"The Djinn's Wife", Ian McDonald

NT ASFM (Asimov's Science Fiction) JULY 2006 - science fiction
In the near-future in Delhi India, young female dancer Esha meets a handsome admirer who appears out of nowhere, like a djinn. He is the diplomat A.J. Rao, an artificial intelligence or aeai. That he spends time with her is noticed by government Inspector Thacker, a so-called Krishna cop. When Esha marries A.J. Rao she becomes a tabloid celebrity. But soon her husband's differences begin to annoy Esha.

A clever, well-written story set in an exotic future. Includes an interestingly different love scene. This story shares the same background as McDonald's story "The Little Goddess".

"The Small Astral Object Genius", James Van Pelt

SS ASFM (Asimov’s Science Fiction) OCT/NOV 2006 - science fiction
Can a Peek-a-boo, a small plastic device using AA batteries, take a photograph light years away and return instantaneously? Young obsessive teenage boy Dustin sends his Peek-a-boo out over and over again to take pictures of the stars, hoping to contribute to man's knowledge of the universe. Meanwhile his parents are heading towards a divorce.

A good forward-looking science fiction story set in the near future with well-drawn characters.

"Home Movies", Mary Rosenblum

NT ASFM (Asimov's Science Fiction) APR/May 2006 - science fiction/romance
Kayla is hired to record a family wedding, week-long reunion for an old woman who is a Mars Colony administrator. Kayla is more than a cameraman, she is what is called a chameleon. She takes a nano that records vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. After the job she downloads her recording and loses all memory of it. The old woman who wants the wedding covered is especially interested in one of her extended family, a handsome young man named Ethan.

The science fiction background is mainly a framework for a what ends up being a love story. A pleasant tale.

"The Age of Ice", Liz Williams

SS ASFM (Asimov’s Science Fiction) Apr/May 2006 – science fiction
On Mars in the far-future, The Matriarchy of Caud is preparing for war with Winterstike. Hestia Memar of Winterstrike is furtively searching the destroyed library of Caud for rumored information. The story includes a flayed warrior, scissor-women, and weird haunt-tech.

This short story is packed with ideas. There is technology I could relate to, and technology not unlike dark fantasy. I wonder if Liz Williams has more fiction set in this world. I liked this.

"Impossible Dreams", Tim Pratt

SS ASFM (Asimov's Science Fiction) July 2006 - science fcition
Pete discovers a video store from a parallel universe which rents DVDs of movies that were lost in our world or were never actually filmed. Paying for and trying to play a DVD from another universe humourously complicates things. Pete befriends the store clerk who shares his love of movies.

A charming, fun story. I enjoyed it.

I wonder if that store has a copy of the lost 1917 version of Cleopatra starring Theda Bara? (I'm using a picture for Theda Bara for my profile picture.)

"Penultima Thule", Chris Willrich

NT F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) AUG 2006 - fantasy
A thieving couple, Persimmon Gaunt and Imago Bone, take a "cacography" book to the northern rim of their flat world to throw it off the edge. This book, Mashed Rags Bound in Dead Cow, is so magically malicious that reading it is fatal, sort of like Monty Python's Killer Joke. In the far North, Gaunt and Bone encounter Stonekin, Hunger Stones, and Tornarssuk, which are tool-using polar bears.

A strange, but imaginatively strange, fantasy trek. Apparently previous stories have featured these characters.

"Another Word for Map is Faith", Christopher Rowe

SS F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) AUG 2006
In a future very Christian America, a teacher/reverend and her students try to make the world as it was mapped. They are in the wilds of Kentucky. They want to correct a ridge and valley of its so-called sins.

Some interesting details, but I wasn't sure for most of the story where it was going.

"Damascus", Daryl Gregory

NT F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) DEC 2006 - science fiction
This is a story that slowly and interestingly unfolds. It features a disease that CDC is concerned about, a strange communion, and a woman with her own personal Jesus.

"Damascus" is an impressive speculative fiction story which is set in the present day.

"Shambhala", Alex Irvine

NT F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) March 2006 - science fiction
Shambhala is a commercial virtual world, where people move to escape their physical bodies. But now Shambhala is crashing. Mike Chancey and various professional Nerds somewhere on earth, see computer status indicators are going yellow and red and worry about the legal ramifications. Shannon DeWalt, who is in the virt or virtual world, searches for Charon, who is knowledgeable, and sees the apocalypse from the inside.

I like the idea of and many of the details of this story, but the characters didn’t really draw me in.

"Yellow Card Man", Paolo Bacigalupi

NT ASFM (Asimov's Science Fiction) DEC 2006 – science fiction
Ethnic Chinaman Tranh has lost everything and is merely surviving in the slums of Bangkok. He once ran a shipping business in Malaysia, but his family was killed and his livelihood destroyed. Now he is just another yellow-card refugee without a steady job. But he does have a fine white linen suit. Tranh encounters a rich man whom he once fired.

This story is set in the same future as Bacigalupi's "The Calorie Man", but the science fictional elements aren't as integral to the plot. This is a well-written story, but it's really grim.

"A Dying Fall", Christopher Priest

SS ASFM (Asimov's Science Fiction) DEC 2006 - fantasy / mainstream
An Englishman falling in front of an oncoming subway train instead of seeing his life pass before his eyes, sees a vision of a highway in Belgium and wonders why. This short story tells of the life of one Marcus Birch, and what was important to him to remember about Belgium.

A good story which held my interest.

"A Soul in a Bottle", Tim Powers

NT - 2006 book from Subterranean Press - fantasy
At Hollywood's Chinese Theater, book trader George Sydney meets a striking red-headed woman. They talk about poetry and then kiss. George longs to see her again. When he does, she literally disappears. George has fallen in love with a ghost. She, he learns, is the poet Cheyenne Fleming, who accidentally shot herself back in 1969. Cheyenne wants George’s help so that she can go back to the past, so she won’t have died.

A colorfully told story, and memorable. George apparently drinks and Cheyenne isn't an angel. This is not your typical ghost story or love story.

"Recognition", Joanne Steinwachs

SS Talebones Spring 2006 - science fiction
Forty years after catastrophe brought on by an alien invasion, elderly Mariah Cho ponders the changes she's seen. Swarm of flying things called Furies destroyed buildings, people and civilization. The survivors fear to congregate. Mariah lives with her deaf teenage grandson Soren. They like enjoy making wonderful things for each other. Soren dares to build arches. A new sort of alien is seen.

An interesting, post-apocalypse story. And it's set in my home state, Colorado.