A fairly average issue. Most of the space is taken by a Dune serial.
A Martian Ricorso • shortstory by Greg Bear
An expedition to Mars has had some problems, the communications have been broken down and they are going to have problems leaving the planet. And then the Martians appear. The seem to evolve extreme fast and they aren‘t at least completely co-operative. I am somewhat divided with this story. On other hand it is technically well written, but on the other hand it is very detached and almost everything that happens is just told, little is shown. ***
The Better Mousetrap • shortstory by Hayford Peirce
An inventor designs a perfect mousetrap which has some very implausible consequences. An ironic story that doesn’t really work. **½
The Winnowing • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
Thematically related to the above story. Overpopulation has reached its limits and something must be done. A scientist has developed a disease which kills a certain percentage of people painlessly and doesn’t harm others. The powers that be want to use the virus, but the scientist has more than a few reservations. ***½
A Matter of Pride • novelette by Kevin O'Donnell, Jr.
American pilots are kept as prisoners on a North Korean prison camp. The Koreans use a disease which strips the prisoners from their strength as a mean of control. The escape seems impossible if you only have strength to walk a few hundred meters at a time. But there is a way.. Fairly obvious way. A story stuck to a cold war era. Writing was ok and it was probably the best in this issue. ***½
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