once more.

The ending is very humane. Not everything is a protocol and sometime the law can be skewed if the reasons are good enough. I would have had a hard time believing Boyko locking up an artist crew for tagging private properties, especially considering his background.

The Last Days of Good People, by A.T. Sayre

Remember Star Trek and the prime directive? It's one of those stories. This is Sayre's first novella and it's a great take on that PD concept. Last few chapters feel too much like a scifi action flick and I don't really know how I should feel about the protagonist's wish to be buried with aliens he just met a few days or weeks ago, but overall it's a great story.