Analog Science Fiction and Fact - 2014-05

by Penny Publications

  Each book in the series comes in two parts: The Novel, and The Science Behind the Fiction. In the first part, the author presents a short novel dealing with a particular science fiction theme; the second part consists of essays explaining the scientific basis of elements of the novel.

  I know, I know, it all sounds dreadful. You might be thinking that Analog readers aren't exactly the target audience for these books. Other scientists, perhaps, or the kind of popular science audiences who watch Discovery and the Science Channel, who want their science fiction well tamed and under control.

  To be fair, there's a bit of that. And yet... don't we do the same sort of thing in Analog from time to time? In the Brass Tacks section of this issue, I'll bet there's a reader discussing some point of science behind one of the stories in a previous issue.

  You owe it to yourself to take a second look at these books. To begin with, there are real SF writers on their editorial board: Gregory Benford, Geoffrey Landis, and Rudy Rucker. Second, the writing isn't what you'd expect from working scientists—the novels are quite readable, and the nonfiction essays are in language appropriate for an educated layperson.

  The Hunter is set in the interstellar human civilization of the twenty-fourth century. Humanity has yet to encounter true alien intelligences, but they have run across giant alien machines. Like Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers, these self-replicating machines are inimical to organic life.

  Mike Edwards, robotics expert, is a Hunter—a freelance adventurer who tracks and destroys the replicators for the sake of lucrative bounties paid by the colonies. But Mike, of course, learns the secret of the origin and ultimate mission of the machines.

  The New Martians is set aboard the first expedition to Mars on the crew's long return to Earth in 2035. Something is menacing the expedition; is it an alien organism, a malfunctioning computer... or a member of the crew? It's actually a taut psychological thriller that would be at home as an Analog serial.

  Alien Encounter is an expanded version of the author's previous title Voids of Eternity. Set in the 2070s, it deals with the classic situation of alien artifacts and organisms coming into the Solar System... and the astronauts who are sent to investigate them.

  Analog readers are definitely among the intended audiences for these books.

  Past Masters and Other Bookish Natterings

  Bud Webster Merry Blacksmith, 385 pages, $19.95 (trade paperback)

  ISBN: 978-0-61584-282-8

  Genre: Nonfiction

  While we're talking about revisiting the roots of the field... here's Bud Webster, one of the best and most informed critics of the field, to give his views on the subject.

  The individual essays that make up Past Masters appeared in a number of venues during the last decade, mostly in the late, lamented magazine Helix SF. Most of the essays deal with "classic-but-no-longer-famous authors" of great importance to the field, authors such as Nelson Bond, Zenna Henderson, Phil Klass, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Murray Leinster, and H. Beam Piper. But Webster also goes afield to consider such topics as research methods, e-books, and "the good old days." The essays on individual authors are packed with comprehensive bibliographies.

  Witty, thoughtful, and informative, Bud Webster couldn't write a dull sentence if his life depended on it. If you care at all about the history of our field, you'll want this book.

  And that's going to have to be my last word on returning to the past. Looking toward the future, I'll see you next issue.

  Don Sakers is the author of The Eighth Succession and Dance for the Ivory Madonna. For more information, visit www.scattered-worlds.com.

  * * *

  BRASS TACKS

  1934 words

  Dear Mr. Quachri,

  I'm in a good mood today because I'm going to write you a letter about grammar. I'm a... I believe the word is "wonk." I am a grammar wonk.

  I don't get very concerned about little random grammar mistakes that show up inevitably from time to time. Perfection is unattainable, and we do our best and move on. What does interest me is an author who violates the rules systematically, either on purpose or out of ignorance. If out of ignorance, I get giddy and love to shout, "Hurray! I know more than this professional writer guy does!" But if on purpose, that's even better. It means the author knows a grammar rule but is violating it for an artistic purpose, or, even better, because he doesn't like it and is trying to change the world (or at least the language). That's exciting. Which one is Martin L. Shoemaker ("Murder on the Aldrin Express," September 2013) doing? Maybe a little of both.

  He's messing up his tenses. Fiction can be written in the past tense or the present tense, but an author must make up his mind about it. Mixing past and present in a passage is simply wrong (and, I might add, easily avoidable). Right on the first page: "Nick had broken more men than any three other commanders in the Corps. He loves to push a crew in drill." Sorry, it has to be "loved." Later: "I would have told him what a lousy dancer he is." Nope... "lousy dancer he was" is correct.

  I think I can identify a purpose behind these seeming errors. It could be that Shoemaker is trying to communicate that the circumstances in the story, particularly the relationship between the captain and his executive, have persisted beyond the time of the events of the story up to the moment in which the narrative is being uttered. Well and good, and furthermore if Shoemaker dislikes the tense-consistency rule and wants to contribute to its demise, I can respect that, too.

  But enough about grammar. It's a great story! I love how the characters draw motivation from the fact that they are stuck in an endless slingshot poly-orbit between Mars and Earth and would of course much rather be exploring Mars. The plotting is outstanding, with a sneaky puzzle cleverly solved by means of a little scientific knowledge. Love it.

