Pretty average or below average issue.
Acts of Conscience • [First Impressions] • novelette by Shane Tourtellotte
Another part of the series where a group of scientist have discovered a way how the behavioral though patterns can be evaluated, recorded and implanted to other people. So far the technology has mostly been used for prisoners and people with psychiatric conditions, but an actress seeks help from the researchers as she would like to get a more liberal mind set as she believes that would help her to get better roles. The most of the story consists of ethical ponderations of the situation and power struggles of the group. Pretty overlong. ***-
Alphabet Angels • [Jessie and Gus] • shortstory by Ekaterina Sedia and David Bartell
Woman finds from an obscure pet shop a very strange school of fish. They have alphabets on them, and they appear to spell words. The owner of the pet shop is also very cute, and even a confirmed bachelorette gets interested… A light fun story (mostly) with sympathetic characters. ***½
Dark Peril • shortstory by James C. Glass
There is an expedition to study a strange phenomenon. It turns out to be an extremely large black hole. Apparently, the detection capabilities of the future space explorers are pretty poor as they were unable to measure the radiation and gravity effect before the practically dropped into the event horizon. The first part of the story was mainly exposition and background – it felt like a novel worth of backstory was explained on a few pages. And the story was then written just to illustrate a “fun” way to escape from the grip of singularity. Not too special story. **+
General Tso's Chicken • shortstory by Carl Frederick
Schoolboys steal a dedication plaque from a Chinese space station they are visiting. There are some exchange of threats, diplomatic communicates and pranks as aftermath. Meant as a humorous story, won’t really work – at least not for me. ***-
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