Best Stories:Pull it from the Root by Zack BeTake a Look at the Five & Ten by Connie WillisThe Long Iapetan Night by Julie NovakovaChristmas at the Hilbert Astoria by Sam Schreiber was good, and deserves a special acknowledgement for determining that a dimension-hopping, time travelling sci-fi Santa's natural nemesis would be an evil hunk of coal.

Ratings:‘The Long Iapetan Night’ by Julie Novakova - 4 stars.‘The Hind’ by Kevin J. Anderson & Rick Wilber - 3 stars.

Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria - 4/5The Mirages - 2/5The Hind - 3/5Grief, as Faithful as My Hound - 3/5Forger Mr. Z - 3/5Return from the Stars - 2/5Footprint - 3/5Pull It From the Root - 1/5The Long Iapetan Night - 4/5Return to Glory - 3/5Take a Look at the Five and Ten - 4/5

A fun read. A good selection of stories and even a sprinkle of Christmas which was irresistible to engage with.

Maybe it’s just me. Or it’s a combo of Covid-19 and the ‘end of the world as we know it’. But I can’t read Connie Willis anymore. She’s just too fucking cheerful.

Il vostro recensore ha una gran voglia di fantascienza tradizionale, che includa scienza, galassie, robot.. se il tutto ha un tocco bizzarro ed eganiano, come nel racconto di apertura “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” **** di Sam Schreiber, va benissimo! un folle racconto in uno scenario multidimensionale che piacerebbe a Egan, un Babbo Natale agente secreto riluttante per un’Agenzia galattica, e con un alter ego meno rassicurante.. ma anch’esso molto tradizionale. Divertimento sfrenato e intel...

Here are my favorite stories from this issue:- Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis.I’m going to wait until I receive my copy of the Subterranean Press edition before I review this novella.- Grief, as Faithful as My Hound by Marissa Lingen.Orange-colored banana-flavored alien anthropologists silently follow around humans to ?? A great story for close reading to understand the grieving process of our patients.- Footprint by Kate Maruyama.Building a rocket and parenting a child—you do

This is a Christmas (November-December 2020) of Analog magazine. There are two prominent holiday pieces, one by the grandmaster Connie Willis.The contents:Where We Came from Is Where We're Going[Asimov's Editorials]essay by Allen Steele [as by Allen M. Steele] what pandemic taught us, plus a history of SF since 19th century. 2*Finding the Mountains of Madness[Reflections]essay by Robert Silverberg a discussion of Lovecraft short novel and modern knowledge of Antarctica. 3*After a Year of Solitud...

I'm always excited when I see Connie Willis's name on the cover, especially in the November/December issue! This year's novella, "Take a Look at the Five and Ten," doesn't have aliens lurking 'neath the Christmas tree, but is a delightful story about memories and family and, sometimes, a little outside help--from relatives and, maybe, from science. I would love to see this story made into a holiday movie! (Hallmark Channel--are you listenin'?) And it didn't hurt that I remember Woolworth's. :)I

Favourites: The Hind by Kevin J. Anderson. Engaging characters, colourful setting, enjoyable story line.Grief, As Faithful As My Hound by Marissa Kingen. Weird! Which is a complement. Original.Return From the Stars by James Gunn. Far seeing and far reaching, in time, space, and evolving beings.Pull It From the Root by Zack Be. Rollicking fun to read, with yucky alien life forms, rascally heroes, fast paced action, all in a unique other world.Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis. Chri...

I usually skip a story or two, but not in this one. Superb.

A wonderful collection of stories with the hallmark piece being Connie Willis’s newest Christmas story.

I really enjoyed this issue. Grief As Faithful As My Hound / Footprint / Return To Glory / Take A Look at the Five and Ten were standouts. They felt uplifting. A sense of heart and optimism ran concurrently between them that I didnt know I was craving.Christmas At The Hilbert Astoria was a weird mindf*ck that I couldnt get enough of. Santa and a winged monkey travel through a hotel with infinite rooms, briefly interacting with neutron stars only to uncover a murder plot? Brilliant.The Hind felt

Sam Schreiber has Nick (a jolly bearded fellow) called in to help solve the murder of 47 guests at “Christmas At The Hilbert Astoria” which has ∞ rooms and never any empty ones. But when Nick and his detective sidekick find that there do seem to be empty rooms and the kill count is in billions, things get crazy. The generation ship “The Hind” was holed by meteoroids 50 years ago and now if a baby is born someone must die. To this end the council have a list of people the mothers must kill…but wh...

Listened to “Grief, as Faithful as My Hound” by Marissa Lingen.I really liked this one. Listened to it on Asimov’s Spotlight podcast. I think I can empathize really well with the motions of grief (esp one after losing a parent), and I can totally understand the feeling of an alien attached to you as you go through it. (view spoiler)[Maybe it was there as an anthropological observer. We never know. Maybe it was inert. The narrator also says that maybe it’s a metaphor. Kind of overt almost-breakin...

Ratings for this issue:A+ (outstanding):The Hind by Kevin J. Anderson & Rick WilberThe Long Iapetan Night by Julie NovakovaTake a Look at the Five & Ten by Connie WillisA (excellent):Return from the Stars by James GunnReturn to Glory by Jack McDevittB (very good):Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria by Sam SchreiberForger Mr Z by Chen QiufanPull it from the Root by Zack BeC (average):The Mirages by Alaya Dawn JohnsonGrief, as Faithful as my Hound by Marissa LingenD (poor):Footprint by Kate Maruyama

This was a really good issue. A bit lighthearted for the most part. No really bad stories, but likely no award winners either.The title story “Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria” by Sam Schreiber is a wild crazy story were Santa Claus is the protagonist in a murder mystery at a hotel with infinite rooms. Hard to explain and also pretty confusing, but great fun. 4/5.“The Mirages” by Alaya Dawn Johnson is a bit more depressing set in a future wrecked by climate change, rising temperatures and diseas...

I've generally tried to leave out spoilers, but if you do not want any hint of what is in this issue, please don't read my reviews below.Overall issue rating (as an average of rated stories: 3.7Favorite story in this issue: This was really hard. I think "Grief, as faithful as my hound" might still be in 1st place but "The Long Iapetan Night" is easily a close second.NOVELLA"Take a look at the five and ten" 3/5This is a well-written story that weaves together rom-com-eqsue themes + brain imagery....

Connie Willis is usually a delight to read, and "Take a Look at the Five and Ten" is a great story on its own. But I had an incredibly hard time seeing what the SF/F part of this story is (it's not necessarily a great sign when you're wondering why a magazine is publishing a story in the first place...). As best as I can tell, the only speculative element is (view spoiler)[the CT-LLI machine used to assess her memory, which we see once and is referenced approximately 2 or 3 times. (hide spoiler)...

I took way too long to read this. It's an excellent edition - I love the Christmas-themed stories (Christmas at the Hilbert Astoria, Take a Look at Five and Ten). Pull It from the Root and The Hind are solid sci-fi stories (backwater moon shenanigans and the plight of a failing generational ship). Finally, The Mirages and Grief, as Faithful as my Hound bring some more personal, emotional stories to it.