Uploaded March 6, 1997 -- Updated May 7, 1997
Here is the list of stories in this issue. If you have any comments or reviews, send them to jbailey@sff.net. Please indicate which issue and/or story you're referring to in the subject line, and try to keep comments for different stories separate in you letters so I can place them properly.
"Finder's Fee" by David Alexander &
Hayford Pierce
"This Old Rock" by G. David Nordley
"The Mendelian Lamp Case" by Paul Levinson
[5/4/97]
"Warrior's Honor" by Uncle River
"The Dream of Castles" by Wil McCarthy
Miscellaneous Comments (on the magazine as a whole, editorials, columns, etc.)
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Rich Horton: 5/5/97
This is the third story about Phil D'Amato, forensic scientist. The first story ("The Chronology Protection Case") was nominated for a Nebula award this year. This one is even better, in my opinion. Phil visits a fellow forensic scientist Pennsylvania, who wants him to look at some interesting "technology" the local Amish have developed. But the Amish man Phil is to meet has suddenly died, and shortly thereafter Phil's friend dies too, apparently of a heart attack: but Phil becomes suspicious.
The "mysterious death" part of the story, and the conspiracy that Phil uncovers as he tracks down the real causes of the deaths, are fairly routine, though they make for an entertaining story. But the real fun is in the neat speculations (some a bit over the top) that Levinson makes about Amish biological "technology", developed using "Mendelian" breeding techniques: this includes fireflies bred to make lamps, "altruistic" manure, and some more, well, sinister applications as well. This is good fun, with a little message about "simple gifts", so to speak, at its core. A true Analog story, in the best sense.
Rich Horton
http://www.sff.net/people/Richard.Horton/
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