  So although it pains me to say it, grammar obviously doesn't really count. Please keep publishing outstanding stories like "Murder on the Aldrin Express." And if you can find authors that are good at grammar also, that would be, as they say, gravy.

  If I lived in New York, I would pop by there and do a little pro bono proofreading for you (I think I could spare about six hours a week), just because I love Analog. Maybe we're all lucky I don't live in New York....

  Christopher Myers

  Lovelock, NV

  Mr. Myers,

  You're not wrong about some of that tense confusion. I can sometimes be a tad lenient in instances where a character's voice contains irregularities, like in dialog or first person narration (per Aldrin Express), but you make a good case that we should have tightened it up a bit more. ("Two unusual phenomenon"? That's totally on us.)

  Dear Mr. Quachri,

  As a longtime subscriber I have considered writing to you several times recently with my thoughts on recent issues, but I am considering this a "shakedown period" so I don't want to jog your elbow too much as you settle in. (If you would like specific feedback, let me know.) I do have one question, though. For many years now the cover protocol has been that if a story title is featured on the cover, the cover art illustrates that story. If the art is not associated with any of the stories in that issue then there is no story title. That has held true for as long as I can recall. But it has not been true for the last few issues, and it's very disorienting. I kept waiting for the plasma chambers in "Sixteen Million Leagues from Versailles," the organic spaceship in "The Whale God," etc., only to have them never appear. This lessened my enjoyment of the stories as I went into them with false expectations. Please either return to the previous policy or make a clear statement that you have changed it so those of us who have gotten used to the established protocol will not be continually confused. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing your selections for future stories.

  Elka Tovah Davidoff Malden, MA

  P.S. Okay, one comment: Please try not to have too many depressing stories in one issue. The real world is depressing enough. Analog has for many years stood for the ability of human beings to triumph over adversity. I know you are limited
by what is submitted, but please try not to lose that enduring value. Thank you!

  Ms. Davidoff,

  You're completely right. We experimented with the cover copy for a few months, but I ultimately agreed with you: the old method is still the way to go, and we'll be returning to it shortly.

  Trevor,

  Dr. Stratmann's well-detailed problems of the health care system in the November issue neglected one very important point. Health care is a business, no different from any other. Once this is understood, most problems are resolved. No one has a right to health care. One must purchase as much or as little as one can afford.

  In a true free market system, health care would be more affordable and therefore more available to persons of limited means. Hospital monopolies would be reduced as "certificates of need" would be eliminated. Hospital emergency rooms would be able to refuse service. Suicide by lifestyle wouldn't raise rates for the rest of us. Insurance companies could keep rates low by returning to actuarial pricing. Competition for insurance customers would increase as state regulations disappeared. The doctor monopoly would cease as lower price professionals could handle minor problems without state imposed licensing. Drug prices would fall as Food and Drug Administration approval would be eliminated. Lawsuits would decrease enormously in a loser-pays-the-legal-fees system.

  In such a system, some persons with very expensive illnesses would certainly die. But that is no excuse for taking money from others to pay for it. If you want affordable health care for the most persons, the free market is the only way to go.

  Al Westerfield, Crossville, TN

  The author responds:

  Limited space precludes addressing all your conclusions. I agree that the health care system has aspects of a business and that, within appropriate limits, free market forces can increase efficiency and decrease costs.

  But patients are much more than just "customers." The primary goal of the health care system should be to provide for their medical welfare. Reducing costs, though important, should not come at the expense of preventable human suffering and what is in a patient's best medical interests. Ethical and public health considerations must take precedence over economic ones such as how much health care someone can afford.

  For example, if an ER refused service to a seriously ill child because her parents had a "negative wallet biopsy," health care professionals would have failed in their moral duty to put the patient's needs first and money second. The Food and Drug Administration's regulatory process is, like all human endeavors, imperfect. But screening new medications and monitoring those already approved significantly increases the likelihood they will be safe and efficacious. This process has costs and may delay availability of what turn out to be effective new drugs. However, given the risk of disasters such as occurred with thalidomide before its dangers were recognized (see my fact article in the September 2010 Analog ), the FDA's strong emphasis on safety is reasonable and its activities help maintain public health.

  Both the private and public sectors have profound weaknesses. I am doubtful that competition alone would adequately curb the tendency of insurance companies, HMOs, etc. to enroll only the healthiest individuals and decline those who—through no fault of their own—are less healthy, or to refuse to pay for needed but costlier treatments. Government programs and laws can owe more to politics than rational analysis of their real-world effects, and overregulation can impair delivery of care and unnecessarily increase costs.

  No health care system devised by us fallible human beings will ever work perfectly. Determining exactly how to provide the best medical care currently possible while reducing and fairly distributing its costs is difficult, with no simple answers. We must continue to study and discuss what inevitably complex blend of free market principles, government involvement, ways for patients to take (as best they are able) financial and personal responsibility for their care, and other factors will bring us closest to that goal.

