Absolute Magnitude Book

It's unreasonable to expect that you'll like every story in any anthology. But Absolute Magnitude hits far more than it misses. This volume benefits from being a sort of anthology of anthologies, culling some of the best short fiction from Absolute Magnitude magazine, from its inception (as Harsh Mistress) in 1993 through to 1997. And the plucky folks from AbMag have another strength going for them: they love old-school SF and it shows. This solid-without-being-slick collection has that church-bulletin charm of something clearly produced by and for the faithful. The 16 stories take on everything from a Martian serial killer to the unexpected downside of having your brain frozen. Some of the choicest bits come from the magazine's first couple of issues: Denise Lopes Heald's well-realized "The Prize" follows grunts on the run behind enemy lines; Hal Clement's "Sortie" is the first of four installments in an excellent serial (you'll have to get back issues of the magazine to catch the rest); and the Frank O. Dodge piece, from the Harsh Mistress premiere issue, has a shotgun-wielding Jeep-driver chasing Spanish conquistadors. The book closes strongly, with Linda Tiernan Kepner's tense but funny "Planting Walnuts," perhaps the best of the batch. --Paul HughesRead More