Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, April 1974


A pretty average issue, nothing especially bad, nothing especially good.

Hot Spot • novelette by Brenda Pearce
A trip to the day side of Mercury. A scientist is taking important measurements while the crew of the vehicle takes care of flying. There is some sight-seeing, and eventually a crisis situation. The writing is fairly nice but the plot offers nothing new and the main character comes across as irritating and whiny. ***-
The Time-Traveler • [Callahan] • novelette by Spider Robinson
A Callahan’s place story. A former missionary has been imprisoned for years in a Latin American dictatorship. After he finally has been released he is facing a severe future shock, and finds himself at the Callahan’s place. At first, he tries to rob the bar, but he soon joins the “society”. It's not exactly science fiction at all, and nothing really unusual happens. A good story, though. ***½
A Kind of Murder • [Teleportation] • shortstory by Larry Niven
A woman is found murdered in her ex-husband's home. He has a good alibi, but what good is an alibi in a world where instantaneous travel by matter transmission booths is the norm? It's a fairly good story but the solution of the murder mystery is mostly based on the intricacies of imaginary technology that the reader cannot be aware of. ***
Scholarly Correspondence • shortstory by Charles Eric Maine
A fairly stupid pseudo-scientific paper about ghosts and a few replies to it, which are written in pseudo-scientific language. A pretty insignificant story. **-

Proofreading by eangel.me.

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