  Dear Dr. Stratmann,

  I enjoyed your article on health care and some of the issues it faces ("Does Medicine Have a Future?" Nov. 2013), which are often glossed over in SF. Health care is a hot-button issue for many today, and you explained many issues facing it without really wading deeply into the political debate, which I think was appropriate considering the premise of your article. One interesting issue I wish you had delved more deeply into is the obesity epidemic. You state that it is "partly due to poor nutritional habits and lack of exercise." I'm not saying that this is untrue, and you still have a valid point that poor choices made by individuals adds complexity to the health care situation. However, I have read some very interesting articles lately that describe many other potential factors in weight gain, such as sleep patterns, ambient temperature, stress, chemicals that disrupt the metabolism, light pollution, viruses (like Ad-36), and bacteria (such as Methanobrevibacter smithii). I've seen a few articles recently that discuss these issues and call into question the assumption that our weight problems are just thermodynamics. Daved Berreby's article, "The Obesity Era," on aeomagazine.com is a fairly comprehensive survey that discusses all the factors mentioned above. I don't think that a lengthy discussion like Berreby's would be appropriate for your article. However, these factors in the "obesity epidemic" point to the negative impact of technology on our society (and on our physical bodies). They also highlight how much medical research has yet to be done, meaning there is a lot of work for medical science going far into the future. I would have welcomed a brief discussion of this in your article.

  Thanks, R. M. Ambrose Loma Linda, CA

  The author responds:

  Your comments touch nicely on reasons why unhealthy lifestyles are only partly responsible for the recent increased prevalence of obesity. At the level of society as a whole, poor dietary habits and unnecessarily reduced activity are indeed significant causes for this issue.

  But as with other medical problems, whether a specific individual develops obesity can also be due to causes outside that person's control. Genetic, physiological, metabolic, environmental, and other factors as well as aging and concomitant health issues (e.g. those that limit activity, such as arthritis or cardiopulmonary disease) may collectively, in particular people, be significantly greater contributors to their obesity than merely what or how much they eat.

  The task of physicians, nurses, dieticians, and other health care professionals is to counsel patients who are not obese about what they can do to maintain a healthy weight. When obesity is present the goal is to identify its causes as best as possible and formulate a treatment plan based on what the individual can do and what can be done via medical and, as a final resort, bariatric surgery. There is certainly a need for research to better identify the underlying mechanisms for obesity and improve its prevention and management. Perhaps these issues can be discussed further in a future Analog editorial.

  * * *

  UPCOMING EVENTS

  Anthony Lewis | 372 words

  NOTE: Membership rates and other details often change after we have gone to press. Check the websites for the most recent information.

  25–28 April 2014

  COSTUME-CON 32 (SF/Fsy costuming conference) at Toronto Sheraton Hotel, Toronto, ON, Canada. Membership: 18+ $75 until 31 December 2013, C$85 until 31 March 2014; Youth/Student C$25; supporting C$25. Info: http://costumecon32.com/; Box 15042, 1507 Yonge Street, Toronto ON Canada M4T 1Z0. 2–4 May 2014 • Corflu 31, Richmond, VA, USA.

  2–4 May 2014

  EERIECON 16 (Niagara Frontier area SF Conference) at Byblos Niagara Resort and Spa, Grand Island, NY. Guests of Honor: David B. Coe & Mark Leslie. Membership: 13+ $40 until 15 April 2014, $45 thereafter and at the door; 12 and under $10 until 15 April 2014, $15 thereafter and at the door. Info: http://www.eeriecon.org/;eeriecon@juno.com; Buffalo Fantasy League, PO Box 412, Amherst Branch, Buffalo, NY 14226.

  2–4 May 2014

  GAYLAXICON 2014/OUTLANTACON (GLBT & friends SF conference) at Marriott Century Center, Altanta, GA. M
embership: $25 until 1 January 2014. Info: http://outlantacon.org/;info@outlantacon.org.

  23–26 May 2014

  BALTICON 48 (Baltimore area SF conference) at Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD. Guest of Honor: Brandon Sanderson; Artist Guest of Honor: Halo Jankowski; Music Guest of Honor: Kenneth Anders. Membership: $65 adult; $33 child (6–12 y.o.). Info: http://www.balticon.org/index.html; PO Box 686, Baltimore MD 21203-0686.

  23–26 May 2014

  WISCON 38 (Wisconsin are SF conference) at The Concourse Hotel, Madison, WI. Guests of Honor: Hiromi Goto and N.K. Jemisin. Membership: 18+ $50; 7-17 $20. Membership is capped at 1,000; there is no guarantee of at the door memberships. Info: http://www.wiscon.info/index.php.

  30 May–1 June 2014

  CONCAROLINAS (North/South Carolina area SF conference) at Charlotte Hilton University Place, Charlotte, NC. Guest of Honor: George R.R. Martin. Membership: 13 y.o.+ $35; under 13 free with paying member. Info: http://www.concarolinas.org/; PO Box 26336, Charlotte NC 29221-6336.