The Mountains of Mourning • [Miles Vorkosigan] • (1989) • novella by Lois McMaster Bujold
A Miles Vorgosian story. Miles must act as a detective, judge, and jury in a case where a young mother blames her husband of killing their baby because she was hare-lipped. Life in a small village is a stark contrast to the protected life in the court. An ancient custom involved killing disabled children, but the new, more civilized age is coming and the king wants to use this case to set an example. An excellent, well-written story, one of the better stories of the Vorgosian saga, and that isn’t an easy task to achieve. ****+
Kirinyaga • [Kirinyaga • 2] • (1988) • novelette by Mike Resnick
The Kenyan culture before the white people came has been recreated (in a colonized planet?). There is an agreement according to which the Kenyans may have total independence and total control of their own matters. That is threatened when their leader has killed a child. The killing was done according to ancient customs, but has this gone too far? A well-told story with moral ambiguity. However, I always found it very irritating when the “old ways” and ancient customs are considered sacred and somehow the best possible - the society should ALWAYS be able to evolve. ****-
The Hemingway Hoax • (1990) • novella by Joe Haldeman
A shady character tries to get a Hemingway scholar to recreate some manuscripts Hemingway lost as an aspiring author. At first, the scholar declines, but after they think of a way to do it without it being totally criminal, he starts to create works in the style of Hemingway. Once he starts, a strange man who looks like Hemingway appears. He tells the scholar that if he finishes what he is writing, the future of several alternative worlds could be at stake. As he doesn’t believe what the “Hemingway” is saying, he refuses, and so, the "Hemingway" kills him. He is surprised to wake up at an alternative world which is slightly different and the same con is going on in there, too. Eventually, the characters go through several worlds which always tend to be slightly worse. The writing was fairly good, but the plot was meandering - meandered more and more towards the end of the story (probably in purpose). ***½
Bears Discover Fire • (1990) • short story by Terry Bisson
Bears discover how to use fire and they light campfires beside the highways. They behave very civilized and eat new berry varieties which grow on the middle section of the roads. The main protagonists wonder what is going on and even mingle with the bears a bit. And that is about everything in the story. I don’t understand the reputation that this story has at all. ***-
Boobs • (1989) • short story by Suzy McKee Charnas
A young girl develops earlier than her classmates and is well endowed for her age, and gets teased and even groped by the boys. When she gets her first period (during a full moon) she turns into a werewolf. Well, what's a girl gotta do... An enjoyable and even fun story where a light tone and gruesome events mash surprisingly well with each other. ****
Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another • [Time Gate] • (1989) • novelette by Robert Silverberg
In a few hundred years, it is possible to make computer simulations of historical figures. Success with them has been limited, but the simulation of Pizarro seems self-aware or at least has a very good simulation of self-awareness. The scientists want to see how a strange combination of characters would behave and introduce the simulation of Socrates to the simulation of Pizarro. An excellent, well-written, and thought-provoking story. ****
Schrödinger's Kitten • [Budayeen] • (1988) • novelette by George Alec Effinger
A middle-eastern woman sees several different realities; in some of them, she is raped as a young woman and abandoned by her family afterward. In others, she kills the would-be rapist and is executed, or works with Schrödinger and Heisenberg while they develop physics theories. A very good and thought-provoking story that was well written. ****
The Last of the Winnebagos • (1988) • novella by Connie Willis
Like Connie Willis stories always have some shitty and stupid science and technology. Speed cameras are put on the sides of roads, there are license plates on the sides of cars, but the cameras are so ridiculously worthless that driving sixty miles spoils the pictures. There are public phones and cameras using film. The dogs have died out about a decade earlier and for some strange unspecified reason that has enabled The Human Society to have almost unlimited dictatorial power. As the protagonist sees a dead coyote beside the road and reports it only after driving a mile or so, he attracts “The Society’s” interest. For some very strange reason, he contacts a woman who, a decade ago, ran over his dog by accident. The writing is good, but the logic in world-building and technology is very, very poor - as usual for Connie Willis. ***-
The Manamouki • [Kirinyaga • 5] • (1990) • novelette by Mike Resnick
Another story of old Kenyan culture recreated on an alien planet. A couple of moves in, and the wife is very keen on adjusting to the life-style of ancient Kenya. But she has some ideas and behaviors that mesh with the ancient customs, and adjusting isn’t as easy as she hoped. A well-written story, but I wonder why the horrible and disgusting old ways are considered to be the good ones. The world seems to be one of the worst dystopias I have encountered in SF with mandatory female circumcision and repressing dictatorship of the old customs. I can’t imagine why ANYONE would want to live there. The writing and storytelling are good, though. ****-
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